How does ram affect pc performance?

[lokster]

question... my ram is a corsair 2 * 1 gig DDR2-667...uhhh. will I get NOTICABLE performance boost if I change to a crucial, or team rams? 2* 1 gig DDR2-800?

and what the hell is single channel - dual channel?

depends on your computer or laptop. can they support 800mhz channel? my laptop only supports 667mhz so even if i do get 800mhz RAM stick which is more expensive IT WILL CLOCK DOWN to the setting of 667 because that is the max. if you get a 400mhz RAM stick it WILL NOT CLOCK UP.

about dual channel. No there will not be a significant increase. probably 5% which is not noticable. the more ram the better. if you could get 1 1gb stick and 1 512 stick thats alright.

dual channel is when two identical rams at same speed and size work together., but really its just fancy talk that hardly increases your ram

Start up you mean from POST to windows usable, or just after the loginscreen of vista?

post to windows usable. i only have avg, camera, ati, and sound starting up. if i turn on sidebar, rocketdock it takes about 40 seconds give or take.

For Vista only

which i don't recommend using.....

if my laptop works that fast for vista how much more for XP since everyone only knows that its a memory hog


@ wolfhound. dont bother with the processor really, there is no computer that can maximize the use of 100% of the laptop. unless you got a few doezen explorer windows open. and a few dozen mp3 playing at the same time

the cheapest fastest and foolproof way is RAM.

about the RAM support im not quite sure but 2gb for XP is too much already. home premium vista 32bit only goes 3.5gb im sure 64bit systems can take the full 4gb

[EarlZ]

@lokster,

I find it hard to believe that an added 1gb more helps boot up from post, but i know it does help past the vista splash screen.
your numbers are to big for RAM alone, those are bootimes obtained from using RAID0

@ wolfhound. dont bother with the processor really, there is no computer that can maximize the use of 100% of the laptop. unless you got a few doezen explorer windows open. and a few dozen mp3 playing at the same time

Say what?

[lokster]

lol what i meant about the processor is that dual core nowadays are pretty fast for the current users needs. whatever is in the market now is really fine. AMD or Intel. but if its a laptop go for intel. runs cooler and battery runs longer

sounds like im trolling right but yeah with ram and low start ups ive seen vistas that starts up real quick. a few toshibas, acers and asus.

[spookey]

yeah, you will be able to feel the gain if you have 2x1GB of ram. but not much gain from 2GB to 3.5GB(max).

[lokster]

if ever you get a new laptop its usually filled with bloatware just wipe the dam thing and reinstall it yourself add an extra gig and your ready to rocket and go

[hornales]

Is laptop celeron processor ok with 1 GB memory or 2 memory. im planning to upgrade my RAM from 256 to 1GB to cater my laptop music recording using cool edit and alesis 8channel multimixer firewire. i already have PCMCIA firewire. its recommended to use 1GB for audio recording ut im concerned about the celeron processor or its ok?