Bad idea to add new sdram?
 

I'm not really all that technically apt with computer hardware, please forgive me, but I was wondering, could I still add more ram to this machine? specs:

intel celeron processor 400 mhz
64 mb sdram shared memory architecture
5.1 gb hd

My friend say it is almost impossible to not possible to add more ram. I would like to buy more ram that I can use for now until I get my custom computer parts all together (buying them little by little for the moment). I know a faster processor is most definetely not possible unless I replace the motherboards/etc in this pc. I need more ram cuz Mandrake 10 starts soooo much more slowly than 9 did (probably a combination of processor speed, which i know it is that,the low ammount of ram) when I had it a few days ago. I'm so glad I can use this Linux machine to get online now but am a bit impatient in waiting for my comp parts but the bills won't stop coming thus I must wait monthes before I can piece together my amd dream machine (1.8 ghz,256 mb of ram,60 gb hd...awwwww...... bill gates needs to give us some money lol):(

Thanks everyone:)

It is possible to add more memory but it depends how many memory slots (DIMM) are open. Adding memory like SDRAM memory at this time is useless because the price of it is a lot more than it was four years ago. Also you are going to get a new system. I suggest use the money to buy a better computer system. IMOH, I do not consider an AMD Athlon 1.8 GHz a dream system. I dream system to me is an AMD Athlon 64 (939 socket) with 1 gigabyte of DDR or DDR2 and with a few PCIe (PCI Express) slots. Do not look at INTEL's newer chipsets because they are much slower and the processor heats up a lot.

Mandrake 10 starts slow because it has a few more services to run than Mandrake 9. You can reduce how many services you want to have running, but some of them can run in parrallel to cut loading times in half. Also the features that KDE in Mandrake 10 has is more than Mandrake 9. You can change your settings so that it does not have eye candy effects. Also reduce the resolution to 800x600 and the bit depth to 16 bits. You can use a much lighter desktop manager like XFCE but you have to manually compile and install it. You can use a window manager like iceWM, blackbox, or fluxbox.

silentwhispers,

Exactly which motherboard do you have? Manufacturer and model please...

Re: Bad idea to add new sdram?
 

Adding more RAM to your computer will only speed things up if you don't have enough in your system to cover all of the memory you're using, and you have to swap to hard-disk. 64Mb of RAM is almost certainly enough to cover this; you could add more RAM but I doubt that you'll see a speed increase to the start-up sequence for doing so.

Your best bet is to disable the services that you don't need. In /etc/rc.d/rcn.d/, where n is the runlevel you are starting at (the initdefault setting in /etc/inittab), rename a file starting with ‘s’ to start with ‘k’ to disable the corresponding service.

e.g. turn off Apache if you don't use the web-server.

Its not impossible to add memory. You might be able to find memory cheaper at computer outlet stores or swap meets. According to MDK's docs 64MB is the min with 128MB recommeded so adding RAM will help speed in the GUI department. It is important to get the correct chip speed too.

I'd be willing to bet that you could easily add more RAM. If you have unused memory slots then it would be a simple matter to just drop another stick of RAM into that slot(s), or you could or course replace the existing stick(s) of RAM with a larger model (ie, replace a 64Mg stick with a 128Mg stick, etc).

In any event I would recommend that if you do use multiple sticks, to use two identical models. As has already been noted, adding RAM is an excellent way to improve system performance. -- J.W.

Hello silentwhispers,

You write you have 64MB with shared memory, do you mean shared memory for VGA? Because if that is so you probably have something like 8MB for your VGA.

That means that you are below the minimum memory level of your Linux distribution, add more memory, the more memory you add the better.

dummy-in-linux, 4 mb of the memory go to video memory so you're probably right. as for the motherboard,chinaman, I believe it is made by intel,i'm assuming this is it as listed by lspci, please forgive me if i am wrong:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)

(soundcard info omitted from lspci pasted entry)

The pc is made by HP. It is a HP Pavilion 4473.

sorry electro. i meant to post amd xp 2500+ . thought i would like to buy the 2800 + but im on a budget, i may still try for the 2800 though but for my budget 2500 fits fine... my friend agrees w u, he says athlons arent that great. i definetely dont want an intel bc intel processors r slower than amds and every comp person ive talked to said amd is the best way to go when it comes to proccessors

Add more ram. I have 225mhz 64mg Compaq that runs much better with X11 since I added 64 more. Using the memory lookup utility at one of the large online vendors will confirm what your motherboard has and exactly the boards you need. BEWARE ... my computer will take 256mg total in two slots ... I bought 2 128mg boards that won't work because they are double-sided vice single-sided (chips on one or two sides of board). I took the 64 out of another older computer and it worked fine in the Compaq. The two 128s work fine in the other oleder computer.

IMOH, I recommend saving the money towards your new computer system than upgrading the memory.

I know


The reason why I said 939 socket is because AMD has stop Socket A (socket 462) production and some 939 socket motherboards cheap are. There is socket 754 but AMD has state it as an economy socket. The 754 still outpace Pentium 4 Extreme processors even though the cache of the 754 is 512 KB. You can buy the socket A but the processor and maybe DDR will not be around for long. For the socket A motherboard, I suggest Athlon XP 2400+ (2.0 GHz) because its a good balance between memory performance, processor performance and price. You can use the money for a gigabyte of very good memory.

Some motherboards can handle Athlon Mobile processors if you do not want your computer heating up too much and you want to save some electricity.