Questions about upgrading memory

[hajime]

Hello. I have a HP desktop computer. I upgraded from Vista 32bit to Vista 64-bit Ultimate myself. The system came with 4GB memory. My questions are:

1. Will there be an increase in performance if I upgrade the RAM to 8GB? If so, about how many percent faster?

2. When I upgrade the RAM, will I lose performance if I only add 4GB more RAM (made from different manufacturer with perhaps some subtle differences in specifications) to my system? For the best performance and compatibility, shall I replace the RAM which came with the machine with new ones?

3. Do I have to install Vista again due to hardware change?

Thanks.

 

[GhislainG]

1. What is the maximum memory that your system has ever used? If it's much less than 4GB, then you won't see a difference. If you run applications that can take advantage of more RAM, then go for it.

2. Ideally (for optimal stability) the specifications should be as similar as possible. In particular you shouldn't use modules that require different voltages.

3. No you don't have to reinstall Vista.

 

[mtyermom]

Like ghis said, unless you are using programs that utilize high amounts of ram, you won't see any performance increase. We need to know exactly what kind of programs you are running and your full system specs.

 

[hajime]

Thanks for the advice. I use Matlab (32-bit) and I often have running out of memory problem. As the software is 32-bit, I am not sure if adding more RAM would help. Any idea? System specs: Intel Core2Quad Q9400 (2.6GHz, 1333MHz FSB), 4GB DDR2-SDRAM. Vista Ultimate 64 bit.

 

[bobbknight]

On Toms here it was pointed out that 64 bit Vista with 8GB ram worked as well as 32 bit xp with 2GB, that was before vista sp1.
Vista likes ram and you will see a noticeable performance increase.

 

[hajime]

Sorry I forgot to mention that I am using 64 bit vista ultimate SP1.

 

[GhislainG]

I run Windows Server 2008 (Vista 64 is based on the same kernel) on an Asus P5Q Deluxe with 8GB of ram. My system uses much less than 4GB, until I start several VMs. Since Matlab is a 32-bit application, I doubt that it could take advantage of a lot of memory.

hajime, when running Matlab, post the commit charge values of your system (Task Manager, Performance).

 

[hajime]

Hi ghislaing. Thanks for the info. Here are the values. Will it help to upgrade from 4 to 8GB memory?

Memory
---------
2.16GB

Physical Memory
-------------------
Total: 4094
Cached: 2288
Free: jumping between 6 and 40 something. Often stay at around 30.

Kernel Memory
------------------
Total: 347
Paged: 272
nonpaged: 75

System
---------
Handles: 14304
Threads: 651
Processes: 52
Page file: 2302M/8397M

 

[GhislainG]

Your system is using less than 2GB for programs. Vista's SuperFetch uses free memory for caching, but increasing it from 2.2GB to 6.2GB will not provide a noticeable performance improvement. On the other hand, memory is inexpensive. No matter how much memory you install, the Kernel will page and the page file will always be used (unless you turn paging off).