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Upgrade performance choices....RAM or hdd? Need opinions...

post #1 of 15
5/15/04 at 6:15am
Thread Starter 
Hi guys, I really need your opinions here... I currently have an 8890-V and I'm really happy with it... Kinda sad they're discontinuing the series, but well, I'm glad I got one of the last 15" UXGA screens... Anyhoo...

I want to upgrade my laptop for better performance with Adobe Photoshop. I work with really heavy files (1 gig at times!!!) and would like to know how I can speed this up via a hardware upgrade.

The way I see it, I have two choices:

1. Upgrade RAM - I currently have 2pcs. 512MB PC3200 RAM installed, but I'm wondering if the performance will be much improved by 2 sticks of the much-more expensive 1024MB 2700 RAM. The problem I have with this is that besides the fact that it's really pricey, I'm taking a step back with RAM, downgrading from a PC3200 (400MHZ) to a PC2700 (333MHZ). The 200 pin SODIMM modules that the 8890 uses doesn't have a 1 gig module running at PC3200.

2. Add a HDD - I only have a primary Hitachi 60GB hdd running at 7200RPM. As is, the paging file for Windows and the scratch drive for Adobe Photoshop are both on the same system hdd where Windows is running. If I upgrade and add another hdd, this would ease the load off the system and theoretically, increase the performance of Photoshop and similar apps that require a paging file or scratch disk. Will there be a significant change that would justify a hdd upgrade?

And if so, which should I get? Will the 80 GB 5400 be adequate, or should I stick with another Hitachi 60 GB 7200. If I buy another drive, I'd like it to be the mother of all storage, so preferably it should be 80GB or more. But if the 7200rpm performance would really be noticeably better than a 5400, then I'll go with the Hitachi 60 GB.

What do you think?
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post #2 of 15
5/15/04 at 7:43am
As for 1, unless this is an error on sager's part:
1024 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM Memory for NP8890 Series $380.00, available on the sager accessories page. There's nothing to stop you getting your ram from elsewhere if you find it cheaper though, providing you get a matched pair.

I'm not a heavy photoshop user, but generally when working with big lumps of data in memory you want to keep the use of the page file to an absolute minimum and that means more RAM, I think the scratch disk is basically photoshops own page file? If so, getting more ram will reduce the need for it.

That said, if it was me in your position, I'd get the additional hard disk, primarily because it provides a huge amount of extra storage as well as boosting your photoshop performance.

I'm sure there are vastly more experienced photoshop users than me around here, so you might be best ignoring my advice if any of them appear. It might come down to whether photoshop is the primary use for your laptop, if so I think the consensus might be ram, if not, it could be HD for its additional benefits.
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post #3 of 15
5/15/04 at 8:17am
I do alot of heavy photoshop for work. You will deffinitly benefit from the added ram regardless of the speed. Photoshop is an enormous memory hog and will use anything you let it. I would recommend the ram and a cheap external drive just for scratch. Dosent have to be big.
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post #4 of 15
5/18/04 at 2:35am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys... I guess RAM is the quick answer, because I currently have an external firewire drive for extra stuff... Think i may wait for the 1024 DDR 400 RAM, though... I really don't want to take a step backwards in speed because there are no SODIMM modules available yet...
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post #5 of 15
5/18/04 at 11:19am
The 1024 DDR400 memory sticks are available at this time. They are an option for various Sager models and have been for about a month or so.
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post #6 of 15
5/18/04 at 2:29pm
hey tim, i am in the same boat as you. I have an 8890, but i am gonna go with a raided 60 gb 5400 rpm hdd setup to impove performance. Anyway, I was browsing the manual as i was cleaning my laptop the other day and i came accross page 6-14 "upgrading system memory"

According to that, your max system memory at ddr400 is only 1 GB. If you drop to ddr333 than you can have the 2 GB. I guess its something to do with the transfer of that much data that quickly. You gotta slow it down to transfer that much i spose.

Anyway, look it up before you waste your money.
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post #7 of 15
5/19/04 at 3:42am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Omaha... I found the DDR400 1024 memory sticks... I suppose I'm looking for the 184-pin SODIMM modules, right?

Hey ryanniedz, you can buy the DDR400 modules straight from Sager, but it costs a mint... I'm looking for alternative sources for the same stuff, since its generally easy to upgrade RAM modules. The RAID will boost performance, but not too much if you're using photoshop, which encourages a separate drive for the page file (also called the scratch disk). I myself had a two-drive 40GB RAID I set up on my desktop. Pretty good, but not as fast as I'd hoped.
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post #8 of 15
5/19/04 at 7:41am
Thread Starter 
Or is it 200-pin? I'm not sure...
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post #9 of 15
5/19/04 at 8:03am
what i was trying to say was that if you buy the ddr400 1024 sticks its gonna be a waste of money because the max ur system can cupport at ddr400 is 1024 MB. If it were ddr333 then you could get the 1024 sticks because it now supports 2048MB of memory.
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post #10 of 15
5/19/04 at 8:50am
Thread Starter 
I may be wrong, but I think the only reason the manual said that 1024 MB RAM was the max for the 8890 was bec there were only 2 slots and there were no 1024 DDR RAM sticks available at the time of the manual's publication.

Because if the RAM is the same supported speed i.e. PC3200, and the same number of pins and size, the greater capacity is also almost certainly supported. As far as I know, there's no motherboard limitation on RAM size except the number of slots available and the RAM speed supported.

Correct me if I'm wrong, guys... I may just be blowing smoke out my @ss... not really sure...
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post #11 of 15
5/19/04 at 8:53am
Thread Starter 
Ryanniedz, you can check sagernotebook.com under the products>accessories available for the 8890. The 1024 DDR 400 RAM is listed among the options. I guess it's compatible with the 8890, or it wouldn't be listed there... Looks like you and I have an expensive but tempting upgrade option.... Heheheh...
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post #12 of 15
5/19/04 at 10:42am
I think that the CAS Levels of the memory will be very important as to how fast they can be pushed. The larger sticks normally have a slightly higher CAS rating.

If in doubt, email Sager and they will give you the info.
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post #13 of 15
5/19/04 at 11:50pm
Thread Starter 
Arg, I've emailed Pctorque twice already and sager once and they haven't replied... it's been 3 days... i guess I'll just wait for them to send me a mail. Thanks Omaha...
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post #14 of 15
5/21/04 at 2:56am
I've been thinking about upgrading my 1gb of ram for 2gb also, the 400 ddr sodimms seem to be pretty rare though. Out of the ones I can find the $380 direct from sager is the cheapest. At this point in time its just not worth it to me though.
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post #15 of 15
5/21/04 at 6:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by timsolo
I may be wrong, but I think the only reason the manual said that 1024 MB RAM was the max for the 8890 was bec there were only 2 slots and there were no 1024 DDR RAM sticks available at the time of the manual's publication.

Because if the RAM is the same supported speed i.e. PC3200, and the same number of pins and size, the greater capacity is also almost certainly supported. As far as I know, there's no motherboard limitation on RAM size except the number of slots available and the RAM speed supported.

Correct me if I'm wrong, guys... I may just be blowing smoke out my @ss... not really sure...

I dont think thats the reason because it says you can have up to 2 GB of pc2700 ram, but only up to 1GB of pc3200 ram. There has got to be a size limitation of the ram on the motherboard, but i am not sure how.

I would check with sager before buying the ram sticks though, even though they list them.
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