A sign I need more memory?

[TowerShield]

Though it generally doesn't seem very noticeable, are these stats a clue that there will be a very significant faster feel to upgrade from 512MB to (768MB) 1GB on my laptop?

"Normal" Usage: (FF, IE, Opera, Word)
Virtual Memory Usage: 570MB
Available Free Memory: 67MB (of 512MB)

Or would it still seem the same even with more memory? It seems plenty fast at the moment even with high memory usage.

 

[Azndude2190]

more memory is always good for your computer or laptop so I would just go for the one gig of RAM

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Welcome to AT.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if you hit Alt-Ctrl-Del to get the Windows Task Manager up, you can check the Performance tab.

After doing some intensive work if the Peak Commit Charge is higher than your Total Physical Memory, then you could benefit from more ram.

 

[KoolDrew]

If normal usage is browsing the internet and using Word don't even bother.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

If you have only 67 Mb free with only those four apps open, then something is wrong, even if you have a major bloatware app running in the background like Norton Internet Security. 512Mb is more than adequate except for serious gaming. For normal desktop apps it's more than enough.

I'd say you have something using a lot of memory: a misbehaved background app or driver, too many frivolous background apps running, or spyware.

Check your startups and see if there's any uneccesary bloatware running in the background.

Refer to my detailed spyware cleaning procedure here: http://theflyingpenguin.com/spyware-removal.shtml

Afterwards I'd recommend a FULL virus scan in SAFE MODE.

Hope this helps...

 

[Sonikku]

I have a gig of corsair value ram running in my Socket A Sempron 2400+ cpu/Radeon 9600XT setup and I don't really need it. From the ram my set up is using 512 mb would probably be more then enough.

 

[Yuriman]

I'd recomend a ram upgrade. Many of the games that are coming out happily utilize more than 1gb of ram on their own, a great example of which would be Battlefield 2. I also know of a few RTS's that also take up this kind of ram. But, you generaly desktop usage should not take up nearly that much unless you have spyware or something.

 

[bdww00]

try for 2 gb if your board can hold it~ laptops get old quick and are hard to upgrade!

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Guys. The guy says his normal usage is FF, IE, Opera, & Word. Doesn't sound like a power gamer, or maybe even a gamer at all.

BF2 is about the only thing that really makes use of more than 1Gb. Next year every game will probably prefer 2Gb.

Right now unless you play BF2, or you want to stay ahead of the ram curve, or you're a SERIOUS photoshop user, 1Gb is more than adequate.

 

[CrucialLabs]

Upgrade to more memory if you need to but I would seriously turn off some of those startup programs in msconfig. You must have some bloatware stealing your memory. Going to 768MBs will help a bit if you really must but I think going to 1GB would be overkill for what you are doing unless you see some changes in your computer habits in the near future.