Upgrading Memory from 4GB

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shobuddy

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I've attached some screenshots of my desktop specs as well as my WEI (Windows Experience Index) score. The WEI score indicates my weak link is the graphics card. Even though I have just 4GB of memory, that does not seem to get flagged. None the less, I built this desktop about ten years ago with some help and I have two 2GB sticks of memory in it. I don't game so its mostly used for email, surfing and YouTube videos. Will upgrading the memory make any noticeable difference as far as apps/browsers opening faster, etc. Is it worth upgrading and if so, to how much? 8GB or even more? If I go to 8GB, should I just buy two more 2GB sticks so all four slots will be filled with 2GB sticks or do it differently?

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Solution
jr9
- Graphics card upgrade won't help at all unless you are trying to get more games performance.

- Adding more RAM will not give you better performance unless you are running out of RAM. You do seem to be low on RAM however so I would recommend upgrading to either a 3x4GB RAM (Triple Chanel mode) kit or a 2x4GB DDR3 RAM kit (dual channel mode) will give you better performance overall.

- Don't recommend adding RAM to your current RAM. It can cause instability. Buy a new kit that has all the sticks.
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jr9

jr9

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- Graphics card upgrade won't help at all unless you are trying to get more games performance.

- Adding more RAM will not give you better performance unless you are running out of RAM. You do seem to be low on RAM however so I would recommend upgrading to either a 3x4GB RAM (Triple Chanel mode) kit or a 2x4GB DDR3 RAM kit (dual channel mode) will give you better performance overall.

- Don't recommend adding RAM to your current RAM. It can cause instability. Buy a new kit that has all the sticks.
 
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shobuddy

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Thanks for the response. You're suggesting removing the existing ram and upgrading to 8GB or 12GB, right? I assume I'm in dual channel mode right now so as far as the triple channel mode, is that something I have to change in the bios if I go the 3x4GB route? Or is it automatically detected?
 
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jr9

jr9

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Yes, recommend removing the existing RAM and add either an 8GB kit or 12GB kit. If the RAM is in the correct slots on your motherboard then it will automatically run in dual or triple channel mode when the PC starts.

For dual channel, install RAM in slots 1 and 4 OR 1 and 3. Slot 1 is closest to the CPU
For triple channel, install RAM in slots 1, 3, 4
 
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shobuddy

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I tried this with about eight or nine apps open including browsers, google earth, turbo tax, etc. With the apps just open the usage never got above 75%. With the apps open and me using them it never got above 80%. With my normal usage so far its been around 55%. I'll keep an eye on this.
 
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shobuddy

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Thanks, I'll monitor memory usage for a little bit and then decide whether to go w/the 8GB or the 12GB.
 
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jr9

jr9

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Based on that screenshot your Windows appears to be using its page file heavily. When Windows is starting to approach running out of RAM, it moves data out of RAM on to the page file stored on the SSD/HDD that it isn't using at the moment and then pages it back into RAM when it does. This process works but slows the PC down because your RAM is far faster than SSDs or HDDs. Adding more RAM would mean the OS doesn't have to page as much which would give increased performance.
 
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shobuddy

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Quick follow-up on this. Is there a way I can log memory usage? Whether it be via task manager or a 3rd party application, i'de like to log the memory usage and view it later so I can see the usage over time.
 
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jr9

jr9

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Windows contains a program called Performance Monitor. Inside it, you can add something called a "Counter" which will track things such as processor usage or memory usage. I believe it also can have it write logs using a "data collector set".

3rd party tools such as HWInfo can also tell your your memory usage easier. It would simply tell you your max, average, and current physical as well as virtual memory load. It would even tell you your page file usage if applicable.
 
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shobuddy

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Thanks again, I'm going to try both.
 
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shobuddy

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Tried both and HWINFO64 was much more intuitive for me. After a few hours of usage and judging by the max column, it looks like i'm right at the edge of pushing the max memory usage. Thanks for posting the program!

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jr9

jr9

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As I thought, you are close enough to your max RAM usage at times that your OS is using the page file to make up for it. On my 8GB of RAM system, I have max 4GB used and 4GB available with 1% page file usage. You aren't completely running out of RAM but you are getting close. If your page file usage is at 10% I would upgrade the RAM. 8GB is what you want, either a 1x8GB or a 2x4GB kit (better performance, costs more).
 
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