PC Performance, Scratch Disks, and Page Files

coleygm wrote in post #7281579
4 slots actually 1x1Gb. I'd think i could go 2Gb's per slot, but apparantly each slot only takes 1Gb max and/or the mother board only supports 4Gb's. ...All the documentaion on Crucials website, Corsairs website, and Dell tell me the same thing. ...but I still am surprised by this. ...was a pretty high-end machine 18 months ago and you'd think it could take more if you had 64-bit.

Since this renders the original RAM question moot, you can start to look at HDD options. I agree that Raptors have been rendered unnecessary for most users but you can also look at Solid State Drives now as they are fast enough to make a worthwhile upgrade and large enough to be worth using.

(I know Tim will disagree here )

If you're looking for a bang-for-your-buck upgrade, many people have reported the new 256GB GSkill drives are quite good and of course if you want to spend more, the Intel models are excellent. If you can wait a few months there will be quite a bit more choice in the market but right now is a fine time to buy if you can swallow the $2/GB price and want extreme loading speed as you open files.

just looked at the spec of the Dell, it has a 7900GS video card, something like an 86/8800 could well work wonders for your system and CS4

Bobster wrote in post #7282362
the OS and other Apps will have 1.5GB of RAM to play with Tim, 32bit Windows only allows 2GB of RAM per process

when i had my MP2800's and 3GB of RAM i set PS to 100% and didn't have any trouble running it

Interesting, I didn't know that

First get rid of Vista, it is a resource HOG, even the 64bit version, go back to XP 64bit

Then Upgrade your Ram to 8gb or whatever you want

If you already have SATA disks, you will see minimal speed increase by adding a raptor drive, you will probably see speed increases if you set up 2 or 3 drives in RAID 1 (stripe set) but this provides very little security because if one drive fails you are screwed

problem with having 1 fast drive is that your computer cant push data through 1 channel as fast as the disk can spin, so yeah, you got 15k RPM, but your stuck in a 1 lane highway

I don't think abandoning vista is a great idea. XP64 is an odd stepchild, never really promoted much, and I wonder about hardware support. Also RAID is a waste of time and money in this case, IMHO, and hugely increases your chance of losing data with RAID1.

tim wrote in post #7282740
I don't think abandoning vista is a great idea. XP64 is an odd stepchild, never really promoted much, and I wonder about hardware support. Also RAID is a waste of time and money in this case, IMHO, and hugely increases your chance of losing data with RAID1.

XP64 is a great OS, the reason most people never heard of it was because 64bit just was not affordable when XP64 came out

You are absolutley right, RAID 0 is bad when it comes to data protection, but so is having 1 disk, if anything, most motherboards now a days come with at least 4 SATA ports, so his cost would be 2 new identical drives, or for data protection Raid 1 + 0 (4 Drives)

guys, please stop spouting crap!

XP64 is a pile of junk (i ran it for a year and a half - i had no choice some of the apps i needed to run weren't compatible with Vista64 at the time), Vista64 trumps it in performance and compatibility..

why is Vista64 a resource hog Ruben?? oh yeah because it takes more RAM than it needs to run smoother, but then releases the stuff its not using when an application asks for it?

RAID 1 is mirrored so there is no performance increase, but there is redundancy
RAID 0 is stripped which gives the performance increase, but also increases the chance of loosing everything! no redundancy..

So..is it worth it to go with Vista 64-bit with only 4GB's of RAM?

Second, if i do load a new OS and rebuild the system...loading that to a Twin Velocirapter RAID 0 Volume and use my 7600 SATA drive for Scratch and backup would be a good idea performance wise correct? plus, if i'm backing the RAID 0 volume up on a continuing basis...not much risk right?

thanks for the thoughts and the help. I appreciate everyone's input.

When I upgraded to 4GB RAM I didn't bother to install Vista.

to clarify...i'm currently running vista 32-bit ultimate

What motherboard do you have that only allows 1gb sticks?

jetboy wrote in post #7285905
What motherboard do you have that only allows 1gb sticks?

not sure...it's a Dell XPS410...but that probably doesn't tell you much.

Bobster wrote in post #7282907
guys, please stop spouting crap!

XP64 is a pile of junk (i ran it for a year and a half - i had no choice some of the apps i needed to run weren't compatible with Vista64 at the time), Vista64 trumps it in performance and compatibility..

why is Vista64 a resource hog Ruben?? oh yeah because it takes more RAM than it needs to run smoother, but then releases the stuff its not using when an application asks for it?

RAID 1 is mirrored so there is no performance increase, but there is redundancy
RAID 0 is stripped which gives the performance increase, but also increases the chance of loosing everything! no redundancy..

My mistake, I did mean raid 0, and 0+1 not the other way around

I reserve the right to spout crap any time I want

I am currently running a Q6600 with 4GB of ram, a 512MB 880GT and 32bit Vista.

I can have lightroom proccessing 30D raw files into TIFFs, and at the same time have CS3 proccessing 16bit TIFFs into JPEGs while running a sharpening action on them, and have World of War craft open in the background, all while PLAYING Far Cry 2 at 1600 x 1200, with high detail levels and get over 30fps.

I have 4 7200RPM SATA 2 drives.
OS on one, scratch and games on another, and 2 for photos, one being an internal back up, which means 3 active discs.

coleygm if your having issues with performance then you might want to look at what else is running on your system, as there could be something running in the background that doesn't need to be.

If your looking for the most cost effective way to simply increase performance then adding another HDD for the OS and scratch is simple and easy. Don't worry about high end raptors etc, just get a nice 7200 rpm SATA disc.

If you really want a further improvement of CS4 and LR only, and are not worried about multitasking to much, then along with adding a second drive, you could also install Vista 64bit.
This will allow you to assign more of your 4GB of ram to CS4 and LR, which will improve thier performance.

I would not be surprised at all if your system is limited to 4GB of ram either. Dell do anything they can to cut as many corners as possible, and also limit the upgradablity if thier systems.
If you want more ram, then provided your graphics card is not on board and Dell have not used propriety power connectors, then replacing the mother board for an ASUS or Gigabyte board which will hold up to 16GB (or more) of RAM is relativly cheap and easy to do.