M11x R1 - How much RAM??

Hey guys,

I'm running 2GB of RAM on my M11x R1 at the moment and Win 7 Pro 64bit.

I know the Intel 4500MHD takes up to 384MB RAM for itself and the Nvidia GT 335m may take about 768MB of RAM.

My question: Do you REALLY need >4GB of Ram on my system? Is there any speed increase?

Thanks.

 

We can ask Bill Gates about that. Or accept that 4GB is always better. But who can make a good guess about the effects? Which software do you use and what recommendations are with these for the amount of main memory?

 

True true - we all know photoshop definitely benefits from more RAM - but what about gaming?

Has anyone with 4GB RAM tried to take out one 2GB stick and run FRAPS or see how much slower it would be (if at all) on the M11x R1?

 

I can get my Windows XP 'notebook' down to 100MB.

Currently my Windows 7 M11xR1 is using 1.44GB of memory out of 4GB.

Given that, I don't even need to check out 2GB of memory cause I know I'll just be downgrading my system.

4GB of memory in an M11x is a good working balance, anything less is just a compromise.

 

Couldn't agree more.
The main differences will be in boot and app start times (due to bigger disk cache) and alt-tab times for memory hungry apps (due to swap thrashing).
Smaller benefits like the disk spinning up less often would also drop power consumption slightly.
So don't compromise, run at least 4gb. And unless your apps need 3gb+, don't worry about more than 4.

 

4gb's is a sweet spot right now. Anything higher will give you so little performance in respect to what you paid for it. Anything less you deprives your system of memory when running intensive programs like games.

 

For gaming and Office stuff.... 4 Gig.... I only went to 8 GB on my M17x-R2 once I had to do VMWare stuff on it, outside of that I never would have done it.

Now for gaming, what I noticed is that it "smooths out" games so there is less hitching as more is loaded into RAM over time and stays there. It's a subtle change, but there IS a benefit to more RAM.

 

4GB is worth it and almost necessary.

Just as a note though, when using Intel graphics it will use system RAM, up to something crazy like 1768MB, although you will probably never use that much. Your GT 335m doesn't use any system RAM it has 1GB dedicated RAM.

 

You really need over 2GB of RAM. A single game can easily use 1.25GB - 2.0GB of RAM by itself. And when you consider that Windows 7 uses 700MB - 1000MB, what you basically have is a situation where you're paging out to disk every single time you run a game. That absolutely kills performance of your machine.

So, absolutely get 4GB of RAM. The first upgrade that anyone should ever do on their computers is to make sure that they have enough RAM to ensure that their computer never needs to page to disk. It is an inexpensive upgrade that dramatically increases performance and computing experience.

 

Thanks guys for all the advice! I'm literally on ebay right now buying another 4Gigs and selling my 2Gigs (because its 2x1Gb )!!

 

Don't be mad that it's 2x1GB. 2 sticks means you operate in dual-channel mode, which gives you more memory bandwidth (and therefore, a slight bump in overall performance).

Imagine how upset you'd be if you order a machine from Dell, and they DIDN'T give you dual-channel mode with their RAM configuration.

 

i was just playing Startcraft II i do alot of alt+tab to chat and put music and check sites while playing the ram was gona reach 3gb i was thinking of getting a 1slot 4gb ram ? to put it so i can have 6gb ram XD

 

If you do that you will lose dual channel and reduce performance. Seriously, 8 GB of ram in 2x4 GB sticks is like 199.00 at Frys or better yet NewEgg for good high speed memory, just get that and ditch the old RAM or sell it on Ebay.

 

what is the dell Ram any way ? so i can get similiar and like add a 1slot 4gb ;p and make it over all 6gb ;p

 

I got 2x4GB for $80 at newegg for my 15" notebook. It's only $99 now at newegg:

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBSQ

But at minimum get 4GB.

Dual channel only gets you 5-10% and that's usually in benchmarks. In real world you won't see much difference.

You can mix RAM sizes. That's fine. Just as long as they have the same timings and speed, otherwise it will default to the slowest one. But for an R1, any RAM you get should be sufficient since it only needs 800MHz and slowest you can buy is 1066.

 

oh ok so it doesn't matter if it's a different brand or anything as long as it's at 1066 ?

 

For the most part. It is best to buy the same brand and type though just so there's minimal chance of compatability issues.