Member Avatar for dadrian

Hi, guys!
I'm trying to get a little more from my laptop.
Here is the current configuration:
Intel T2410, 2GHz, 3GB ram (cheap, slow, i suppose), Radeon HD3470, 250GB Toshiba 5400 rpm, 17", Vista Ultimate.

So my question is: what to buy, a 4GB kit of low latency memory, from Kingston (HyperX 4-4-4-12), or a 320GB 7200 rpm drive? Which one would increase best the performance?
In Vista score, the HDD gets a 5.3 score, and the memory gets 4.4, but on a desktop, i found that a faster HDD makes a lot of difference.

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Dani AI

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Quick practical guide for and anyone deciding between more RAM or a faster drive.

Short answer: it depends on which resource is being exhausted. Slow program launches and temporary freezes when working with lots of files come from either heavy paging (not enough RAM) or slow disk I/O. is right that extra RAM only helps if you’re actually hitting the memory limit, and a faster drive won’t fix low memory.

Do a quick check before buying:

  • Open Resource Monitor (Start -> type "resmon") or Task Manager and reproduce the slowdown. In Memory, watch Available and Hard Faults/sec. Frequent hard-fault spikes while you work indicate paging to disk — add RAM.

  • In the Disk/Performance view, watch % Disk Time and Average Response Time while launching Photoshop or opening large files. Sustained high disk activity or response times (response time consistently above ~20 ms on a mechanical drive) points to a disk bottleneck.

  • Check free space (keep ~10-20% free) and fragmentation on a mechanical drive. Confirm OS bitness — a 32-bit OS cannot use all of 4 GB without switching to 64-bit — and verify the laptop’s maximum supported RAM before buying.

Rule of thumb and practical tips: if you see heavy paging, buy RAM; if the disk is saturated, upgrade the drive. Today an SSD delivers the biggest perceptible speed boost, but a faster 7200 RPM drive helps too. For Photoshop, capacity matters more than tight memory timings; set Photoshop’s scratch disk to the fastest drive, reduce history states, and close other memory-hungry apps.

Cautions: back up or clone the disk before swapping drives, confirm module and drive compatibility with your model, and avoid trying to overclock a laptop (heat and power limits). Run the quick checks above and you’ll know which upgrade gives the best return.

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Member Avatar for Hangfire

I doubt either would make a noticeable difference.

Is your version of Vista 64bit? If not then IMO 3GB is ample.
I upgraded from 2GB Kingston (apparently cheap) to 4GB Crucial Ballistix. There is a slight difference in games (Mostly GTA), but boot up time and general usage no improvement.

HDD wise, I would only upgrade if you are nearing capacity.

Again IMO, save your money and if you feel up to it, read up on overclocking your CPU.

HTH

Member Avatar for dadrian

Like i said, that's the configuration of my laptop. Thanks for the answer, but it's still far from what i expected. I'm thinking of one of the two because I use programs like photoshop and microsoft expression, and it takes long to launch them, and if handling many files, there are some times the system doesn't respond. I know on 32bit system I only have 3.2, but it's not a problem. I don't use the whole 3Gb anyway, but speed would make a difference.

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