Increasing speed of computer

[mikeymike]

This has to be the oddest thread I've read in a while.  Is there any question or point being made in this thread?

Adding RAM speeds up a computer.  Uhuh.

[mikeymike]

RAM can be the bottleneck to any system just like any other major component can, but I'd say 99% of the time that a decently configured system, particularly with Windows, can run much more satisfactorily than just adding RAM to a bloated setup already.  I think the last time I noticed a speed increase was with a machine running Win95 with 32MB going up to 48MB RAM, 5 years ago now?  I've done quite a bit with hardware since then, and not necessarily the money to ensure I can buy more RAM than I ever need :-)

It's just a case of identifying where the bottleneck is, and if there is a way of working out the problem without having to upgrade (and whether it's worth it or not).

And remember that adding FAST RAM sped up original Amigas.

I don't recall a speed increase when DOUBLING the amount of RAM in my A500 :-)  A prettyness increase in graphics for games, that was about it... and it was very welcome :-)

[mikeymike]

I experienced a general speed increase when I went from 64MB to 128MB with Win98. Even now with 256MB, I can sometimes be using virtual memory, so I think it's still relevant to say that adding RAM can speed up a computer.

An excellent tweak for Win98, in the system.ini file, under the [386Enh] section, add a line:

ConservativeSwapFileUsage=1

Well the Amiga never had virtual memory;)

You have to read things in the context they were intended for :-)

and presumably that extra RAM wasn't a faster type

It would stand to reason that it was, as the RAM was a good few years newer than the RAM in the A500, I would've thought it would actually be faster RAM.  Better technology in use, that sort of thing.

(if you added it via the trapdoor, wasn't that often referred to as "slow" RAM?)

I don't think so, fairly but not very sure about that.  Not sure what the whole slow RAM bit was about end of story.  :-)

[mikeymike]

re: that other way to reinstall Win98 -

I don't know if the cabs are there, I doubt it though, considering Win98 always asked for the CD when installing new stuff unless you did a few registry tweaks.  If it had the CABs on disk already why not pick the files it needs from there?

[mikeymike]

It's been a long time since I played with a Win98 install.

@ Lo

Is your Win98 setup your own, ie. did you install it to a newly-formatted partition with a normal Win98 setup CD, or is it a recovery CD job of some company's install?

Reminds me a while ago, asking someone if they had reinstalled their machine before... "yeah! loads of times"... I later found out he used a recovery CD :-)

[mikeymike]

I read somewhere that w2k and wXP has its optimal ammount of memory at around 1024mb. =1gb

Complete load of cobblers.

Win2k and XP, a decent configuration (for home needs anyway) including drivers and all patches should weigh in between 30 and 50MB RAM used, depending largely on drivers.

Anything after that depends on your use of the computer, take a look at Task Manager's total memory used.  For average app usage, I'd recommend 128 - 256MB.  For games, up to 512MB.  Beyond that you should have a specific need for the additional RAM.

If you do have loads more RAM than you need in a WinNTx (NTx = NT4, Win2k, XP) there are a few tweaks you can do to increase performance, which are not done automatically.   Can't say I've noticed a big performance difference using the tweaks, but in theory they should make some difference.

[mikeymike]

@ Staticman

While Windows isn't very efficient with memory, have you done a feature comparison between your Amigas and presumably your PC?