Adding more RAM?

[phyljack1]

I got this e-mail from my daughter. Should she follow Staples advice?

I'm thinking of upgrading the Kids Dell Dimension 3000 computer to 2GB of
RAM (1 GB X 2 memory slots). I had Staples run a free pc assessment, and
they said the computer would run faster if we upgraded to 2 more GB of ram
(all sources seem to agree that you should upgrade memory in pairs only)

There are several companies offering 1GB memory stick with different prices.
Would it be better just to buy it from Dell? They have it for $46.99 per 1
GB so it will be around 100.00.

 

[Cheeseball81]

Let me guess....they ran the PC Tune Up?

More memory is always a good thing. It makes such a difference in PC performance.

Another good website is www.crucial.com
They always have good deals on memory.

 

[joeten]

hi you could run it through crucials site which will scan and give a report on what it has and what it can handle http://www.crucial.com/ they will also give you prices

 

[IMiteBable2help]

Let me guess....they ran the PC Tune Up?

More memory is always a good thing. It makes such a difference in PC performance.

Another good website is www.crucial.com
They always have good deals on memory.

Nonsense. More RAM never hurts, but you could end up paying for more than you actually use. More RAM makes a slight but noticable difference IF performance was slowed by use of the page file due to insufficient real RAM. But often, the cause for insufficient RAM is too many programs running on startup that don't need to be there, many of which also use CPU cycles so that needs to be cleaned up if that's the case. The OP failed to mention how much RAM is in the machine in the first place but I believe it has 1X 512 GB in it.

if that's the case, it could benefit greatly by using 2 X 1GB since 512 is mostly used up by windows, and if it has "shared" video RAM, then 512 is downright pathetically low. If it has only one empty slot you'll need to buy a pair of 1 gb modules and ditch your old ones and keep them for backup. That is, if the board supports 1 GB modules. All I can say about who to get them from depends. If you're under warranty, (I doubt it) go with Dell. If not, it's your choice. Just make sure you get the right RAM. Often modules that should work, don't on some OEM machines. Sometimes they require specific brands/model #'s of modules. At one time, your RAM was much cheaper than it is now. Missed the upgrade boat on that one. Now it's as expensive or more expensive then RAM for newer computers. It takes DDR PC3200 NON-EEC, CL=3 http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...nics&hvadid=3366412945&ref=pd_sl_3qeypuvzp1_b

I have found the crucial scanner to be utterly useless on many machines including the one in my sig. It simply doesn't work. I have also got results or "recommended" that was downright wrong. BTW, I'm running crucial RAM in this PC, and scanner fails to find a match, not that I need them to. They can't find a match for their own RAM. OK. It detected my MB correctly so i put that in manually. It says my board doesn't support dual-channel. It does. It says the board supports PC2-8500. It does not. This is typical of the results I get on other machines too.

 

[TerryNet]

What joeten said! You may be able to just add 1 GB to what you have. Even if you don't buy from Crucial it's good to see what their scanner says.

How much memory is in the machine? Is it used for memory intensive things (video editing, games, ...)? What OS?

 

[joeten]

thank you TerryNet it never hurts to check

 

[IMiteBable2help]

Going by make and model only, it's a fairly old budget dell machine that only comes with 512MB ram, a 40gb HDD, 2.4ghz cpu, and a really cheap graphics card. Is built very cheaply all around. Personally, I wouldn't invest that much in it.(about $100) but I might be inclined to match the 512 module that's in it at least. Hopefully the crucial website can at least tell him what module he needs to match what's in it. They couldn't do it on this machine with their own ram in it though.

 

[TerryNet]

I assumed Vista because of the forum, but if it has XP then doubling 512 to 1 GB will help. I added 1 GB to my old Dell desktop's 512 and got great improvement, but watching the memory usage I would have done just as well with 1 instead of 1.5 GB.

 

[IMiteBable2help]

That sounds about right. And I agree that if they don't regularly run some highly demanding app that uses a lot of RAM, then more than 1 GB won't really improve performance much at all.

And yes, this thread really should be in hardware. If this is XP we are talking about, and you do increase your RAM, don't forget to increase the size of the paging file to 1.5X the amount of your physical ram. This will help prevent fragmenting of the page file. (if it isn't already fragmented)