RAM? Why such a big deal?

brycematheson712

brycematheson712

New Member
Obviously, RAM is very important in running all of your programs. What makes me angry though, is that people always say, "I'm going to buy some more RAM to speed up my computer." Fine, that's great. But if you open up the task manager and notice that you're not even using an entire gigabyte of RAM, why are people investing in another 3GB?

Maybe I'm missing something? If you're not even using the full amount of RAM that your computer has, adding another 3GB of RAM makes no difference, does it?
 
Some people use ram hungry apps like multiple Adobe programs at the same time. Some games can shoot your ram usage over 2 gigs. It is pretty much just based on what programs you use and the OS. When vista can idle at 500mb+ you might need 3 gigs.
 
brycematheson712 said:
Obviously, RAM is very important in running all of your programs. What makes me angry though, is that people always say, "I'm going to buy some more RAM to speed up my computer." Fine, that's great. But if you open up the task manager and notice that you're not even using an entire gigabyte of RAM, why are people investing in another 3GB?

Maybe I'm missing something? If you're not even using the full amount of RAM that your computer has, adding another 3GB of RAM makes no difference, does it?
Click to expand...

It really depends on what operating system you're using and what you do with your computer. I'm using Vista, and with a normal load (AIM, Xfire, Firefox, Windows Media Center w/ TV and Word), I use about 1.8 gigs of ram.

You should also consider the fact that your computer uses more if you have more ram (up to a certain point). My friend has 2 gigs of ram and his computer only uses about 1 gig of it during similar operations.
 
I'll be finding out just what difference is seen between having 2gb in and then upgrading to 4gb here. The average desktop simply won't use all 4gb even on a 64bit edition of Windows.

With Vista I ended up seeing some 2.8gb of memory free out of the 3.58xgb the task manager shows as the total even with some background activity by antivirus and a few other startups. There's no want for ram here even before with only a pair of 1gb dimms installed.
 
Yeah, I'm not speaking about that. Obviously, when you use Photoshop or run Crysis, your system RAM usage is going to spike. But let's say you're doing nothing and your system is just idling around 300MB. It wouldn't make any difference whether you had only 512MB of RAM or 4GB of RAM, correct? It just makes me angry when people don't use their systems for anything demanding whatsoever and they think that adding another stick of RAM or two will speed up their system when they're not even using what they already have.
 
After a certain point it easily becomes an obvious waste. There's question about that. When moving up from 512mb or 1gb upto2gb here however XP immediately noticed a large improvement not just performance wise but stability wise as well.

With that doubled now I will be taking notice of any gains while not expecting much for both XP and Vista alike. Here I am looking into some form of CAD and 3D graphics/animation where the otherwise wasted memory will be put to use. Plus I am looking some other problems that can be seen at times.
 
Okay, that was my question. So even though you may only be using 300MB or so, going from 512MB to say, 1GB or 2GB makes a difference in speed and stability? But if you were to go even higher after that 2GB to say, 4GB, there wouldn't be a difference and it would probably just be a waste of 2GB of RAM?

Why is there such a large performance gain from the 512MB to the 2GB even if you're only using 300MB? Is it the pagefile and other things like that?
 
The largest leap is due to the amount of free ram initially seen with the move up from up a small amount like 512mb to 2gb that does more then cover everything but leaves some extra ram onhand even when running a larger program. The version of Windows whether XP or Vista a larger version now seen sees the largest boost in the increase seen there.

Once you get past that initial gain especially for XP there since some need an extra 1gb to cover things in Vista the rest lies idle and simply goes to waste. Vista hasn't seen any great performance boost here and wasn't expected to even with already running some games since the new dimms were installed.

Actual performance gains especially for gaming system entails tweaking an entire system and not just adding more and more memory. Having a better video card for graphics, a sound card over onboard often for higher quality there, and certainly a faster cpu all add up. A 2gb pc seeing those items considered will generally outperform a 4gb, 6gb, 8gb machine with a low end card, onboard sound, and certainly a slower cpu.
 
HI,
Certain application programs, such as Photoshop, allows you to assign a percentage of RAM to be used by the program. If your needs exceed that amount of memory, Photoshop does not simply stop running. Instead, it starts using the hard disk for memory. This is called virtual memory and the process is called disk swapping. The user only notices that the program runs significantly slower but it still works. This situation can be minimized by having more RAM. Having enough RAM makes a big difference. I have 4 gigs in my 32 bit Vista machine and have never run out even with the most memory intensive applications.

Sparky
 
That's because you have already exceeded what Photoshop and most typical softwares that will run on Vista would even use up. The main reason why you will hear many here claiming they "have to have" so much more for gaming is due to them not realizing that all these games are far from using over 512mb even upto 1gb of available ram.

