Re: Memory upgrade?

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

tempest wrote:
"Paul" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:gvhc60$2qv$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
tempest wrote:

Thanks for the helpful info. The only one thing, maybe, if use two
equally memory sticks, RAM will work in dual mode, which is better?
If the computer is "dual channel", then two equal sticks give
more memory bandwidth.

But at least some chipsets, still operate in dual channel mode,
even when the sticks are mismatched. For example, some Intel
chipsets, offer a flex memory mode. If a 1GB and a 2GB stick are
installed, one on each channel, the bottom 2x1GB of memory space
runs dual channel, and the remaining 1GB at the top of the 2GB
stick, runs single channel.

Memory bandwidth doesn't always give a big boost to visible
performance. If you're expecting the computer to become a
"whole different machine", that probably won't happen. If
the computer was an older one, some of those did benefit
from changes like this.

On laptops, improving the hard drive can make a pleasant
difference. It all depends what the price is for such
an improvement. If you go really cheap on these, they
really suck. The technology is still not mature.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16820167014

Paul
-----------


what you meant by improving the hard drive?? If I got entry-middle level
laptop with 320Gb HDD, it would be quite enough for me, what else I can
improve? The only problem is that all laptops have SATA drives, but WinXP
does not understand SATA, so we should rely on luck, or tinkering with bios.


I was making a reference, to replacing a rotating hard drive, with
a 2.5" SSD drive. That particular one is built by Intel, and
internally has ten flash channels. It has a relatively high bandwidth
(and uses a SATA interface). It would be an example of what
a rich guy would use, to beef up his laptop. The seek time is
quite low (0.1 millisecond or less), which is where the improvement
comes from.

(Inside an SSD drive, showing the flash memory chips - 64GB worth)
http://techreport.com/r.x/intel-x25e/money.jpg

The capacity of that drive is quite small. It uses good quality
flash chips (SLC type). The drive has wear leveling, to promote
a long operating life. It is about the best drive of that type
you can get. The drive is barely big enough for comfortable
WinXP use, and wouldn't leave enough space, to hold your
entire movie collection. But that is not the purpose.
It is to speed up basic operations on frequently accessed
files.

If you read the Newegg customer reviews, listed for some of
those items, you can learn how much the purchase helped the
person who bought it. For example, boot time doesn't improve
that much.

There is a technology that is faster than that, but it won't
fit inside your laptop :-)

Paul
.

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