Thanks for the Memory.

50Twuncle

My Medion MS-7728 needs more memory (it has 6Gb - but only has 4Gb available (it Shares 2Gb with the already 2Gb video !!) - I run 64 bit W7

I am looking at 8Gb - but don't know whether to buy PC3-12800 or PC3-10600
What will the different speed make to my i7 PC ?

My PC has 2 slots filled with 4Gb and 2Gb - would I be better off leaving the 4Gb and adding a single 8Gb - giving 12Gb of "unmatched" or replacing both with "matched" units?

paddyrg

What are you doing?! 6GB is heaps of memory, so in fact is 4GB, there is something else going on here!

50Twuncle

paddyrg wrote: »

What are you doing?! 6GB is heaps of memory, so in fact is 4GB, there is something else going on here!

It used to be more than enough (My first PC ran on 2Mb of RAM) - But things have moved on (for the worse ?)
I do a lot of video editing / conversion which uses resources heavily !!

InsideInsurance

A computer ultimately only runs as fast as its slowest component. It is near impossible to estimate the speed difference between the two RAMs without knowing every component in the computer and potentially versions of drivers to be able to identify where bottle necks are.

By the sounds of it you dont have a dedicated graphics card if you're sharing the ram for graphics duties. Whilst if the computer is running out of ram then replacing this is going to be the biggest win a dedicated graphics card would potentially also help things along depending on your software etc

50Twuncle

InsideInsurance wrote: »

A computer ultimately only runs as fast as its slowest component. It is near impossible to estimate the speed difference between the two RAMs without knowing every component in the computer and potentially versions of drivers to be able to identify where bottle necks are.

By the sounds of it you dont have a dedicated graphics card if you're sharing the ram for graphics duties. Whilst if the computer is running out of ram then replacing this is going to be the biggest win a dedicated graphics card would potentially also help things along depending on your software etc

I do have a dedicated 2Gb Graphics card - the problem is MEDION - I am unable to restrict the shared memory
When I run the Windows Experience index - it is processor 7.7
memory 5.9, Graphics 7.0, Gaming Graphics 7.0, Primary Hard Disk 7.3 - so that clearly shows memory issues
And it does not run as fast as I expected - taking around a minute to boot up - it is sluggish when running as well

paddyrg

Hmm, I have no memory issues editing video with Avid (Media Composer) with a far less capable system, so I would still flag other problems. Have you tried a flatten and rebuild recently?

almillar

Sounds like a very good computer, and video editing pushes most parts of the computer. Before throwing money at RAM though, would you mind giving us your Windows Performance Index? This can be a really handy tool when deciding where to spend your money - find the weakest link.
Right click on computer (in the Start menu if not on your desktop) and click properties and it's somewhere in there! Do it with nothing else running so you don't mess up the results.

Johnmcl7

21Twinkle wrote: »

I do have a dedicated 2Gb Graphics card - the problem is MEDION - I am unable to restrict the shared memory
When I run the Windows Experience index - it is processor 7.7
memory 5.9, Graphics 7.0, Gaming Graphics 7.0, Primary Hard Disk 7.3 - so that clearly shows memory issues
And it does not run as fast as I expected - taking around a minute to boot up - it is sluggish when running as well

I wouldn't use the WEI to gauge machine performance, instead when the machine is running at peak levels (such as during a video encode) have a look at task manager and see if you're using more than the amount of memory the machine has. It's ok if the machine appears to be using a lot (around 80%-90%) as this is how Vista and onwards are designed to work, they try to use as much of the memory as possible then release it as needed to other applications.

If you're using more memory than the system has though this will really hurt performance as the operating then has to use the much slower hard drive. If you're not using more memory than you have though, a ram upgrade may not make any noticeable difference in which case it may be worth considering a solid state drive if you don't have one currently. These can considerably improve performance in the two areas you mention (startup times and general responsiveness) although can be a bit more hassle to set up compared to ram (where you just plug the module in) as the lower capacity generally means you'll need to set up your OS and programs on the SSD and split the data onto the hard drive.

John

poppy10_2

You'll barely notice any difference going from 6GB to 8GB RAM

cookie365

Googling Medion MS-7728 seems to suggest that this computer does indeed exist, but it doesn't show on Medion's website.

Got a link?

This link suggests there are no integrated graphics in the base configuration, so what's using 2Gb is beyond me
http://www.findlaptopdriver.com/medionpc-ms-7728-motherboard-specs/

Are you sure you don't have a 32 bit OS?

If you're determined to throw money after some extra gb then see if you can match the existing 4gb module. Run CPU-Z from CPUID and use the dropdowns in the SPD tab to find the spec, and get the closest matching module and hope.

Worst case is that it wont match, but then I can't see a huge performance boost even if it does.

50Twuncle

paddyrg wrote: »

Hmm, I have no memory issues editing video with Avid (Media Composer) with a far less capable system, so I would still flag other problems. Have you tried a flatten and rebuild recently?

No I haven't - in fact the PC came with its own OEM version of W7 premium 64bit (with all of the add ons - which I removed) - I then carried out an "anytime" upgrade to Professional 64bit - since I had the software from a previous PC
So - yes - this may be a good idea