How's this laptop look? - Page 2

astroglide · #11 03-01-2005, 06:44 PM

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SamJack is absolutely right. If you're using 2k or XP, 1GB is essentially mandatory.

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unused memory does not do anything for your computer except make it cost more money

hate · #12 03-01-2005, 06:46 PM

Party's software is relatively good and responsive. However, if you've got pt and a web browser open, it's worth it. I'm telling you right now that the performance boost you'll see with 1GB of ram will be very noticeable if you ever need to run more than one application at a time. That grinding noise you always hear when you're using windows? That's the gigantic amount of swap it has to use.

astroglide · #13 03-01-2005, 06:49 PM

ctrl-shift-esc, 'performance' tab. the peak commit charge is the largest amount of physical memory that has been in use at once since the system was booted. if it's not over 524288, more than 512MB of ram would have absolutely no effect on the system. one doesn't have to speculate about hard drive noises when there are objective measurements seconds away.

shant's 7200rpm drive recommendation should have a much more meaningful impact on day-to-day performance.

MonkeeMan · #14 03-01-2005, 06:55 PM

I'm sure it's good and all, but the days of Dell having the best deals are long gone. Also, increasing memory is the #1 cost/performance improvement you can make, but that doesn't mean you do or don't need more of it.

hate · #15 03-01-2005, 06:56 PM

Actually, the maximum commit charge is the maximum amount of swap available (including existing swap + free hd space) + existing physical memory. Windows uses some retarded percentage of swap in addition to physical memory, so that a portion of memory used is always in swap. The peak commit charge is the total amount of memory that windows has used in that session. Stop being a goddamn tool already, this isn't the nerd brigade.

astroglide · #16 03-01-2005, 07:05 PM

Commit Charge (K)

Memory allocated to programs and the operating system. Because of memory copied to the paging file, called virtual memory, the value listed under Peak may exceed the maximum physical memory.

you are nothing short of a moron if you think that running 2k or xp makes 1GB even useful, much less mandatory, to most users.

alfatcat · #17 03-01-2005, 07:47 PM

So after all the geek chest thumping...what's the bottom line? 512 or 1G?

PITTM · #18 03-01-2005, 08:02 PM

buying more ram down the road is more expensive than upgrading from 512 to 1gig when you are buying it. however, most ram you would get in a prebuilt computer is garbage. if hes just going to be using it for watching dvds and playing poker 512 is probably fine, but 1 gig would keep it from getting obselete a little better.

rj

astroglide · #19 03-01-2005, 08:12 PM

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buying more ram down the road is more expensive than upgrading from 512 to 1gig when you are buying it

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that is patently false. dell's bread and butter on low-margin systems are warranties and point of purchase upgrades which could be done cheaper aftermarket, ram being one of the most notorious examples. look at crucial.com (and that's not the cheapest vendor by any stretch, they're just the biggest and most popularly reputable). the ram he gets in a prebuilt laptop is going to be the same as far as the user is concerned as anything else they'd buy.

bottom line: 512MB is fine. if it gives you piece of mind upgrade-wise to have 1x512MB instead of 2x256MB, it may be worth the price difference for you. definitely spring for the 60gb/7200rpm drive if you can budget it.

hate · #20 03-01-2005, 09:24 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Commit Charge (K)

Memory allocated to programs and the operating system. Because of memory copied to the paging file, called virtual memory, the value listed under Peak may exceed the maximum physical memory.

you are nothing short of a moron if you think that running 2k or xp makes 1GB even useful, much less mandatory, to most users.

[/ QUOTE ]

So you're agreeing that I'm right? Do you even understand the difference in seek times between swap and physical memory? Did you even understand what I was talking about when Windows utilizes swap regardless of your memory size, negating your entire "IF PEAK IS UNDER PHYSICAL DON'T EVER GET MEMORY". I'm not suggesting you upgrade with memory from Dell, I'm suggesting that you're an utter retard for going on with this argument.