Would RAM benefit my system?

[Bruck]

With ram prices low, I am wondering if I would see a performance gain if i went from 256 to 512 or 1gb.

i am running a P2B-S asus Mobo. I think i am using PC100 ram. I have 256, would my system speed up if i doubled or quadroupled it? (win2k/P3600mhz)

Thanks

 

[hdeck]

depending on how many applications you run at a time, you should see performance gains. i know i did when i went from 256 to 512.

 

[tweeve]

yes, you would notice a diffrence going to 512 if you play games or do anything that makes the computer really work. You only need 1 GB if you are going to be gamming, but make sure that your board can handdle 1GB. some cant.

 

[FishTankX]

768 in my mind would be a good compromise..

 

[Bruck]

I tax my system quiet a bit, at times I am unpacking 700mb rar files (2 different collections of rar's at a time) (hard drive extensive), at the same time my mp3s are always running. I use photoshop from time to time, and I burn cds. i try to do all this at the same time, and usually dont make coasters, but i guess once in a while my system starts to slow down.


the short answer is yes: I run as many programs at a time that I desire.

 

[Corporate Thug]

go to ATLEAST 512

 

[Bruck]

spec info for my mobo states:

ASUS P2B-S PENTIUM-II MOTHERBOARD
2xISA, 4xPIC slots, 1x AGP slot, Ultra/DMA33 support, INTEL 440BX chipset
512k pipeline burst cache, 4x Dimms to 256mb RAM.
INTEL PENTIUM-II CPU 233-400MHz Supported.
100MHz FSB CPU's FROM 233-400MHz
ADAPTEK HA7890 SCSI NEW ULTRA2


does this mean that I can use up to 1gb ? or that my ceiling is 256 total?

 

[Corporate Thug]

it should be up to a gig

 

[oog]

run perfmon and look at the counter called Memory\Available MBytes. if your available memory is consistently below 10MB, consider getting more memory.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You would definitely notice a gain going to 512. Less so going to 1GB but still probably a worthwhile investment considering your needs.

 

[Actaeon]

Not even worth buyign 1 gig of PC100.

Go for either 1 512 stick, or 1 256 stick.

I'm confident 512mb is more than you need.

 

[Bruck]

Yea, I'm gonna add a 256 stick (double my ram)

 

[Bruck]

Originally posted by: oog
run perfmon and look at the counter called Memory\Available MBytes. if your available memory is consistently below 10MB, consider getting more memory.

At this moment, I had 30mb available. I then launched Photoshop and it went down to 4mb free (and went up/down) leveled at like 10mb , closed photoshop and it went up to 60mb.

Will I not see much of a difference then?

 

[modestninja]

What operation system are you using? If it's not XP or 2000, anything over 512mb is a waste.

 

[BoberFett]

One problem you'll run into with the P2B is high density memory. If you get a stick of 256 MB high density RAM it might not be able to see the all the memory.

I had that problem with recently. I had a 128 MB DIMM that it would only recognize half of.

 

[Bruck]

I am running win2k and i want to go from 256 to 512, but not if its a waste of money.