1GB -> 3GB (1x1GB+1x2GB) or 4GB (2x2GB)

mctiny · 29 May 2008 at 16:42

1GB -> 3GB (1x1GB+1x2GB) or 4GB (2x2GB)

I have vista home premium 32bit but will upgrade to 64bit later.

is there any benifit to having over 3GB in vista 32bit?

Laptop is an Acer 5633WLMI with 1x1GB, two slots available, 4GB max.

I don't want to know prices as I am not in the UK, just looking for experiences and advise on which road to take.

schnipps · 29 May 2008 at 20:15

Just got a Vostro 1700 today with 3GB and its very swift, personally I dont think 1 GB in Vista is enough, if it was me I would just jump to 2GB.

mctiny · 30 May 2008 at 02:28

schnipps said:
Just got a Vostro 1700 today with 3GB and its very swift, personally I dont think 1 GB in Vista is enough, if it was me I would just jump to 2GB.

1GB to 3GB, I hope, is a big enough improvement but what about 3gb to 4gb?
or as I said in the OP is it worth just going direct to 4GB?

pingwing · 30 May 2008 at 03:02

Meh unless your gaming/photoshopping (which isnt really laptops specialty) its best to hang back for a max of 3gig mainly to save on the dosh. I have 3 gig running in my laptop and vista only needs about a gig to run propperly and go on the net (the other 2 is for gaming on civ4 which is currently cpu/gpu limited anyway so it wasnt a good idea).

Side not i have half a gig in my sisters bday present laptop (its a free-bee with a recovery partition so im playing for a week or so) and its shocking to try vista with that little ram! As an unknown present shes getting my 2 gig stick tomrrow (as im gettin gback to my desktop and wont need it.....) just to make vista okish

mctiny · 1 Jun 2008 at 15:16

pingwing said:
Meh unless your gaming/photoshopping (which isnt really laptops specialty) its best to hang back for a max of 3gig mainly to save on the dosh. I have 3 gig running in my laptop and vista only needs about a gig to run propperly and go on the net (the other 2 is for gaming on civ4 which is currently cpu/gpu limited anyway so it wasnt a good idea).

Side not i have half a gig in my sisters bday present laptop (its a free-bee with a recovery partition so im playing for a week or so) and its shocking to try vista with that little ram! As an unknown present shes getting my 2 gig stick tomrrow (as im gettin gback to my desktop and wont need it.....) just to make vista okish

The Laptop is used as a desktop replacement. I use it for work, renders photo-editing, DVD's, in fact almost everything except games.

I'm running 1GB at the moment and it's slow and problematic at hte best of times, the money is not a big problem, the problem is more about whether it is worth it or not.

Also how does Dual get affected when you have different sized modules?

FatRakoon · 1 Jun 2008 at 22:34

Previously, when I went from 512MB to 1GB, the only improvement I found was in UT2004 - it had a few irritating jerks that I had put down to the Graphics and it still happened with a new card. the 1GB improvement was the cure to that.

When I went from 1GB to 2GB, again, I felt no true benefits... Not really.

When I went from 2GB to 4GB there was absolutely no benefits at all in the general use of the system for every day tasks, and in truth I did need it for VMs but not for much else.

Now, things are different these days... the difference between 2GB and 4GB is fairly substantial for those who use their PCs... If all you are doing is browsing and sending the odd Email to aunty flo then no, there wont be any Vital use at all in going for more than 512MB on XP or 1GB on Vista, but if you fancy running more then 1GB is a vital minimum for XP and 2GB for Vista IMO

Is there anything in going from 3GB to 4GB however?

In fact, some might say that the mixed modules will slow the system down and that a matching set will be a better option, but in truth as long as the RAM is near to *** same, it should not make any difference to the performance at all, and that the only real benefits will be that extra 1GB... Do you think that you are doing anything that will justify the extra 1GB?

IMO these days, there is absolutely no excuses for running less ram than you need to.

I own a fair few systems, 7 of which are permanently setup on my LAN and even my 3 kids ( 9, 10 and 10 ) are all running 4GB now and my daughter only really plays Little Mermaid and MSPaint more than anything, so while thats total over kill I know, the price of RAM justifies it. ( Plus if I need some RAM desperately, I know I can rob from her without her knowing anything about it )

Anyway, I am just waffling on here... End of the day 3GB is plenty and upping to 4GB while seeming a luxury now, you will no doubt be needing in the very near future, so just get it and have done with it.

dC2006 · 2 Jun 2008 at 00:46

Do you loose the dual channel feature if you go with a 2 gig stick and a 1 gig stick ? I know you do with desktops, just wondering if it was the same case with dell laptops ?

mctiny · 2 Jun 2008 at 01:01

FatRakoon said:
Now, things are different these days... the difference between 2GB and 4GB is fairly substantial for those who use their PCs... If all you are doing is browsing and sending the odd Email to aunty flo then no, there wont be any Vital use at all in going for more than 512MB on XP or 1GB on Vista, but if you fancy running more then 1GB is a vital minimum for XP and 2GB for Vista IMO

Is there anything in going from 3GB to 4GB however?

In fact, some might say that the mixed modules will slow the system down and that a matching set will be a better option, but in truth as long as the RAM is near to *** same, it should not make any difference to the performance at all, and that the only real benefits will be that extra 1GB... Do you think that you are doing anything that will justify the extra 1GB?

Rendering, Photo editing and VM's.

IMO these days, there is absolutely no excuses for running less ram than you need to.

Anyway, I am just waffling on here... End of the day 3GB is plenty and upping to 4GB while seeming a luxury now, you will no doubt be needing in the very near future, so just get it and have done with it.

Good Point.

dC2006 said:
Do you loose the dual channel feature if you go with a 2 gig stick and a 1 gig stick ? I know you do with desktops, just wondering if it was the same case with dell laptops ?

this is one thing I need clearing up.

FatRakoon · 2 Jun 2008 at 11:41

mctiny said:
Rendering, Photo editing and VM's.

There is your reason to go with 4GB then!
Kind of answered your own question as they say.

dC2006 said:
Do you loose the dual channel feature if you go with a 2 gig stick and a 1 gig stick ? I know you do with desktops, just wondering if it was the same case with dell laptops ?

You do with all PCs Im sure.

However, do you get dual channel with the one stick anyway? - NO! - You only get dual channel with a pair of the same ( Or compatible )

So, if you have a 2GB Stick, you wont be on Dual channel now, so adding that extra 1GB will give you an extra 1GB but you wont lose dual channel cos oyu are not on it anyway.