Will increasing RAM from 64 to 256 affect surfing?

[BigDaveinNJ]

I am going to increase the amount of RAM on my PC that has dial-up from 64 to 256 and was wondering if I will see ANY improvements when I surf the internet.

I know this won't affect my connection, but will it have ANY affect at all on page loading times etc... will it improve overall surfing at all?

Thanks in advance

DAVID

 

[jbcalg]

Originally posted by BigDaveinNJ
will it improve overall surfing at all?
DAVID

...bigger waves
...more girls


you'll notice faster processing times once the data gets to your system - so yes, pages loading faster etc on your side of the connection

but the limits, as you pointed out, are on the dial up side of things so don't expect miracles

 

[SavvyLady]

hi,
It should let you do more than a couple things at once too.... like if you're here & want to check your e-mail etc.... you should be able to do that w/ more ease & less crashing or errors.

Savvy

think we call it multitasking

 

[Bryan]

I doubt you see any noticable improvement when you surf the net but be sure to let us know what happens. For your sake I hope I'm wrong.

BTW, how much memory does your video card have? If your still running an older 1,2,4 or 8mb video card, you can get some improvement by getting a newer 16 or 32mb card.

 

[BigDaveinNJ]

Bryan... I am using a AMD-K6 w/ 4mb of video memory. This memory is SHARED... from what I understand.

I guess that's why it says I have 60meg of RAM..... because the other 4 is for video... but I could be wrong.

I am not a gamer at all, and strictly surf the web. I am hoping that increasing to 256meg of RAM will at least improve a few things other than multi-tasking... which I very rarely (if ever) do.

Thanks

DAVID

 

[Bryan]

A video card with more memory doesn't just benefit gaming. It helps when your loading web pages full of images. That's why I asked because if your looking to speed up surfing, you'll get more bang for your buck by installing a better video card. But in your instance, if you've got an onboard card, some of those motherboards are a pain in the butt to get PCI cards working.

 

[Hamill]

Just was wondering what type of mother board you were using and what the limitations are on memory, both ram and video. You might be able to have your system share more than 4mb of video memory which would make the improvement Brian was speaking of. Also some older mother boards can get a little unstable with that much memory on it. One of my pc's is a K6 III 400 mhz with an FIC mother board. When I put in 256mb of ram on it it gets unstable. I use 128mb on it and it runs fine. Good luck and hope you get the improvement you are looking for.
Hamill

 

[BigDaveinNJ]

Not really sure what type of MOTHERBOARD I have... however, computer can hold a max of 768megs of RAM.

Are you serious? Is there a possibility that my PC will become UNSTABLE if there are 256megs of RAM inside?

I know that they had several memory OPTIONS when I got my PC... and at the time I only opted for 64meg of RAM.

BTW... My PC a 500Mhz AMD-k6 processor, a 20 gig HD and right now just 64meg of RAM.

I am not so much concerned about another video card at this time, but what are the chances that the 256 of CRUCIAL RAM that I am thinking of putting in may mess things up?

Thanks again

DAVID

 

[Hamill]

If your mother board says it can support 768 mb you will probaly be ok putting in 256mb. I would get into your bios and see if you can increase the amount of memory used for video to 16 or 32 mb.
Hamill

 

[Bryan]

Yea you may find a setting in the BIOS that allows you to increase the shared video memory size. Most of the earlier MBs allowed the settings of 1,2,4 or 8mb. I'd increase it to the largest value available. You see more browsing improvement with more video card memory than your going to experience adding RAM.

As far as going to 256MB of RAM, you'll be fine. That's the perfect "high" amount for Windows 95, 98 or ME. The lowest I'd ever run would be 128MB.

 

[tosim33]

Be aware that there is a marked improvement in all around performance when upgrading to 128MB RAM. However, for your system, very little more can be gained by going above 128, and, as stated by others, can actually mess up performance.

 

[Topazz]

Just to put my 2c worth in, I added 128mb ram to my original 32mb to get 160mb a couple of weeks ago and was very pleasantly surprised to find that my internet surfing speed DID improve. I certainly wasn't expecting that since surfing speed is very dependent on the web connection. The increase in ram significantly sped up program launching (eg OE and IE) and pages opened faster while surfing as well. I'm not complaining!

Can't say whether you will notice a big improvement going from 64 to 128 or 256mb but I would be surprised if you didn't. Ram is so cheap just now it is a waste not to do it, in my opinion. Good luck

 

[BigDaveinNJ]

Again... thanks for the replies.... however, there seems to be quite a difference of opinion as to this TOO MUCH RAM issue.

I have never heard of that, but I am sure there are instances where it applies.

Another thing I was wondering about is the fact that I have 3 slots that take up to 256 of ram each.

Now... does each slot have to have the SAME amount of ram? ie... 64--64--64 or can you mix and match?

BTW... my RAM is PC100 SDRAM

Thanks again

DAVID

 

[Topazz]

Don't take me for an expert, but from my own experience I added 128mb ram alongside my 32mb and they both worked together to give me 160mb, which I wasn't really expecting, so that was good news . I think my mobo supports PC66 SDRAM and I added PC133 SDRAM which it accepted. It probably runs at 66mHz though and not 133mHz. I think it's usually OK to mix and match the speed but not the type of ram, such as SIMMS and DIMMS or something. Some ram is populated on just one side and others on both sides and you need to make sure that they are both the same in that respect.

Crucial's website should be able to tell you what you need if you tell it what your mobo is. Give it a go and if it doesn't work they should let you return it -- I think! My retailer does, anyway.

 

[jbcalg]

here's 2 cdn cents

the mixing and matching all depends on what configurations your motherboard will accept - look in the manual, get a copy from the mfg site to find out

i too have 160 mb on an old machine (5 yr old 200 mmx) - asus board

had 4 x 16 simms, 66 mhz ram
added 1 x 128 dimm, pc100 ram
but only 2 x 16 simm (1 paired of 2 slot banks) would work with it
= 160 Mb

and speed improvement was noticeable, also stability (running W98SE)

not the same brand, mixed simm and dimm, mixed chip speed, i'm guessing the pc100 is only running at 66 mhz
- fine by me, it's faster

a very flexible board LOL

the literature does support the 'too much memory' talk, but there's ways around it, and it seems to apply above the 512 level
and as others have said:
- you'll see the most improvement up to 128, after that there's some but probably not worth going past 256
- and it won't be surfing speed per se, that's more a function of your connection