memory = faster comp?

[Clip]

hey all,

my toshiba portege m400 tablet is crawling when i first turn it on and when i try to open programs (autodesk inventor). it was new in august, so it's probably outdated

my question is:

will adding more memory help me get a faster computer on startup, and loading/running programs?

another annoying problem is my right-click menus disappearing in inventor and won't reappear until i re-mouse over them, highlighting the options and making them 'pop' back onscreen (menu is there, but then disappears from view til i wiggle the mouse over it again)

any of you comp pros know if more memory will solve these problems? if so, what kind/brand is best? i think i need so-dimm but i suppose the manual will tell.

thanks for the help!

chris

 

[Jervis Mcstabby]

....(autodesk)....

For any Autodesk product, the more memory, the better. Autodesk stuff is very memory intensive (especially 3DSMAX and MAYA). Yes, having more memory will decrease startup time, but not as significantly as cleaning up your startup programs (start>run>msconfig) and defragging your computer (my comp>hard disk properties*right click*>tools). If you're looking to upgrade, make sure you know the memory type and max ram capacity your tablet can actually hold. Good luck

 

[Clip]

do i need memory that is registered/buffered? what's that mean?

if i have 1 gb in the form of two 512 mb cards, will i need to do anything special to the comp/op system if i take both out and put in two 1gb cards?

 

[Jervis Mcstabby]

Registered memory is more stable/reliable, but also more expensive.

As for the cards, most all memory is plug & play, the only restriction being what your computer can accept (like if your motherboard only supports pc2700 ram, you can't use pc5300 ram). Same with capacity: if your laptop only accept 2gb of ram, then it would be useless to buy two 2gb cards. Both of these requirements should be in your computer's manual or on Toshiba's support site.

 

[Piratetip]

Registered memory is best suited for servers where accuracy needs to be as close to 100% as possible.
It is unnecessary for personal computers.

 

[masterchief819]

I've been out of the computer scene for a while but I always thought a processor with more cache would give faster overall application speed? Has nothing to do with memory size or speed (unless you have a ridiculously small amount of memory to start with).

 

[Clip]

here's a system specific (toshiba):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134060

and here's one that has the same numbers, just a lot more (200 pin ddr2 so-dimm ddr2 667 pc2 5300)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134060

any difference in the system specific and the universal (besides less memory)?

as for the processor, ive got a centrino duo, not sure if i can step up

 

[foreverpsycotic]

Laptop processors are the easiest to overclock IMO. Just make sure you have adequate cooling if you do. More memory is always good, and if you have aim, icq, googletalk, itunes and all that crap starting up with the computer it slows it down a whole lot. Go into msconfig and see what fat you can trim.

 

[Clip]

got 4 gigs in without a hitch, thanks for the help!

 

[suprageezer]

Memory, processor, blah blah blah, its all about SEEK time, how fast your hard drive can find the data on your hard drive, the quantity of memory and speed of the processor has been far faster than the seek times of hard drives for years, most likely always will be. I learned this one boring weekend when I took a 166mhz Pentium computer, gave it 256 mb of ram, used a maxtor 120 gig 7200 rpm 8.9 ms seek time. That's a pretty advanced seek time compared to the seek time of a 1 gig hdd that was typically the available in the day of a 166. I installed win xp home, and a modern video card with 64mb of onboard ram. I was blown away at the speed it performed at compared to the day when I actually used the 166 as my desktop. Most laptops have comparatively slow seek times to desktop. Processor heat is another reason computers run slowly, the cooler it runs the faster it runs. I find many laptops have plugged up cooling systems from dust bunnies.
Now you want to speed it up even faster go to blackviper.com and adjust all your windows services by disabling the ones that allow hackers in, and others you have no use for.

Here's an easy memory test, fire up your biggest memory muncher, do a ctrl, alt, delete to bring up your windows task manager window, click on the performance tab and see what your computer is currently using compared to whats availbale. I think you' find even though you have a ton of ram, it doen not mean your program will be using it and there's still a ton available.

 

[Clip]

thanks for the tips, geezer. i started up autodesk inventor and was using about 2.2-2.4gig of the 3.2 gigs i have installed. how's that compare with what you've seen?

 

[suprageezer]

CAD type proggys and games know how to use the RAM, most other proggys don't grab that much even if it's available. Sounds like your system is a smoker, did you try turning off all those uneeded windows services?

 

[Clip]

i tried a few of them, wasn't really sure how far i could go before i started screwing things up

 

[suprageezer]

Do you mean the black viper settings? Use his Safe Category and nothing will be messed up. I've used these settings on hundreds of puters, then unuinstalled the stinking worthless anit-virus programs. I set everyone up to use Spybot and Adaware and thats it besides keeping your windows updated to the latest microsoft windows security updates. I'll try and finish my complete XP setup instructions and post them soon. As you go through the setup you'll see using common sense what it means to disable all these features XP has for the coporate world. It will make you home computer run faster and be far harder for any assholes to attack your system via the default windows installed networking services.

 

[JASONA70]

simple answer : get a faster processor and/or more ram memory (4gb) i run adobe after effects and 3d studio max/inventor, each one of those programs use up to 30% of my overall ram memory, when it renders thats a different story.

 

[Clueless]

2+gigs works best on XP...especially running inventor

 

[Isphius]

try reinstalling XP too if you ever have the chance. A cpu is kinda like a turbo and ram is the ammount of turbo lag you have. but the hard drive is the gas tank. or something like that. More ram is always better, but low ram is not always the problem. but tweaking XP to use less mem helps a lot too(turn off graphics, turn off unneeded services/features, etc). Also you can increase your page file...forget how to get there but look it up on google. dxdiag will tell you how much you have. And to increase your boot time make sure you dont have a huge picture on your desktop, get rid of as many icons as possible, turn off load on startup, etc.

 

[PROJECT N00b]

subscribed for write up.

 

[Clip]

try reinstalling XP too if you ever have the chance. A cpu is kinda like a turbo and ram is the ammount of turbo lag you have. but the hard drive is the gas tank. or something like that. More ram is always better, but low ram is not always the problem. but tweaking XP to use less mem helps a lot too(turn off graphics, turn off unneeded services/features, etc). Also you can increase your page file...forget how to get there but look it up on google. dxdiag will tell you how much you have. And to increase your boot time make sure you dont have a huge picture on your desktop, get rid of as many icons as possible, turn off load on startup, etc.

another kid i know with the same laptop tried that and screwed something up. hes a bit more of a geek than i am so he knows what went wrong, said something about toshiba having their own way of doing things and had to wait for toshiba to send him one of their winXP discs to reinstall it (4-6 weeks).

how does the centrino duo processor compare to the ones on the market now? i've got a t7400 2.16ghz

i also increased my page file size to 4092mb, what will this affect (bad/good?)

 

[Isphius]

well ive never dealt with a laptop, only XP on desktops. if thats the case i wouldnt mess with it either