[Ham-Computers] Re: RAM & Performance - was Link for AVG 7.5

[Gareth]

Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal) wrote:
> Hi Gareth,
>
> 3.5GB "usable" is about the norm for 4GB systems in 32-bit Windows.  For the majority of people, the difference between 2GB and 4GB is negligible (esp if you don't game or use memory hungry apps like Photoshop).  WinXP Pro's memory management was designed to preserve RAM and swap non-critical items to the pagefile.  There are some tweaks you can do to minimize paging, but the memory performance still won't equal the memory management in Windows Server or 64-bit editions.  For reference, here are some specs of my current system:
>
> Intel E8400 Core2Duo CPU (3.0 GHz)
> Gigabyte EP35-DS3R Motherboard
> 2x 1GB Corsair PC8500 DDR2 RAM
> 2x WD5000AAKS 500GB drives (independent)
> BFG nVidia 8800GT PCI-e Video w/512MB
> PC Power & Cooling 400 watt Power Supply
> Adaptec 39160 SCSI adapter
> HP LTO-1 tape backup
> UMAX PowerLook III Scanner
>
> I have Windows "tweaked" to disable paging the Windows "executive" (kernel), but there are drawbacks to this too.  I also have the paging file set to 256MB/512MB (min/max) - according to some performance counters, Windows typically uses about 60MB and I shutdown every night.  On occasion, it'll hit about 250MB after I play a few rounds of Battlefield 2.
>
> So, to answer the original question, it doesn't make too much difference when moving from 2GB to 4GB in Windows 32-bit edition - at least not in my experience (and this includes some heavy gaming).  I also use Photoshop and do cut-edits using Premiere Elements - 4GB would definiitely help me here - but, again, most people don't use these so it wouldn't make a significant difference.
>
> I guess it also comes down to price - if you have the $$$ and want to "max out" WinXP 32-bit, then go ahead and install 4GB.  For me, I might be more tempted to stay at 2GB and spend the money finding higher performance memory sticks (e.g. PC6400 @ 3-3-3-8 or PC8500 @ 4-4-4-12).  But, for photo/video editing, the extra 2GB would definitely help.
>
>
> 73,
>
>   - Aaron, NN6O
>
>
>
>   
Thank you so much for this very informative reply Aaron. I am putting 
together a similar new xp sp3 home 32 bit box. I am going to use the 
Intel duel core E7200 ( I think - still haven't decided for sure. The 
E7200 should use a lower voltage a be a tad "greener). How much would I 
gain by going to the E8400?
2x 2GB Super Talent sticks
500 GB Seagate
Same video card
I also will run Photoshop and do a bit of editing.
Your comments on virtual memory are most interesting. This is darn hard 
to tweak just right.
On a small 3 year old notebook running Xp SP3 I have a total physical 
memory of 981036 Kb and the total commit charge varies between 380000 
and 420000 Kb. This seems to be a decent ratio. Considering it is a very 
slow Celeron 1.4 Ghz.
On this machine it is 958/1.5 Mb min/max
Again, thank you so much Aaron!

73's
N1MSV