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General discussion

how much memory do i need?

Aug 7, 2004 9:45AM PDT

hi there,

I recently upgraded from a pc-133 sytem, it was an MSI mobo with an 1800xp amd chip (running win 2000). that system had 512 mb of memory and ran great.

the mobo melted so I bought a new mobo and a faster processor too (AMD 2200) and it uses faster memory, -2700 / 333 memory, (?) but i only have 256mb of memory now. so despite the faster board and chip, I see a marked decrease in overall system speed. pix take a while to redraw, etc. so can I assume the memory is the problem? -- and if so, so how much should I get for basic picture editing, multiple programs open at once, etc., no gaming? --fj

Discussion is locked

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Re: how much memory do i need?
Aug 7, 2004 10:02AM PDT

My bet is the OS install is not done. Motherboard, video drivers and such are not done by Microsoft.

Bob

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Re: how much memory do i need?
Aug 7, 2004 3:35PM PDT

well I ran the driver disk that came with the new mobo -- i also had to reinstall the sound card. what else should I do? should I reinstall all the other device drivers? like video? --fj

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About drivers.
Aug 7, 2004 10:17PM PDT

While I know that Microsoft usually supplies drivers good enough to boot Windows, I know that I update them all later. As you install Windows a few more times, you'll figure out that you fetch the latest drivers for everything and install them.

If not, results can be mixed.

your choice,

Bob

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Re: how much memory do i need?
Aug 7, 2004 1:25PM PDT

No more than a Gig. Anything else is overkill and money wasteful, and up to a point you'll never see any improvement. Unless you are heavy into video editing or high end gaming, 512 is usually sufficient.

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Re: how much memory do i need?
Aug 7, 2004 11:01PM PDT

With what you want to do it would seem like 512 is a nice number however before I did that there are things I would check.

Visit the mobo makers site check bios and driver levels compare to what you have.

Based on w98.
Visit device mgr check for flags and that things like dma are enabled.

Revisit device mgr in safe mode check for dupe entries.

Browse through the bios to see if anything jumps at you as being not quite right.

Only then, with great pain, would I open my wallet.

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Re: how much memory do i need?
Aug 9, 2004 5:59AM PDT

If your previous mobo did not have integrated sound, video, NIC and this one does, you may be seeing the need for more memory. 512 is usually enough for most until things like swapping, sound and video main memory sharing kick in.

Make sure you are actually performing at best. With overclocking some settings are required in the BIOS and sometimes with jumpers.

I like aida32 (google search) for looking at how the system is setup and performing. It points you to the various sites and driver download links and shows you what your current version is for each.