More memory

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Drew99GT

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I have 512 MB of ram in my laptop with a 3.2Ghz processor. Do you guys think an upgrade to 1024 megs will make it significantly quicker in boot time/running programs etc? I have 3 security programs running at once which is the main reason I want to get more ram. If I have media player going, with firefox and say, excel all at once, it gets a bit boggy.

Thanks
 
More RAM will definitely help with multi-tasking. It'll boot a little quicker, but not by much, since there's a lot of hard drive access during that process. First you want to make sure you can physically get to the RAM; most laptops I've seen with 512 MB of RAM have two 256 MB sticks, with one buried under the keyboard. If you can't get to the second stick, you'll have to settle for 768 MB or bite the bullet and get one of those expensive 1 GB laptop memory sticks. Just make sure the speeds match.

And why are you running three 'security programs'? Are you talking about separate firewall/antivirus/antispyware programs, or are you actually running three antivirus programs simultaneously (very inadvisable)?
 
I added 1GB of RAM to the 512MB i had in my Lenovo ThinkPad R60, and it made quite a difference when running multiple programs @ same time. RAM is very easy to get to in this model, I don't know how it is with yours...(manufacturer web pages usually have instructions for spec models on how to replace ram in a leptop; just search for such info). I did it in about 7 min. (and I'm no expert).

If you run "belark advisor" scan from crucial.com, it will tell you exactly how much ram you have, how many slots are occupied/free etc.
RAM will make a difference, I don't see how it can not.
 
I have Antivir antivirus, Superantispyware, Prevx, and Comodo firewall running all at once. They all get along fine but slow the machine down a bit.
 
Do this:

Press Control-Alt-Delete. Select the Performance tab. Look under the Commit Charge (K) section.

If the value for Peak ever exceeds the Total under Physical Memory (K) your system could definitely benefit from a memory upgrade.

You may want to run this check after you've used the machine for a while, and after you've opened up as much stuff as you normally would.
 
That's cutting it very close--that shows that your peak was only about 7MB under the available physical memory. Simply opening another program would likely have pushed it past that limit. That's when it starts swapping to the hard drive (pagefile) and that really starts slowing things down.

Unfortunately, a lot of older computers only have two DIMM slots and only take low-density 256MB PC100/PC133 DIMMs which are pretty expensive--like $40 shipped. I can get 128MB DIMMs for $10-$15 shipped.
 
Brian;

That's good to know RE Commit charge vs Total RAM. Just checked my work PC and Commit charge is 611mb with 256mb installed RAM. Time to call IT ...
 
OK, my laptop has 2 sticks of 256 and apparantly, from what I have gathered, I can take one stick out and stick another in with whatever capacity I choose, say 1 gig, for a total of 1256. Will not having the memory balanced across both sockets compramise performance or anything? Also, I read on a website I can only do this if my computer does not support dual channel memory. How do I tell if it does or doesn't and what does that mean?
 
What model/make of laptop do you have? I suggest replacing them in identical pairs, even if the cost is a bit higher.

As for performance, expect a 25% hit when you have non-matched DDR DIMMS in the computer. I've noted this performance degradation first hand.

Also,if you have a 4200 rpm hard drive, upgrading to a 7200rpm model (Seagate is my recommendation) will also make a noticeable performance improvement on laptops.
 
It's a Dell Inspiron 5150 which takes PC 2700 DDR S.O. DIMM memory (whatever the heck that means).

This webste says it does not support dual channel memory and modules of differing capacity can be installed into each slot. But you think it would still be better to have the same size in each slot ToyotaNSaturn?
 
Drew, if DDR isn't part of the equation, feel free to mix & match sizes of RAM...then it doesn't matter (and saves you $$$).

Perhaps just purchase one DIMM, install it and go by feel. If it's feeling too slow, order another identical one. If not, keep the money in your pocket.

Recently, I upgraded a Dell Inspiron 1100 Celeron 2.2GHZ laptop that had 256MB to 1GB. That helped. But reinstalling Windows on a 7200 rpm drive and only installing needed software (Office, multimedia extensions for presentations, etc) is what did the trick. It's runs quite well and the owner is amazed that is it's the same computer!

SO DIMM is "small outline dual in-line memory module".
 
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So it's non DDR type memory that you can install unequal amounts of RAM?

Maybe I should just get a grip and ditch some of this security software! But with Firefox open with several tabs, especially ones using Java, along with media player, it bogs and locks up a bit and I doubt ditching some security stuff would help. In all honesty, it's really not that bad; no where near how slow some people's computers are that I've used.

Do you know anything about Kingston Ram? New egg has some decent prices for two 512 modules.

I do have a 5400 rpm Sygate hard drive; the stocker was 5400 rpm which died and I was too cheap to get a 7200 rpm. Oops!
 
As far as I'm aware, if the system doesn't support dual-channel memory, then you can mix and match at will.

Some systems do have a limit on how many ranks of DDR memory they can address before they drop the memory speed down (socket 754 AMD systems in particular). But this doesn't preclude you from mixing memory, just from using too many dual-rank modules. (The limit for socket 754 AMD systems is 3 ranks; any more than that and it will slow the memory bus speed to, I believe 333MHz from 400MHz)
 
Kingston, Crucial, and Viking memory have all served me well over the years. Yeah, I've run into a few bad modules, but it's par for the course. Sometimes Newegg has killer deals on Kingston's products.

5400rpm isn't too bad. It's definitely a step up from the 4200rpm disks!
 
My Patriot memory has worked great so far with the oem Lenovo memory (made by Samsung, btw; I saw it while adding the 1gb Patriot stick).
Patriot's customer service was also very good; I got it @ Newegg, and when I had "?" on compatibility, Patriot emailed me withing 10 min! not bad.
 
Stick with any major brand or a store brand with support.

IMO, everyone will benefit from more memory. Since you have ONLY 512mb, research what your system supports and buy the biggest stick or 2 that you can get.

Memory is cheap. Hunt for local store sales, ebay, and rebates. Stables, Bestbuy, Officemax/depot, Compusa,.....seem to have a different sized/type stick of ram on sale every week.

If it were my 5150, I'd buy that 1gb of ram. Remove both 256mb sticks. Install 1gb ram. Sell both 256mb sticks on ebay. Buy another gig!
 
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