Printable View
Is there a point where amount of memory becomes redundant or even slows down a processor? I have a PIII 1GHz that takes 133MHz SDRAM. This weekend I have an opportunity to get RAM for free. The MB can actually be loaded up w/ up to 1Gig of RAM. Question is: Can this slow down my computer? I know it sounds weird but I’d think, with that much RAM, the CPU will have hard time managing.
Which OS do you have? 98 doesn't run that well past 512MB. XP and 2k will be fine.
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...AE/PAEmem.mspx
Not sure on the various linux versions.
i have 2000 all patched up
i read the paper from M$ in your post. i just want to clarify that i am aware that it will "support" up to 4gigs but will that much memory slow things down???
I highly doubt it would slow it down... Not with 2k at any rate... I know people with 2 GB of ram running 2k with no speed problems cept it being toofast :P
I would think that is one of the things that the system board developers deal with when they are in the planning stage, ie the limitations of the board.
will i still need to have "virtual memory" aka swap file and what should it be set to if i have 1gig of RAM and PIII
Depends on how much hard drive space you have... If you've got a good amount hard drive space, devote some to VM... It can only help your speed.
unhappy
1. Increasing the amount of RAM will not slow your computer. Whether you will notice much difference depends on what you use the machine for. If you run photo manipulation, CAD and some games you will notice an improvement beyond 512Mb. If you just do basic tasks you quite probably will not. It is a law of diminishing returns.
2. There is no "magic formula" for the "page file". I would recommend that you have one, but logically the more physical memory you have the less virtual memory you need. I would let Windows manage it and only change it if you encounter out of memory problems.
Cheers :)
What if it is a Linux/Unix box, what would you recommend creating?Quote:
Originally posted here by nihil
unhappy
1. Increasing the amount of RAM will not slow your computer. Whether you will notice much difference depends on what you use the machine for. If you run photo manipulation, CAD and some games you will notice an improvement beyond 512Mb. If you just do basic tasks you quite probably will not. It is a law of diminishing returns.
2. There is no "magic formula" for the "page file". I would recommend that you have one, but logically the more physical memory you have the less virtual memory you need. I would let Windows manage it and only change it if you encounter out of memory problems.
Cheers :)
Depends on hard drive size and what the box is used for... If it's a server with a ton of space I would make a page file about 15% of the free space...
I agree with nihil, where it will not slow your computer. However (there is always a however) you can do tests where after a certain point there is no increase in performance. Depending on your application of course, but after that point any new memory is a waste of money without upgrading another component, say a faster hard drive. But in this case it's FREE so stick it in the computer! :D Do a performance test before, stick it in, do on after. The CPU can manage RAM much more efficiently than hard drive VM space.
Hi,
I just looked at one of my 1024Mb/Win2000 boxes. It has allocated 1,500Mb (there are 2 x 80 Gb drives)
My gut feel is 512Mb ~ 1024Mb but as already said, a lot depends on what apps you are running.
Sorry I don't know enough about *nix boes to answer your other question.
:)
The Grunt I have always understood that you only disable VM for trouble shooting. I have heard that you can get instability problems otherwise...........Windows expects to find some?
quick google search found this little tid bit
http://www.spack.org/wiki/LinuxRamLimits
so...
is there a specific amount of RAM which after crossing you cease to need swap/VM
After 1gig of RAM I doubt that you'd need 2gigs of swap
There's gotta be a formula...
The math behind a 32 bit OS is for 4 GB of RAM MAX. With a typical max of 2GB per app.
Which is one of the reasons for upgrading to 64 bit systems. [RAM NOW hits 128 GB, with the ability to 'see' 16 TB of virtual space. think MMORPG on a truely planetary scale :)]
As stated : 512 MB of RAM is MORE than enough for the majority of PC's.
BUT : as also stated, It IS free :D Jam it in anyway, at worst, it will do nothing, and you are just storing it safely, at best, it speeds up response time noticably, and you get cred for having it to the max :)
as for VM, just leave it in auto mode ................
Hi unhappy,
As I said you ought to have some virtual memory, and it is probably best to let Windows set it in the first instance.
I just looked at my Win2000 machine and it says that the minimum allowed is 2Mb. On earlier versions of Windows you could disable virtual memory altogether. It clearly states that this is NOT RECOMMENDED.
If you have the space I would have thought that 512Mb would be adequate if you have 1024Mb of RAM. BUT this very much depends what you use your machine for...............With something like image editing and CAD applications I would look for as much as 2Gb. That is because they use very large graphical images.
Remember also that some games will store a lot of information in the page file.
:)
EDIT: There isn't a formula, Win2000 seems to allocate about 1.5x your RAM, but Windows uses maximum/minimum logic.