Is there any software or tests that one can run to determine if more RAM is needed for a system? Possibly recommend a how much to get. I have a compaq with an Athlon 64 3500. It has 512MB PC3200. 64MB allocated to onboard Video. I always have several programs running at once. Typical set is as follows: Firefox (4-6 tabs) Thunderbird FileZilla Excel (2-4 spreadsheets) Photoshop 7.0 AVG AV ZoneAlarm Weather Watcher
If you upgrade to 1 Gig of RAM(minimum) and get yourself a graphics card with 128 mb of RAM(preferably 256mb) then you'll definetly notice the speed difference, especially when gaming and using photoshop.
Well this is my work pc so gaming is not necessary. I do know that the on board video can use up to 128 or possible 256mb ram. But there is no way to change it in the bios. It is a grayed option. I think as you put more ram in the computer it automatically steps up the video ram. We had another gig stick lying around the office so I through that in there. I know its not running dual channel now, but I would rather have 1.5 gigs of single channel than 512 in dual channel.
run first task manager, run a software(s)/game that you usually use then check task manager the highest(peak)/(commit charge) ram usage will be your cue to what mb you should buy
