Hardware Decrease RAM usage.

AstroCam

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If you want a good cpu/ram sidebar app, try All CPU meter; for running STALKER (SHOC or Clear Sky?), i'm running it on a laptop with a 1.6GHz Duo processor - still chugs, but its managable - although ALL game stats are set to low textures, low view distance, etc. I really think it's a poly count issue - trying clear sky,the starting base ion the swamp with all the delapidated buildings just KILLS my frame rate

Also, if you're running on a laptop, cooling becomes a major issue, as the computer throttles the performance in order to avoid roasting the chips and releasing the magical blue smoke. I've hit 90 degree celcius on my Compaq C742TU (2Gb not 1Gb - added ram)

Anyway, if you ARE running on a laptop, try turning off the Aero theme - this causes your graphics chips to run constantly, draining the battery quickly, it may also be using RAM as well......

Also, uninstall that useless virus scanner, check for viruses/spyware, and make sure the virus scanner isn't scanning at the moment - Virus scans chew up your system resources.

Right, now putting a cork in it. :p
 

Hielor

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Anyway, if you ARE running on a laptop, try turning off the Aero theme - this causes your graphics chips to run constantly, draining the battery quickly, it may also be using RAM as well......
Yes. Aero should be the first thing you turn off if you're having performance issues. The sidebar gadgets should be the second ;)

Also, uninstall that useless virus scanner, check for viruses/spyware, and make sure the virus scanner isn't scanning at the moment - Virus scans chew up your system resources.
"uninstall that...virus scanner"? That has got to be the absolute worst advice I've ever heard.

But yes, you should make sure that it's not actively scanning during your games.
 

Dig Gil

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@Those who ask about my computer (OS/RAM/ect...): Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's written on my profile of this forum.

@Computerex: I've not found the Superfetched service yesterday, but now I've looked better and disabled it.

@AstroCam: I'll not uninstall my "faulty" antivirus yet because I'm still choosing a good freeware as substitute, then in spite of my Symantec doesn't clear virus it still blocks them and tell where they are. Also the Aero disabling should be a good hint, thanks.

I'll say my results in a few minutes.


-----Post Added-----


Alright, Test Results: Not significant, but still useful; now, while writing on this forum the RAM reads (using task manager, not the sidebar) not much more than 50%.
I'll report my gaming experience and while using heavy applications later, if these get better then, maybe the problem was Superfetched.
 

computerex

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Superfetched memory doesn't actually show up as ram used when talking about free ram; if it did you'd always be at 98-99% usage.

Umm, ya it does. When I am in Vista with Superfetch enabled the majority of the RAM is being used and shows up in the "cached" section. Usually I only have around 1-5 MB of free RAM. Check out the screenie below...

task_manager.jpg
(not mine)

"uninstall that...virus scanner"? That has got to be the absolute worst advice I've ever heard.
But yes, you should make sure that it's not actively scanning during your games.

That's actually a very good advice for people who know what they are doing. There is a really cool program known as "Unlocker Assistant" which frees a binary's handles from memory allowing you to delete the file.
 

Hielor

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Umm, ya it does. When I am in Vista with Superfetch enabled the majority of the RAM is being used and shows up in the "cached" section. Usually I only have around 1-5 MB of free RAM. Check out the screenie below...

task_manager.jpg
(not mine)
Note, however, that the "Physical Memory Used" graph directly above the circled area (and partially occluded by the circle) says that only 1.41GB of RAM is "in use." Thus, you have "in use" ram = 1.41GB, free ram = 0, and total is not the sum of those two (nor is it the sum of those two and "cached", either).

So, in direct reply: "Um, no, it doesn't." That screenshot you posted proves my point. Thanks.
 

computerex

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You have 0 MB of free RAM, meaning 100% of RAM usage....You said that if it showed itself, it would show 98-99% RAM usage. It does (0 MB free RAM). I guess M$ contradicts itself?
 

Hielor

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You have 0 MB of free RAM, meaning 100% of RAM usage....You said that if it showed itself, it would show 98-99% RAM usage. It does (0 MB free RAM). I guess M$ contradicts itself?

I said that if the superfetched memory showed up in the usage, it would show 98-99% usage. As that screenshot clearly shows, the usage is only showing 75% (ish) used.

You're interpreting RAM usage from the free RAM displayed, whereas I'm talking about the RAM usage indicated. Yes, they disagree. That was my point.

I used 98-99 because I'd never seen a 0mb-free situation on my Vista laptop, it has always been 40-200mb free even when superfetch is active.
 

T.Neo

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My antivirus severely slows down my computer. Now I think I need more RAM, but the guy at the computer store confused me with "DDR" and "DDR2". Which is best and which would be compatible with a computer circa 2004?

And are there any precautions one should take while installing RAM?
 

cjp

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My antivirus severely slows down my computer. Now I think I need more RAM, but the guy at the computer store confused me with "DDR" and "DDR2". Which is best and which would be compatible with a computer circa 2004?

And are there any precautions one should take while installing RAM?

DDR2 is better than DDR. DDR2 was introduced in 2003, but there is a high probability your computer still uses DDR. Please check which mainboard model you have, and find on the internet (or any specs you have at home) which RAM type it has, and at which frequency it operates.
 

T.Neo

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I just opened her up, and discovered my RAM specs:
256 MB, DDR, 333, CL 2.5 SDRAM PC 2700U-25330

I know, 256 MB is low.

