Memory Question

[ddka]

I was thinking about adding another 512MB of memory, would that help overall perfomance much?

Thanks


ASUS A7N8X mb
Athlon XP3000+
Samsung PC2700 512mb
MSI FX5900xt Geforce 4 128mb
Thermaltake 480 watt ps
Windows XP SP2

[juang310]

it depends. For web surfing, word processing, small or moderate spreadsheets, and other mundane task it makes very little difference. It might reduce the amount of hard drive thrashing your system does but Windows is not very efficient at handling large amounts of RAM. Larger amounts of RAM can help with the memory fragmentation Windows is famous for. Also the amount of increase of system performance is a diminishing return. In Windows XP going from 128MB to 256MB is probably the greatest increase in performance, 256MB to 512MB is less of an increase but still there, and over 512MB the gain is negligible or non-existent.

As far as gaming goes someone who's more hardcore gamer would be better in responding.

If you are doing any intensive data processing in the form of scientific, financial, or file analysis then it can definitely help since the number of files or arrays your system can handle will entirely be dependent on the amount of RAM you have. As an example, 1GB of RAM is the mininum you should consider if you are doing any kind of bioinformatics analysis. Also any database processing or work will be limited by your RAM.

[johnnyis42]

the short answer is no, you would not notice a performance difference in windows.

however, if you use any programs that utilize large ammounts of RAM, or if you regularly multitask with programs that use a good ammount of RAM, you will notice some performance improvements.

if you play any of the latest 3D games, you will definitely notice a performance improvement.

there are a number of htings to consider as to why you might need more RAM, but you can not have too much. if you feel like that is a cost effective upgrade compared to your processor, motherboard, upgrading your optical drive, etc, then by all means go for it. if you're looking for a specific area of performance gain, consider the factors (what aplications you want the performance boost in) and then weigh what gains will be made from which upgrade and decide that way.

[johnnyis42]

Originally posted by juang310
over 512MB the gain is negligible or non-existent.

As far as gaming goes someone who's more hardcore gamer would be better in responding.

this area of upgrade would definitely be noticed in games, as well as multimedia editing and heavy multitasking

[ddka]

I do a lot of gaming, Doom 3, Halflife 2 & Unreal Tournament 2004

[johnnyis42]

then memory would definitely be worth the money. might consider a video card while you're at it