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Hello everyone, looking for some opinions on whether its worth it to add memory (RAM) to my computer to make it "run" faster. Here's what I have..
HP Pavilion 7850
933 MHz
128MB SDRAM Memory
40GB Hard drive
CD-ROM
CD-RW
I've received conflicting opinions on this. Some people told me to add the max and I'll notice a big difference, while others have said it really won't make any difference. The computer is pretty ancient. I have Roadrunner high speed internet however its definitely not running as fast as my computer at work. I've done a disk defrag, disk maintenance. I've cleaned up cookies, compressed files and it only made a slight differrence IMO. I usually only use the computer to surf w/my son, play online poker, & download songs for my wife's IPOD. I went to best buy (or circuit city) and the guy there told me they have (geek squad?) who could install for a fee. I also have a brother in law who says he could install the memory....I don't want to pay an arm and a leg and just want the computer to be faster.....
SDRAM memory is pretty cheap and 128! You must be running 98 or ME because I am not sure XP will even run with 128.
In any case if you are just needing a computer for email, internet, and simple games that are not graphic intensive, a stick of 512 would go a long way to speeding you up.
However, as the previous poster said, it is probably time to get a new box, especially if you want to interface with any multimedia gear, programs, etc...
A quick test: If your computer has a light that shows hard drive activity, watch it.
Open a few programs and leave them open. Now open a file in Word or some other program and make some changes. Watch the light while you work. Is it on all or most of the time? If yes, more RAM will help. If no, more RAM won't.
In general having 128mb RAM is a minimum. Might have been Okay when the PC was new, but how many programs have been added since, and how many run when your PC starts? (Number of icons in the lower right corner of the taskbar)
With the cost of new PC's today you can upgrade for a fairly small price. If you have a CompUSA and aren't concerned about local warranty, I think you'll be seeing some very nice going out of business sales.
Hello everyone, looking for some opinions on whether its worth it to add memory (RAM) to my computer to make it "run" faster. Here's what I have..
HP Pavilion 7850
933 MHz
128MB SDRAM Memory
40GB Hard drive
CD-ROM
CD-RW
I've received conflicting opinions on this. Some people told me to add the max and I'll notice a big difference, while others have said it really won't make any difference. The computer is pretty ancient. I have Roadrunner high speed internet however its definitely not running as fast as my computer at work. I've done a disk defrag, disk maintenance. I've cleaned up cookies, compressed files and it only made a slight differrence IMO. I usually only use the computer to surf w/my son, play online poker, & download songs for my wife's IPOD. I went to best buy (or circuit city) and the guy there told me they have (geek squad?) who could install for a fee. I also have a brother in law who says he could install the memory....I don't want to pay an arm and a leg and just want the computer to be faster.....
Any suggestions??
thanks
Look at your task manager (start, run, tskmgr) and watch the amount of memory your pc uses. If it gets anywhere near 90% (and it probably does), adding ram would increase speed. Now if upgrading is worth the expense, thats a different subject but 256k chips are cheap. VERY cheap.
I recently took a pc from 4 gigs, to 12 gigs, and going to 16 gigs this weekend, the speed increase has been substantially because I'm using 11 gigs sitting idle. No, you dont need 12 gigs of ram.. but 128 most likely isnt enough. I'd suggest going to 512k ram.. and then when you have funds... buy another computer.. using this one as a spare one. Its not total garbage so it might be worth putting $40 into it for ram chips.
You don't mention what OS your running, but if it's XP, and baring any other issues like spyware or a full hard drive, going to 512MB would be a huge improvement, anything under that and XP runs like a dog. Windows 98 or ME not so much of a benefit, but you'll get a little.
The replies that you won't see much difference may not be accurate as you didn't include which OS your using.
Thanks guys. Reading up on it alittle more, I think the motherboard has 2 slots? Capable of 256Mb max in each.
I'll prob save my money and hold off for right now, but I really appreciate the feedback!
You can save a lot of money by building your own computer, or you can replace the motherboard, the processor and the power supply on the old computer, along with the disk drive, and other peripherals, like the video and sound cards and you'd still save a good amount of money.
I would avoid buying a computer from makers like Dell or Gateway because they'll include other garbage you don't really need. If you build/upgrade your own computer, you can install only what you need.
Also, Windows XP requires at least 512 megs of memory, and Vista about 1 gig.
You can save a lot of money by building your own computer, or you can replace the motherboard, the processor and the power supply on the old computer, along with the disk drive, and other peripherals, like the video and sound cards and you'd still save a good amount of money.
I would avoid buying a computer from makers like Dell or Gateway because they'll include other garbage you don't really need. If you build/upgrade your own computer, you can install only what you need.
Also, Windows XP requires at least 512 megs of memory, and Vista about 1 gig.
I don't know about the others, but Dell has stopped doing this. You can now opt out of all the bloatware, and for a lot of their computers you can still get XP.
You can run XP WITH 256 AND VISTA WITH 512 BUT YOU MULTIPLY BY 2 OR 3 FOR GAMING
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