How much RAM to install?

[Dirk]

Originally Posted by visagephoto

Yes my computer is regularly having to access the page file when working on large 16Bit (20"x 16" & 30"x 20") files. and I'm hoping to gain a little speed (not expecting a lot) by adding some extra memory.

I now have 3Gb installed and my system reports having only 2.8Gb, therefore hopefully I can gain at least an additional .5Gb, by adding a fourth 1Gb. Dimm.

At only £15.00 ($30.00) per 1Gb, it's got to be worth a try.

it could ne that your video or graphics card uses 0.2 gb as shared memory.. for a faster system use a graphics card that has at least 512 mb ram of it's own

[visagephoto]

Originally Posted by d70freak

it could ne that your video or graphics card uses 0.2 gb as shared memory.. for a faster system use a graphics card that has at least 512 mb ram of it's own

Yes I would assume that could be the case, as my system is using the on board graphics chip as opposed to an independent graphics card, perhaps I should consider buying a decent graphics card instead of an additional 1Gb ram. Therefore I'm also open to suggestions for a decent but reasonably priced G/card.

[Dirk]

if it is a AGP board i suggest XFX Geforce 86oo GT(S) in pci-e i suggest the EVGA geforce 8600 GT both cards i have (two pc's , two laptops more than one cam...) , and they are resonable priced ok not real game monsters but for photo editing they do the trick.. it all depends on the system you have .. when i would have to choose now i would invest in a heavier graphics card wich suits my intel wolfdale dual core 2x3ghz better..

[spystyle]

Here is the RAM limits from M$ website :

Name
Limit for 32-bit
Limit for 64-bit

Windows XP

4 GB
128 GB

Windows XP Starter Edition

512 MB
Not applicable

Windows 2000 Professional / Server

4 GB

Windows 2000 Advanced Server

8 GB

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

32 GB

Windows Vista Ultimate
4 GB
128 GB

Windows Vista Enterprise

4 GB
128 GB

Windows Vista Business

4 GB
128 GB

Windows Vista Home Premium

4 GB
16 GB

Windows Vista Home Basic

4 GB
8 GB

Windows Vista Starter

4 GB
Not applicable


Windows Server 2008 Datacenter (full installation)
64 GB
2 TB

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter (Server Core installation)
64 GB
2 TB

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

64 GB
2 TB

Windows Server 2008 Standard

4 GB
32 GB

Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems

Not applicable
2 TB

Windows Web Server 2008

4 GB
32 GB

Windows Home Server

4 GB.
N/A

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2), Datacenter Edition

128 GB
64 GB with 4GT
2 TB

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2), Enterprise Edition**

64 GB
2 TB

Windows Storage Server 2003, Enterprise Edition

8 GB
Not applicable

Windows Storage Server 2003

4 GB
Not applicable

Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), Datacenter Edition

128 GB
16 GB with 4GT
1 TB

Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), Enterprise Edition

64 GB
16 GB with 4GT
1 TB

Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition SP2

4 GB
32 GB

Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition

128 GB
16 GB with 4GT
512 GB

Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition

32 GB
16 GB with 4GT
64 GB

Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition

4 GB
16 GB

Windows Server 2003, Web Edition

2 GB
Not applicable

Windows Small Business Server 2003

4 GB
Not applicable

Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003

Not applicable
32 GB

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The Geeks Week - Enabling PAE on 32-bit Windows Vista

The above link describes how to set up PAE (Physical Address Extension) on Vista 32 bits (It can be done in other 32 bits Windows), so that it can make use of 4GB RAM, not just ~3.5GB.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

** This is floating around the net in the form of a slim home custom OS, read about it here :

Windows Tiny2003 eXperience Edition for Slim OS and Faster XP Gaming on Windows 2003 R2 Server My Digital Life

With a 64 GB RAM limit you'll be all set for a while.

[PaulT]

Originally Posted by d70freak

it could ne that your video or graphics card uses 0.2 gb as shared memory.. for a faster system use a graphics card that has at least 512 mb ram of it's own

Interesting comment. Has anyone compared the performance of CS2/3 when using on-board graphics with the performance when using a "decent" graphics card? I would have thought the graphics card would make very little difference, as photo editing only needs "2D" performance and most of the whizz-bang graphics features for gaming etc would be totally irrelevant. Displaying a photo must be about the simplest possible task a graphics card can be asked to do. So, apart from winning back the small(ish) chunk of system RAM taken by on-board graphics, is there any benefit in using a graphics card for photo editing?

[Dirk]

i noticed a quicker rendering on nx 1 so nx 2 will be the same

[PaulT]

Originally Posted by d70freak

i noticed a quicker rendering on nx 1 so nx 2 will be the same

I use NX a lot so maybe it would help me. I'm stuck with a motherboard that has a 2GB maximum and no budget for a new system. Maybe I should get a graphics card ...

[George R]

It will see it and report it in 'computer' but your system will only use about 3.xx gb or so I've been told by the so called experts. If you want to use more then you must upgrade to 64 bit system, which will then use as much as 8gb of ram. Again, so I have been told. I don't have SP1 so my 16 bit system only "see's" 3318mb, altho I have 4000mb installed.(I'm running Vista 16b with no SP at this time)