64-bit Vista, memory, and you
2GB too many
(Credit: Gateway)Last month's desktop announcement from Gateway showed us two things: one, that desktop memory is now more affordable than ever; and two, that the 64-bit software era is upon us in full force.
Each of the four desktops Gateway announced that day comes with 64-bit Vista, and they also all have either 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Considering the decidedly mainstream $550 to $1,150 price range for those PCs, all of a sudden those exotic features don't seem so exotic any more. But then we got our hands on one of those new Gateways for a review. What we found surprised us.
What we learned in our recent review of the $1,150 Gateway FX4710 is that 6GB of RAM actually made almost no difference in current applications. We became suspicious when we compared its scores with the 4GB-equipped Gateway FX7026. To be sure, we ran our complete desktop benchmark suite (minus Crysis, which was acting weird) on the FX4710 three times, with 2GB, 4GB, and 6GB of RAM installed.
As you can see in the charts below, moving from 2GB to 4GB in 64-bit has a definite performance impact, in some cases, especially in Photoshop and on our multimedia multitasking test, both of which handle large amounts of data at once. But going from 4GB to 6GB got us much less of a boost.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
Rendering Multiple CPUs | |
Rendering Single CPU |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
1,920x1,200 | |
1,280x1,024 |
Gateway is not the only vendor guilty of selling more memory than is necessary at the moment. HP also has options for 6GB and even 8GB of RAM on some of its desktops. And to both vendors' credit, at least they offer 64-bit Vista. Dell still doesn't.
This is also not to say that 6GB and higher will never have an impact. We just need new versions of Photoshop and other applications to come out that can support those higher memory allotments. But right now, you'd be smarter to spend your money on a faster CPU or graphics card, or some added features before boosting a 64-bit Vista system with more than 4GB of memory.
Rich Brown reviews desktops and various other components and peripherals for CNET. E-mail Rich.
Yes, not having to use VM speeds things up, but not if the bloated OS uses a set percentage of RAM no matter how much you throw at it.
Since 6 is a multiple of 2X1, what is wrong with 6GB? Let's see your technically informed opinion on why it is "retarded"?
A proper OS only uses VM when it is required. So either Vista is not a proper OS, or you are very uneducated. Probably both.
2nd response: The reason why I believe performance is degraded in using 6gb is because often times computer manufacturers will use different brands/types of ram when they are dealing with non-identical sticks. Because different types of ram (including the same brand but different sizes) have different channel lengths and times to clear, address, and input data into the different flip flops. This can lead to synchronization issues that would slow the memory if only by a little bit.
Third response: I really just think you wanted to take cheap shots at a particular operating system so i don't know how to respond to this.
By the way, a lot of people do go to ITT tech and although many schools consider it to be of inferior training and quality it doesn't give you the right to insult them. It would appear by the way you responded to multiple peoples questions that you just have a lot of anger.
"A proper OS only uses VM when it is required. "
exactly. The only thing disabling page files will do is stop constant access to the disk - if you run out of memory, it will start closing programs and/or crash on you. A proper Operating System manages it's VM as such that it will not use ANY unless it is needed by applications. as the_decider said, either Vista is not proper, or you don't know what you are talking about.
Also, you did the right thing by disabling the paging file. That is the NUMBER ONE thing that slows down a modern PC: the freaking paging file for XP or Vista.
I disable it on EVERY machine I see that has over 2GB of memory, and the customers always tell me "What did you do? My machine is MUCH faster now!"
Secondly, there are other factors that determine performance more than memory. On a lower end OEM machine, you are not going to get a very good processor, memory will be high latency, the video card will suck, and the HD will not post good latency and rotational delay times. The OS is also a significant factor, as there are many legitimate benchmarks that show that Vista causes common appls to run significantly slower than on the moderately performing Windows XP.
It's time to stop blaming all problems on 'Vista uses too much memory! WAAAAAAH!"
The real problem is that a LOT of people haven't updated their drivers (I find 5 or 6 new drivers for my laptop every month, especially for the graphics chip and the motherboard), which is where the performance problems are coming from.
Not to mention, a lot of people NEVER DEFRAGMENT (which I do on almost a daily basis).
-
by rasmasyean
August 20, 2008 9:34 AM PDT
- How is running one program supposed to benchmark the advantage of more RAM? Try running 20 like how many office workers do. In addition, the Superfetch advantage (which is not even considered here) makes much use of multiple apps running and periodic usage. If you don't know what that is...
-
Reply to this comment
-
(20 Comments)Vista uses extra RAM to store commonly used files in a new activity known as ?disk caching? (SuperFetch). The computer uses artificial intelligence to determine which files will be used most and copies it to RAM (where it is much faster than accessing your hard disk). This includes components of the programs you use on a regular basis. When you need more RAM for programs you launch, etc. the computer purges the ?least likely used? files from RAM to make room for the new program. So in theory, the more RAM (for disk cache) you have, the faster your computer will operate. This can also be augmented (to a lesser effect) with a flash drive/card with a technology called ReadyBoost. Just stick it in and select ?Speed up my system? and leave it there. Google ?AnandTech ReadyBoost Performance? for basic test examples.
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=735
High RAM will be especially helpful for those people who like to leave all their windows open and use Vista?s ?S3 sleep mode? (2 watts) so they can resume where they left off almost immediately after they turn their computers on. Your apps are pre-opened where you left them and your RAM cache is loaded too, just as if you just walked away and came back.
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2007/03/29/windows-vista-superfetch-readyboost.aspx
Considering this, SuperFetch is probably the most significant feature that distinguishes Vista from all other OS's for the users across the board. Many other features won't be noticeable or even used by the common person (that is until commercial developers start using WPF/WFC etc., and even more DX10). So why not take advantage of it?