As an aside, my father decided to get rid of the dust inside (which I might add, wasn't as bad as expected) with a paintbrush. Would this cause any harm?
 

cjp

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I just opened her up, and discovered my RAM specs:
256 MB, DDR, 333, CL 2.5 SDRAM PC 2700U-25330

I know, 256 MB is low.

As an aside, my father decided to get rid of the dust inside (which I might add, wasn't as bad as expected) with a paintbrush. Would this cause any harm?

With those specs, the people at your computer store should be able to give you what you need. "PC 2700" says the same as "DDR 333MHz".

256MB is low for windows XP and higher (for the flamewar: see another thread). My laptop used to have exactly the same (PC 2700 256MiB). XP was a bit slow, but Orbiter ran acceptable (sometimes some delays when in LEO, probably because of the high-res earth texture). I upgraded it by adding 1GiB RAM. Now, when in Linux, I never exceeded using 25% of my RAM.:)

I would never remove dust with a paintbrush. The brushing could cause static electricity, and with hard brush hairs, you could even damage the electric wires. I guess, if your computer still works, you're OK, and you're just lucky. As long as the dust isn't in the contact slots, it doesn't hurt your computer too much. I sometimes removed dust by simply blowing away (though you have to be careful not to accidentally spray any 'liquid' on the electronics LOL). I've seen professionals use canned air.
 

T.Neo

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With those specs, the people at your computer store should be able to give you what you need. "PC 2700" says the same as "DDR 333MHz".

Sorry. I just saw stuff written on the card and wrote it down. I'm far from an electronics expert.
Also, I've heard that RAM chips come with differant ports and pins, and that if you try to stick a non-compatible chip into the port it'll damage the port.

(sometimes some delays when in LEO, probably because of the high-res earth texture).

I've experianced this. I think it has to do with base meshes loading/unloading.

XP was a bit slow,
I may not be noticing XP running slow, because I am probably just used to it. But, as I said above, antivirus is really slowing things down.

I would never remove dust with a paintbrush. The brushing could cause static electricity, and with hard brush hairs, you could even damage the electric wires. I guess, if your computer still works, you're OK, and you're just lucky. As long as the dust isn't in the contact slots, it doesn't hurt your computer too much. I sometimes removed dust by simply blowing away (though you have to be careful not to accidentally spray any 'liquid' on the electronics LOL). I've seen professionals use canned air.

Oops...

The computer still... seems... to work...

It works, but if it breaks then at least I won't be to blame. I'll know not to do this in future.

Also, if I put in a 1GB RAM chip, but leave in my old 256MB chip, will it still work?
Should I remove and replace the old chip outright?
 

dbeachy1

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Also, if I put in a 1GB RAM chip, but leave in my old 256MB chip, will it still work?
Should I remove and replace the old chip outright?

It depends on your motherboard; in theory it should work fine, although some older motherboards did not work correctly with mismatched memory DIMMs.

However, this is really moot at this point because memory is very inexpensive right now: you can get a 2 GB kit (two 1 GB DIMMs) for $30 at NewEgg.com. So you can just dump the 256-MB DIMM and run 2 GB for $30.
 

T.Neo

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It depends on your motherboard; in theory it should work fine, although some older motherboards did not work correctly with mismatched memory DIMMs.

However, this is really moot at this point because memory is very inexpensive right now: you can get a 2 GB kit (two 1 GB DIMMs) for $30 at NewEgg.com. So you can just dump the 256-MB DIMM and run 2 GB for $30.

If I've ditched the old DDR memory, will I be able to switch to DDR2? Or will some oldness of my computer make that not work?

What kind of performance gain will I get from DDR2 memory?
 

dbeachy1

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No, since your current motherboard uses DDR memory you cannot use DDR2 in it -- you would have to switch to a new motherboard that supports DDR2 RAM.
 

T.Neo

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No, since your current motherboard uses DDR memory you cannot use DDR2 in it -- you would have to switch to a new motherboard that supports DDR2 RAM.

Oh. Okay.


-----Post Added-----


I have added a 1 GB RAM stick next to my current RAM stick. Everything seems to work now.

However, I may have touched the RAM stick, I.E. in the face of both sticks. I also may have touched the pins. What effect will this have on the sticks? Will it damage them?
 

cjp

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However, I may have touched the RAM stick, I.E. in the face of both sticks. I also may have touched the pins. What effect will this have on the sticks? Will it damage them?

Like the paintbrush: you'd better try to avoid this, but if everything works, you're probably OK. However, some RAM failures only show up un exceptional circumstances. I've seen a computer that booted windows without a problem, but when you tried to use a serious application, it crashed. There is a program called Memtest86, that can be used to see whether your RAM is OK. In Linux, you can even tell the OS not to use a certain part of the RAM when Memtest86 tells you it's defect (don't think such geeky things are possible in windows though)

My experience is that a lot of things the experts warn about (static electricity, sweat on electronic contacts etc.) are usually not that much of a problem, but sometimes they are.
 

T.Neo

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Everything works. I can open up Orbiter fine, and the RAM does not seem to corrupt my files. If I sense any problem, I'll check out memtest86.

In Linux, you can even tell the OS not to use a certain part of the RAM when Memtest86 tells you it's defect (don't think such geeky things are possible in windows though)

Pity I've never tried Linux. Does it have a GUI or is it strictly command line?
 
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