Why doesn't gaming have a high requirement? Most games were written to run on systems typically prebuilt machines with less memory then the typical custom build as a rule. You look at the game's own requirements to see that one.

The one thing I'll likely see here from having gone from 2gb upto 4gb is a smoother running copy of Vista when I see some multitasking going on. That still will be far from chewing up all 4gb by a long shot.
 
For the most part, the average dolt is smoking pure, unadulterated crack when he thinks that some more memory will fix his broken-@$$ computer. Seriously. Truly the good stuff.

What would fix said average dolt's computer is if he got rid of the 7 search bars on his Internet Explorer, deleted his 350GB of porn, and defragged his hard drive for the first time. Or he could think really outside the box, reformat his hard drive, and start over with a fresh Windows install.

I am not saying this to make fun of the less-computer-competent. These are all things I have seen on friends' computers.

That said, it highlights what's slowing down the average computer: cluttered/fragmented hard drives, unnecessary crapplications running, and just a general lack of maintenance.

On the hardware side, the average user could really use 2GB of DDR2-800, an $80 CPU, and a $300 HD.
 
If you are running Vista you wouldn't be worried too much about any fragmentation seen on the hard drive since the new version sees the SuperFetch feature that automatically runs the defragment tool silently in the background when needed. As for seeing a ton of crap on the drive itself smart web browsing and having some malware protection inplace will avoid most of that stuff to begin with.

As for hard drives you can easily get a 500gb sata at this time for just over $100 at newegg. Even some larger capacity external drives are well under $300 there. A good registry cleaner run periodically will help get rid of garbage useless entries left over in the registry itself without breaking anything there.

For large amount of memory like 4gb and more the practical application seen there for the most is running memory intensive softwares like CAD development, enigeering with large calculations, 3D and graphics design work, and even software development where the effects of having a large amount of memory installed can be tested.
 
If you are running Vista you wouldn't be worried too much about any fragmentation seen on the hard drive since the new version sees the SuperFetch feature that automatically runs the defragment tool silently in the background when needed.
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Can you link me the source for this please? My understanding of SuperFetch is very different.
 
I was surprised to first hear about this while the new version was still in beta form. I thought you already knew about this there guy! The front page about this feature is seen on the MS page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/superfetch.aspx

This is part of the new MS stratedgy of self maintainence to be expanded on further in the upcoming version due out this time or maybe a little later next year. It runs quietly in the background as part of the normal processes explaining to some extent in part why Vista uses a little more ram.
 
HI PC,
Not sure exactly what you are saying. But I can assure you that Photoshop can and will use all RAM not otherwise assigned if it is needed. If more is needed then it starts to disk swap. Are you a Photoshop expert?

Sparky
 
karma said:
HI PC,
Not sure exactly what you are saying. But I can assure you that Photoshop can and will use all RAM not otherwise assigned if it is needed. If more is needed then it starts to disk swap. Are you a Photoshop expert?

Sparky
Click to expand...

The fact that you have apparently "never ran out of memory" as you stated earlier simply shows how much memory sits idle on the typical desktop system with 4gb of memory installed. That seems to include Photoshop since you never see that run out.

The feature included with Photoshop is there for older systems with far less ram available like those with only 512mb or even upto 1gb installed. If Photoshop determines more memory is needed to complete a task(like 768mb or 1.5gb) it then creates the swap file.

And no I'm not a Photoshop expert. For support contact their techinal staff! :P
 
SuperFetch monitors which applications you use the most and preloads these into your system memory so they'll be ready when you need them. Windows Vista also runs background programs, like disk defragmenting and Windows Defender, at low priority so that they can do their job but your work always comes first.
Click to expand...
While it does mention defragmenting and such it doesn't say SuperFetch does that. It says that Vista automatically runs defraging and other tasks at a low process priority so that any programs you are trying to run at the same time will get to do their thing first. SuperFetch is a caching system that keeps frequently used programs in memory so they load faster.
 
my pc is using 1.5gig right now, syrfing net and listening to music...

im using vista64bit and talk about ram hungry!!!

running ram in dual channel so i would have to get 2gig or 4gig and with me using 1.5gig without gaming i think 4gig is justified
 
the less ram you have the more ur comptuer tries to "conserve" space making it a lil slower but if u have alot it will jus paste it on there and do w/ ur doin w/ it faster. i dont think anyone would need liek 3 or 4 gigs unless ur doin alot of editing or somthign because comptuers we sell at bestbuy are coming with like 8 gigs now? ??!?! wtf thats rediculous no normal person buying those computers are goin to use all that. one guy asked me if its able to hold more like 16. wtf? i dont even use all my 8 unless ihave like 4 virtual machines plus some edit crap on it. and all he wanted to do was do internet w/ it wat a tard
 
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