Increasing Memory to 8gb

[blockshope]

Hi! I am a newbie and I got a few question to ask.
Presently I am using a desktop for work icore5 w/ 4gb memory.
I do heavy web browsing somewhat like 10 tabs of internet pages all at the same time. I thought getting an i5 processor would help me speed up the work but recently I am having trouble and keeps on hanging. SHould I increase the memory to 8gb? and what are the complications in adding up a memory to 8gb.

 

[daveybrat]

Should be relatively easy to upgrade and will definitely help with multi-tasking. Highly recommended.

 

[denis280]

Should be relatively easy to upgrade and will definitely help with multi-tasking. Highly recommended.

+1

 

[*NixUser]

Hi! I am a newbie and I got a few question to ask.
Presently I am using a desktop for work icore5 w/ 4gb memory.
I do heavy web browsing somewhat like 10 tabs of internet pages all at the same time. I thought getting an i5 processor would help me speed up the work but recently I am having trouble and keeps on hanging. SHould I increase the memory to 8gb? and what are the complications in adding up a memory to 8gb.

4gb is plenty, way more than you need for browsing the web. Chances are you probably have a lot of crapware/malware slowing your pc down if there is any performance problems for just browsing the web. I would recommend a clean reinstall of Windows before buying any more RAM.

 

[denis280]

4gb is plenty, way more than you need for browsing the web. Chances are you probably have a lot of crapware/malware slowing your pc down if there is any performance problems for just browsing the web. I would recommend a clean reinstall of Windows before buying any more RAM.

are you serious

 

[blockshope]

4gb is plenty, way more than you need for browsing the web. Chances are you probably have a lot of crapware/malware slowing your pc down if there is any performance problems for just browsing the web. I would recommend a clean reinstall of Windows before buying any more RAM.

Well someone told me also that 4GB is way too plenty for just web browsing. My work is an Internet researcher that is the reason why I have too many tabs opened all at the same time. However, If I monitor my windows manager.. my browser alone consumed about 50% of the memory and I still have other applications running that sometimes I reached 80-90% of the memory used.

Also that same person is also telling me that once I installed an 8gb memory Windows 7 and other applications that I use would not work properly because of the memory. How true is that?

 

[Blain]

Start button > Right click on "Computer" > Click "Properties"...
Does the "System Type" say 32-bit or 64-bit?

 

[beginner99]

Start button > Right click on "Computer" > Click "Properties"...
Does the "System Type" say 32-bit or 64-bit?

Exactly. All computers provide by company I work at are 32-bit windows and hence every day is a goddamn struggle about closing and terminating unused processes.

 

[lopri]

If your OS is 64-bit then go with as much RAM as you can afford within reason. These days 8 GB is not plenty but really a minimum standard. I would not buy a new system with less than 8 GB of RAM unless it's an ultra-ultra-portable or something. Go for 16 GB, and if you run into a good deal don't be afraid of 32 GB.

Edit: OK, 32 GB is probably an overkill. But depending on your browsers, settings, plugins, and contents you view all have impact on memory usage. Viewing a 4K clip on a Youtube can easily take up 500 MB. There are even 4K/60+FPS clips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNJdPyoqt8U (Beautiful)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13wt6cmCRK0 (Incredible)

 

[mikeymikec]

Hi! I am a newbie and I got a few question to ask.
Presently I am using a desktop for work icore5 w/ 4gb memory.
I do heavy web browsing somewhat like 10 tabs of internet pages all at the same time. I thought getting an i5 processor would help me speed up the work but recently I am having trouble and keeps on hanging. SHould I increase the memory to 8gb? and what are the complications in adding up a memory to 8gb.

What is your system's current memory usage when you're working? If it's not challenging the amount of memory you've got (~75% or higher usage), then upgrading RAM probably isn't going to make much difference.

Blain also has an excellent point.

are you serious

Absolutely. I have two browsers open currently, Thunderbird and my calendar app. 1.7GB physical RAM usage (reported by Process Explorer).

4gb is plenty, way more than you need for browsing the web. Chances are you probably have a lot of crapware/malware slowing your pc down if there is any performance problems for just browsing the web. I would recommend a clean reinstall of Windows before buying any more RAM.

I missed the word 'hanging', yes, that ought to be addressed first. Probably a scan with Malwarebytes (the free version, without the free trial enabled), www.malwarebytes.org, will help.

 

[blockshope]

Start button > Right click on "Computer" > Click "Properties"...
Does the "System Type" say 32-bit or 64-bit?

Im running on 64 bit.

 

[blockshope]

What is your system's current memory usage when you're working? If it's not challenging the amount of memory you've got (~75% or higher usage), then upgrading RAM probably isn't going to make much difference.


I missed the word 'hanging', yes, that ought to be addressed first. Probably a scan with Malwarebytes (the free version, without the free trial enabled), www.malwarebytes.org, will help.

Presently, I have 7 tabs working, memory process is in 2.5GB of my 4GB memory.

Well the hanging part is the browser not the whole PC. It is the "not responding scenario" and the flash player or pluggedins crashing. Tried doing the malwarebytes scan but no malware was found. Remove other unnecessary applications especially the antivirus (mcafee and avast).

Am I abusing the desktop big time?

 

[mikeymikec]

Presently, I have 7 tabs working, memory process is in 2.5GB of my 4GB memory.

With regard to performance, when the computer isn't hanging, does it feel fast enough to you? If not, is it always feeling "not fast enough" or are there particular (seemingly random) points when it feels sluggish?

Well the hanging part is the browser not the whole PC. It is the "not responding scenario" and the flash player or pluggedins crashing. Tried doing the malwarebytes scan but no malware was found. Remove other unnecessary applications especially the antivirus (mcafee and avast).

Am I abusing the desktop big time?

Not in the usage that you've just described. I have 4GB RAM on Win764 and I open 35 tabs at a time on occasion without any problems.

However, I've just noticed this:

and I still have other applications running that sometimes I reached 80-90% of the memory used.

If you're regularly hitting 80-90% total physical memory usage (as reported by Task Manager or Process Explorer), I'd consider getting more memory, but it is separate to your hanging problems (unless the physical memory usage is very much when the hang occurs).

Also that same person is also telling me that once I installed an 8gb memory Windows 7 and other applications that I use would not work properly because of the memory. How true is that?

Absolutely not true at all. Unless you tried hot-plugging the memory

---

Is it the Flash plugin that gives problems? What browser are you using?

 

[blockshope]

Im not that really sure if it is the flash plugin that is giving the problem. But yes, the flash plugin crashes at times. I am using mozilla firefox.

Actually whenever I reached 80-90% physical memory usage. I need to exit the firefox and restart the browser again.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Some programs and even windows features have something that could be described as a memory leak. For instance, I can boot my system with an 8GB RAM kit. It will show maybe 20% RAM usage to start. If I run Media Center Live TV all day and then record a program, RAM usage will show above 40%+ after the video capture. And it will stay that way -- until you close and restart Media Center.

That's why I doubled my RAM to 16GB. But there are many uses for RAM that seems to be "surplus." Like it or not, some RAM-caching programs that speed (apparent) SSD or HDD access can use 3 or 4 GB of RAM.

16GB may be the new "normal," but I find it more than ample.