I've recently moved from 1GB to 2GB of RAM, and have noticed a huge difference for my usage, though I do lean quite heavily on it so for most users it doesn't create much of a difference.
While running with 1GB I generally found I was sitting around 70-80% utilisation, running a dual-head setup with Beryl, generally with 5-7 apps open (oOo, Opera, Nvu, Gnucash, X-chat etc). I would often emerge programs while these were running, with 1GB it would create regular "stutters" as the RAM filled up, with 2GB I rarely notice a slowdown at all. Tim Allingham [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.datafirst-it.com.au On Tue, 2007-07-10 at 23:31 -0500, Dale wrote: > Dan Farrell wrote: > > On Mon, 9 Jul 2007 21:35:22 -0700 > > "Julian Simioni" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > On 7/9/07, Dan Farrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > Agreed, of course, but one nice thing about extra ram that it might > > > > be pertinent to mention is that it can be used to cache and > > > > significantly reduce hard drive I/O once the cache is primed. > > > > > > > I just upgraded my system from 1GB to 2GB of DDR2 ... [ & ] I honestly > > > have noticed no difference in speed while using Gentoo, which is by > > > far my primary OS. I'm sure a detailed analysis would show at least > > > slight improvement in some cases, but it probably isn't worth the > > > upgrade. > > > > > > > Yeah, my desktop (up 23 days, so cache has had time to fill) has only > > managed to cache about half a gig worth of stuff, leaving 200 megs or > > thereabouts unused. . Most instances of applications I run are the same > > hd data, like a thousand firefoxes, xterms, mail, etc. So I think the > > 'significant' part only kicks in if you run lots of different > > programs. I wouldn't expect my desktop to go any faster either, but I > > would expect a little speedup if I were running a heavier window > > manager or a full-blown DE like gnome or kde. > > > > It might make a bigger difference if you were running 3d games or > > something, I guess. > > > > > > I have had 1Gb on here for a long time and usually updatedb fills up > cache but other than that I don't use it all. I did once when I > opened about 400 pics with Gimp though. I use KDE and I do quite a > bit of pic stuff as far as storing them. I wouldn't spend the extra > money on any more memory for mine. I just don't see where any more > would do any good. Like others I think it depends on what you are > doing. If you do video editing or CAD or something then you may can > use the extra memory then. Other than that, just watch what is being > used and get more when you need it. > > Oh, I run folding on here a lot and I get bigger units to work on > since I have more ram. My other rigs with a lot less memory get > smaller units. That helps some I guess. > > Let us know what you get in the end and how things work out. Show us > some speed tests or something. ;-) > > Dale > > :-) :-) -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
