Someone help.. memory upgrade on computer
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Someone help.. memory upgrade on computer
I went to gateway and she quoted me like... 150 bucks for a 64mg module if I did the install myself.. heh, no thanks.
Anyways.. heres the rundown on what I have
Motherboard is a TABOR III
processor, Pent III 450mhz
96mb RAM
13.6 GB EIDE hard drive
on my invoice. it breaks the mem down into 1 64mb module and one 32mb module.. hard drive 13.6gb 5400rpm ultra ATA
This computer is way bogged down as far as mem goes. Its become sluggish (I gotta lot of crap installed on it... like photoshop, big stuff...)
How much should I upgrade to? Can someone point me in the right direction as far as where and what to buy... ?
Also.. when you upgrade your mem.... does that affect anything you have saved on your computer? All thats saved on the hard drive correct.. the memory is just whats used to run stuff?
sorry.. color me computer illiterate here
Anyways.. heres the rundown on what I have
Motherboard is a TABOR III
processor, Pent III 450mhz
96mb RAM
13.6 GB EIDE hard drive
on my invoice. it breaks the mem down into 1 64mb module and one 32mb module.. hard drive 13.6gb 5400rpm ultra ATA
This computer is way bogged down as far as mem goes. Its become sluggish (I gotta lot of crap installed on it... like photoshop, big stuff...)
How much should I upgrade to? Can someone point me in the right direction as far as where and what to buy... ?
Also.. when you upgrade your mem.... does that affect anything you have saved on your computer? All thats saved on the hard drive correct.. the memory is just whats used to run stuff?
sorry.. color me computer illiterate here
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Some suggestions..
whats your budget?
A stick of 256mb goes for about a $80 these days, don't know what the lady at gateway is thinking.
For normal daily use, the P3 450mhz should be sufficient, I'd just get another harddrive (An IBM 46gig 7200rpm) which costs around $150 bucks or so would be more than enough.
And no, when you upgrade your memory (the ram), you wouldn't lose or have any affect on the data you saved on your computer. In simple language, the harddrive is where the data is stored, and the memory is there to 'temporary' store the data and load the programs. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong
A stick of 256mb goes for about a $80 these days, don't know what the lady at gateway is thinking.
For normal daily use, the P3 450mhz should be sufficient, I'd just get another harddrive (An IBM 46gig 7200rpm) which costs around $150 bucks or so would be more than enough.
And no, when you upgrade your memory (the ram), you wouldn't lose or have any affect on the data you saved on your computer. In simple language, the harddrive is where the data is stored, and the memory is there to 'temporary' store the data and load the programs. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong
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some more info
I'd like to say... 100 bucks right now...
my harddrive... I've got 11.3gb free space...
the mem though... on a GOOD day when Ive done defrag, dumped all the temp files etc etc and have only one or two windows of IE open.... Its at 65%... usually its more like 50-45% and very sluggish... And all this after I shut down all the startup programs and everything thats running in the background....
for example.. I'll click on the stop or refresh button.. and it freezes for a bit before anything happens. Same thing with email.. email is really bad.
some days I've caught it at 10%!!!! It crashes and becomes unstable alot because of lack of memory lol....
I'd like to go to 256.. but I dont know what I would need, how much it would cost, or where to get it
my harddrive... I've got 11.3gb free space...
the mem though... on a GOOD day when Ive done defrag, dumped all the temp files etc etc and have only one or two windows of IE open.... Its at 65%... usually its more like 50-45% and very sluggish... And all this after I shut down all the startup programs and everything thats running in the background....
for example.. I'll click on the stop or refresh button.. and it freezes for a bit before anything happens. Same thing with email.. email is really bad.
some days I've caught it at 10%!!!! It crashes and becomes unstable alot because of lack of memory lol....
I'd like to go to 256.. but I dont know what I would need, how much it would cost, or where to get it
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Re: some more info
Click this link below..
My mistake, they're down to $42 bucks for a stick of 256mb.. (now THATS cheap..)
Click on the websites of the company, and check with their prices for shipping. Most of the companies listed on pricewatch are pretty reliable, choose the one closests to you to save a few bucks on shipping. Hope this helps<ul><li><a href="http://www.pricewatch.com/1/33/1948-1.htm">256MB PC133 @ Pricewatch</a></li></ul>
My mistake, they're down to $42 bucks for a stick of 256mb.. (now THATS cheap..)
Click on the websites of the company, and check with their prices for shipping. Most of the companies listed on pricewatch are pretty reliable, choose the one closests to you to save a few bucks on shipping. Hope this helps
<ul><li><a href="http://www.pricewatch.com/1/33/1948-1.htm">256MB PC133 @ Pricewatch</a></li></ul>
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Wow... Nice racket...
Two places to try for memory prices that are a little bit more in line with market reality:
http://www.crucial.com/
http://www.memory-man.com/
The Crucial site includes a memory configurator that will tell you what memory works in your system. I believe that the Tabor III is a pretty standard 440BX based motherboard when it comes to memory, though. Generic PC100 or PC133 SDRAM should work fine.
You should also be able to find much better prices than the nice Gateway lady offered at any PC store in the area. Even high-end memory goes for $50/128MB these days (maybe less now - I haven't checked in a few weeks), and I wouldn't consider any less than that with what you're running. That would give you 224MB, which is probably fine for at least PhotoShop unless you're working with unusually large images. Memory has never been cheaper. More (256MB) wouldn't hurt if you've got the budget for it, but it's probably not necessary.
