PC gurus, I could use your knowledge I currently have a 2y/o Sony Vaio laptop, running a Centrino 1.5Ghz with 512Mb of Ram and an ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics card. Lately, I've been using a new software that puts a bit of stress on the puter (ie takes several seconds, up to 30s to search through ... ). Big databases (20 million entries) to search and stuff. Would adding another 512Mb (or 1Gb) of RAM help? I suppose I could see some improvement while using Photoshop and Premier as well, wouldn't I? Or is the processor my limit and I'd just be wasting 150$ on 1Gb of ram? Thanks
xtra RAM will always help you can never have to much. Did you check to see f your system is clean ie virus, spyware, adware, all that crap.
Have you checked the processor load and available (physical) memory available while searching the database? These are both available in task manager if you're on windows XP. Also is it a local DB or on a network drive? Although I would guess that your bottleneck is actually the transfer of data from the database into memory, you might see a small drop in response time from increased RAM and/or processor speed.
Haven't checked the processor load or available memory ... that would be a good start! Data is on my HD, so if there's really a bottleneck, there isn't gonna much I'll be able to do short of upgrading the whole puter ... ***launches a heavy search to see the effect on load and memory*** edit- well, sounds like the processor is the lazy one. I just started the search, processor load jumped to 100%, and the available physical memory (am I looking at the correct thingie) dropped from 220 available to the 150s ...
Processor load can spike up like that right away. How does it look after a few minutes? Also, how many processes are you running? A clean sweep of spyware and virii can produce a great improvement.
It didn't spike ... it stayed consistently around 98-100% during the whole time. As far as processes, there are about 40ish (a lot?), no other programs running, except Firefox. Spyware and virus cleaning is done weekly.
The centrino isn't exactly a fast chip, especially at 1.5GHz, so that could be contributing. But more importantly, 512MB of RAM is what you should have if you are just emailing and surfing the internet, 1GB is definately the base for anything serious nowadays. Also, if the database is online, your connection speed could be a factor.
One thing to keep in mind is that the "work" your computer is doing will first look to use Random Access Mememory (RAM) to perform the work and once you have hit the limit of RAM your computer will then look to use Physical Memory. Physical Memory is your Hard Disk space and it is very, very slow compared to RAM. So, if you are seeing your Physical Memory drop from 220 available to the 150s it means you are quickly exceeding your RAM limit and moving into your Physical Memory, which will make your computer crawwwwwwlllll. In Fchat terms look at it this way... Processor = horsepower of the engine. RAM = the size of the straightaway that you open 'er up and see how fast you can go without crashing If you have a lot of horsepower but a small track you won't realize the true potential of the engine. I work a lot with large Photoshop file, which eat RAM for lunch. I use 2.5 GHz of RAM just to avoid having to tap into my Hard Disk space. I also partition my Hard Disk and use a 1GB partition just for a Photoshop scatch disk. Bottom Line = RAM is cheap and well worth the performace increase.
too true. sort of like that old saying, "you can never be too rich or too thin", you can never have too much RAM.
I'd agree with that, but there is a point at which it becomes 'cost ineffective'. Say it's a home computer, you don't exactly need 16 GB of RAM now do you?
That, and is the type of ram transferrable to the next computer you will get ? Someone GAVE me a Sony VAIO - said it was toast, they were going to throw it out. I said I'll take it. 15" screen, AMD 1ghz proc, 256mb of Ram (2 x 128mb), but it's 5 years old, uses the old DRAM. I spend 3 solid days cleaning off all the spyware and viruses, all the online gambling and porn sites, and it runs like new. The question was, do I want to pop for a 512 strip, or 2 256's ? And I said no because once the laptop dies I won't be able to use that Ram in anything else. (and I don't care to go to EBay with it). I guess I should go look, because I have not seen a home computer Mobo or bios that can handle or accept 16GB of ram. Maybe one thing to look at is how you have allocated the Windows swap file ?
Interesting, kinda recomforting to know I don't necesserily have to upgrade the whole PC. I'll figure out what RAM I need and will probably go with 1 or 2Gb (already have 2x 256Mb). Photoshop likes RAM as well? Here we go, I need 2Gb. As I'm typing, an intricate search among 20 million entries has been going on for 20 minutes, at least. But the PC isn't all that slow, available memory went down to 60k, the software is frozen (until the search is done) but everything else works alright. Not blazing fast, but not crawling either ...
Yeah, typing is one of the least processor intensive tasks a PC performs so it's not surprising that you wouldn't notice a slow down. Now, if you were trying to retouch a 200MB photo in Photoshop...then....
Ooooh, now I hear the crawwwwwwling ...physical is down to 38k, and now it's taking a while to change windows. Very sluggish indeed. Can't complain much, though, after 2 years all I need is a new battery and extra ram. Then I'll be set for another 2 years!
I've a toshiba Tecra laptop with a centrino 1.5, and an Nvidia Geforce FX 5200, with 64mb video ram.. I've got 1gb ram onboard, and i wouldnt have any less.. Every computer in my household has 1gb or more.
