Re: Hardware upgrades
- From: "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:04:15 -0700
KK wrote:
I have a Compaq Presario about 3 yrs old, Pentium 4 (2.5 Ghz), 512Mb
DDR, 80Gb hard disk, and 'Integrated Graphics, up to 64 Mb shared
video memory'.
I'm thinking of upgrading the hardware.
Why? Are you unhappy with the computer's performance? Has the poor
performance always been there or is it something new? If the latter, it is
very likely attributable to something other than hardware, and upgrading may
not help you at all.
I assume I can install a
faster processor
Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what your motherboard can support.
& more RAM.
Again, maybe or maybe not; it too depends on what you motherboard can
support.
Over and above that, what makes you thing more RAM will improve anything?
You often see advice telling you the more RAM the better, but that is *not*
accurate.
The issue is with the page file. If you don't have enough RAM, the operating
system will use the page file to supplement your RAM, and the page file
exists on your harddrive. Reading and wring from the page file on the hard
drive is a mechanical process, unlike the electronic one of reading and
writing to RAM, and is many times slower. So if you don't have enough RAM to
keep you from using the page file, the extra hard drive access slows the
system down. If you are in that situation, more RAM will improve
performance.
But do not assume you are in that situation. In fact, with 512MB, most
people will *not* be in that situation. Most people running a typical range
of business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well,
others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than
256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than
512MB--sometimes much more.
If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will
decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are
not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you.
Go to http://billsway.com/notes%5Fpublic/winxp%5Ftweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you
a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more.
I don't need a bigger disk.
But what is meant by 'Integrated Graphics, up to 64 Mb shared video
memory',
It means that you don't have a separate video card, but that your
motherboard has video-card-like circuitry built into it. It also means that,
since you don't have a separate video card, there is no separate video
memory, and 64MB of your 512MB is "stolen" for that purpose,
So effectively, you don't have 512MB of RAM, but only 448MB. But even 448MB
is enough for most people who don't run especially demanding apps.
and can this be upgraded ?
Not directly, but you can buy a separate video card, install it and disable
the motherboard video support. But again, do not assume that doing this will
make any perceptible performance improvement. Unless you run demanding
graphic apps (many games fall into this category), it probably will not.
Not all upgrades result in real performance improvements, and in many cases
are just wastes of money. You can take the stock engine out of your Ford and
replace it it with some souped-up racing engine, but it won't make a bit of
difference if all you do is drive it on a road where you can never go faster
than 60 MPH.
For more advice, tell us more about what performance problems you are
experiencing, and how long you've had them. Also tell us what apps you run.
--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
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