You could also try one of the shopping services (CNet's or PriceWatch). I mention the two above because I've had good experiences with them, but memory prices are so weird these days that you can probably do better with an unknown if you can trust them.
http://www.crucial.com/
http://www.memory-man.com/
The Crucial site includes a memory configurator that will tell you what memory works in your system. I believe that the Tabor III is a pretty standard 440BX based motherboard when it comes to memory, though. Generic PC100 or PC133 SDRAM should work fine.
You should also be able to find much better prices than the nice Gateway lady offered at any PC store in the area. Even high-end memory goes for $50/128MB these days (maybe less now - I haven't checked in a few weeks), and I wouldn't consider any less than that with what you're running. That would give you 224MB, which is probably fine for at least PhotoShop unless you're working with unusually large images. Memory has never been cheaper. More (256MB) wouldn't hurt if you've got the budget for it, but it's probably not necessary.
You could also try one of the shopping services (CNet's or PriceWatch). I mention the two above because I've had good experiences with them, but memory prices are so weird these days that you can probably do better with an unknown if you can trust them.
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THIS IS WHAT I KNOW NOW>>
geezus talk about confusing lol...
ok.. here is my motherboard
<a href="http://www.gateway.com/support/techdocs/references/motherboard/4w4sb0x0/4w4sb0x0.shtml">motherboard</a> only mines setup as a PIII not a PII..
It currently has a 64mhz PC100 module and a 32mhz PC100 module... I'd like to have two 128mhz for a total of 256mhz
we were discussing this on chat.... something about EEC and non EEC and a whole bunch of ther stuff lol...
can my motherboard take two 128MB EEC DIMM, unbuffered 3.3v modules?? I'd give the two that are in there now to a friend
ok.. here is my motherboard
<a href="http://www.gateway.com/support/techdocs/references/motherboard/4w4sb0x0/4w4sb0x0.shtml">motherboard</a> only mines setup as a PIII not a PII..
It currently has a 64mhz PC100 module and a 32mhz PC100 module... I'd like to have two 128mhz for a total of 256mhz
we were discussing this on chat.... something about EEC and non EEC and a whole bunch of ther stuff lol...
can my motherboard take two 128MB EEC DIMM, unbuffered 3.3v modules?? I'd give the two that are in there now to a friend
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EEC Ram is slower (more)
and a waste for most people. Only good for compiling massive programs into executibles where error correction is essential because a 1 thats needs to be a 0 can become a fatal error.
You want 256MB total? I would getting rid of your slow, low grade gateway ram and get one 256PC100 or 133 DIMM. IMO, just get the PC133 even though you won't take full capability of it now, it won't cost much more and might benefit you later on. I've gotten almost all my ram from <a href="http://www.pcboost.com/">PC Boost (First Choice Memory)</a>. They are selling one 256MB SDRAM PC133 by Atlas Precision (awesome ram) for only a hundo eight!
Email me with more questions and I'll be happy to help...this is one area i know my stuff.
You want 256MB total? I would getting rid of your slow, low grade gateway ram and get one 256PC100 or 133 DIMM. IMO, just get the PC133 even though you won't take full capability of it now, it won't cost much more and might benefit you later on. I've gotten almost all my ram from <a href="http://www.pcboost.com/">PC Boost (First Choice Memory)</a>. They are selling one 256MB SDRAM PC133 by Atlas Precision (awesome ram) for only a hundo eight!
Email me with more questions and I'll be happy to help...this is one area i know my stuff.
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Adobe recommends 96 meg to run Pshop and Image Ready concurrently...
Your sytem is only bogged down when you run applications not having them sit on your hard drive. 96 meg is adequate for all Adobe apps. and everything else and ECC is not necessary. It is a minimum to run photoshop and image ready concurrently due to windows system resources. System resources are most likely your problem and remember anything that is running in the background such as anti virus and schedulers and the like are stealing resources. Also remember to only use one browser or app at a time to keep your system from bogging down. Reboot after a heavy session to refresh the sytem.
Upgrades to consider:
1)upgrade memory to 160-256
2)add 2nd hard drive (adobe pshop needs to use a drive different from windows for it's temp files)
3) Win 2K and all above items.
I recently updated myself to a Dell 420 w/ dual 933's and dual 9 gig ultra scsi drives and 256 meg of pc800 rdram. Amazing! No crashes, no slowdowns and it just works as needed.
Upgrades to consider:
1)upgrade memory to 160-256
2)add 2nd hard drive (adobe pshop needs to use a drive different from windows for it's temp files)
3) Win 2K and all above items.
I recently updated myself to a Dell 420 w/ dual 933's and dual 9 gig ultra scsi drives and 256 meg of pc800 rdram. Amazing! No crashes, no slowdowns and it just works as needed.
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Re: Someone help.. memory upgrade on computer
A couple of thoughts. If you are running an NT based OS (NT/2000/XP Beta) you will see a good bump up to 512 (with Photoshop only), if not the 9x products hit a wall at around 200M, so go 256. As others have posted memory is really inexpensive right now. Oh, don't mix speeds you may find you machine won't boot if you do.
Good luck!
Good luck!