Windows 7 needs RAM but how much?

Martin Evening suggests that a good rule to apply to RAM for Photoshop is 2GB per processor core, which would suggest 4GB for a dual core.

Roger

 

4GB would suffice but in your friends case PS likes a lot of ram so 8GB will do him well

 

I started with 4 GB but ... only joking

I start with a "decent" amount for what I expect I will require into the foreseeable future. After a few years the RAM manufacturer's will upgrade to a new model (DDR2 -> DDR3 -> DDR4, etc). As they ramp down the manufacturing of the old model and ramp up the manufacturing of the new model, the price of the old model falls as they "clear them out ".

After a few years or when the current model RAM is being phased out, that's when I consider installing more. You need to have slots available for installing the extra modules, otherwise you be taking the old ones out and "throwing them away ", unless you can put them into another computer and you miss any benefit of bolstering the amount of RAM rather than replacing it (that is, for example, if you have 4 slots with 4 X 1GB modules, you will need to take some out when upgrading).

Try 4GB now, if it will run the system successfully. Consider upgrading when the model of RAM is going to change and the price has fallen (so when they change from DDR3 to DDR4).

I also use that methodology for the CPU. I look at upgrading when the new models of CPU are released and consider if it is worth getting a more powerful one then. (Although I have never had to because I select a mid-range/high mid-range one to begin with. One that should see the me through the life of the motherboard or as I said, the old one just gets thrown away).

Matt

 

See what you can read into that. As we have spoken about before, I think the kits would be matched so that it allows better bandwidth. If the models were the same, I expect you should only miss out on "maximum" bandwidth.

I have had a little trouble with running my upgraded memory configuration. It worked well for over a year, then the system began having trouble at startup. Neither of the two matched kits would work. After switching slots and testing each of the sets, they started working again. I am only running one set at the moment, but I am considering putting both sets back in. My theory is that when I let Vista go into sleep mode, I had too many programs and windows open and the modules were overheating.

[Also, now I have just noticed that my ReadyBoost stick is no longer showing in Windows Explorer, maybe that has something to do with it.]

Time to shut down and do some reconfiguration!

 

Well I started with 2GB on win7 x64 and chuged like it was winxp with 512MB moved to 4GB and bam whole new lease of life the whole system just seemed to run smother and faster no longish wait for programs to start up so I would imagine 4x2GB would improve things even more if only it was affordable here

 

Hi Christer,
I built around a Phenom llx4 especially for PS and Windows 7, moving to DDR3 in the process. I bought two 4GB kits of Kingston which have worked perfectly together so one 4GB kit from Kingston should be OK if you can get it in Sweden or on line.

Roger

 

ofcourse they don't recommend it they just want to hock you an more expensive Kit I have Corsair Dominator twin2x2048 (1GBx2) x2 kits working perfectly well in my machine i bought them separately at different times and they work fine together

 

Same here unfortunately, the original modules won't work, I just get beeps. It appears one or both were dying. I am going to watch what I have open before I walk away and Vista puts it into Sleep mode. It is probably the first time I have had RAM stop working for me and I wonder if it may be due to overheating.

Maybe off topic, but maybe not... I ran the trial version of Windows 7. My computer met the System Requirements quite well. I decided to run Aero (I don't have it in Vista), it was during that time that my graphics card stopped working. The graphics card was quite good quality, so if I come across Aero again, it is staying disabled. Maybe the wrong conclusion, but I am "once bitten, twice shy" before I can safely rule something out.

Matt

 

The first question is he using 32bit or 64bit operating system.
32 bit only sees 3.23 gig's of ram no matter how much you put in.

64 bit will see much more.

Also, some software may not run on 64 bit systems so you need to find that out too. You can always try the compatibility mode.

Also, note what the best ram for your particular motherboard is compatible with. It will be listed on the manufacturers site or type and arrangement, speed, and voltage.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

 

Hi Christer,
My Kingston kits are KVR1333D3N9K2/4G.

Roger