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2 Gig or not 2 Gig - that is the question..

post #1 of 9
3/17/08 at 1:21am
Thread Starter 
Hey All,

I am trying to "extend" the life of my i8600 laptop... is upgrading it to 2GB I currently have 2 512 sticks.. so I'd have to trash those ... is it worth it?

My main frustrations started recently when trying to play Sid Meier's "Railroads" fun game but.. well it keeps choking up.. and all the video options are at the lowest setting - still looks good thought..

Your thoughts.. do I spend the $150? If I go with Crucial - do I HAVE to get the "CT325810" They seem to be about $75 each at the cheapest..

Otherwise the laptop still works fine..

Thanks!
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post #2 of 9
3/17/08 at 5:02am
That is not a RAM limitation.... more a video or CPU issue. Lower the resolution a little rather than running at your native UXGA and may see some improvement. Upgrading RAM from 1GB whilst still running windows XP will see you little if any gain except if you were multi-tasking memory intensive apps (lots of photoshop, etc).

Stu
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post #3 of 9
3/17/08 at 1:03pm
Thread Starter 
I am actually running the game @ 1024x768. I also figured that 2GB wouldn't make a huge diff... ah well.. Might be time to buy a desktop to replace this lappy... Frustrating because the laptop works just fine... wouldn't get a dime for it if I sold it..
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post #4 of 9
3/18/08 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steveuzi View Post
I am actually running the game @ 1024x768. I also figured that 2GB wouldn't make a huge diff... ah well.. Might be time to buy a desktop to replace this lappy... Frustrating because the laptop works just fine... wouldn't get a dime for it if I sold it..
Why would the desktop need to replace the laptop? You could still use the laptop for mobile purposes, or not? See if that 9600 is upgradable or soldered onto the motherboard?

Even if 2GB RAM does not solve that game issue for you, it will make an overall difference in performance.

Using WinXP I use to get the “Windows is low on virtual memory” all the time, I’ve never seen that again after upgrading to 2GB of RAM. Besides….it would be hard to play Quake 4 in window mode, while using Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium at school. Come to think of it, I thought you needed a dual core CPU for that???

O’well…GL!
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post #5 of 9
3/18/08 at 2:39pm
Thread Starter 
As far as a replacment.. yea.. I could use the lappy for mobile, but I have a nice lightweight D620 from work that I use for personal travel due to size/weight reasons.

Well I thought the ATI 9600 PT 128MB Vid card was the best card ever available for the i8600 / D800 laptops? If there is a better one I would consider upgrading.. I also would consider the 2GB ram.. but Crucial recommends sticks that cost $75 Each! Granted I could probably sell my 1GB Crucial (2x512mb) sticks but again won't get much...
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post #6 of 9
3/18/08 at 3:24pm
Crucial is great, no doubt! I have 4GB of that stuff running in my desktop. But since you’re not really using the notebook as your main notebook, I don’t see why you just don’t get some cheaper RAM from off the forums and upgrade the unit for cheap? I bought 2GB of Corsair for $30 shipped, and paid $25 for 2GB of Buffalo RAM.

Have you tried to play the game @ 800x600 yet?
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post #7 of 9
3/18/08 at 11:06pm
WEll I could help save you a little, I'm looking at the same thing. I have an XPS Gen1 that uses the same memory. try:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145562
I was going to sell my lappy but decided to prolong ist's use and upgrade as I have 1G too, and I do believe you will get more bang using 2G with Vista. I'm still on the fence because I really don't want to pay over $100
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post #8 of 9
3/19/08 at 10:24am
Ouch!!!
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post #9 of 9
3/19/08 at 10:25pm
1. Yes, the 9600PT is the best video card compatible with the i8600, so there is no upgrade path there unfortunately.
2. Kobe24: that virtual memory issue could have occured because you had your paging file set too low... so the 2GB helped because the paging file would not need to be used as much. Again, this is dependent upon your application use, if you were usinga lot of 'memory hog' programs this is likely why. Never had a problem with 1GB on XP personally, and if you don't get issues like that then the memory upgrade will do nothing for you.

Stu
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