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Distribution: ArchLinux 64 bit (with Openbox and fbpanel)
Posts: 136
Rep:
Replacement RAM
My PC is very good but the RAM "fills up" all the time (with Firefox/Chromium/Thunderbird) and I have tried many things to get it under control or figure it out but now I have decided the that best/easiest solution would be just to upgrade from 4G to 8G RAM.
If I have understood the below data correctly, then I have two slots on my mobo and they are both now holding a 2G chip each. Thus I must buy two fresh 4G chips and replace them. I guess then I throw the 2G's out? Or save them for a rainy day (yeah, right).
If that is correct, then can anyone advice precisely what I should buy? I think I want 64bit DIMM 4G at least 1333MHz, but I really don't know.
Here is what I see in my CLI:
Code:
[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t 16
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
Handle 0x0028, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
Location: System Board Or Motherboard
Use: System Memory
Error Correction Type: None
Maximum Capacity: 16 GB
Error Information Handle: 0x0029
Number Of Devices: 2
[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t 17
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
Handle 0x002B, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0028
Error Information Handle: 0x002C
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: CHANNEL A
Bank Locator: CHANNEL A-DIMM 0
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1333 MHz
Manufacturer: Undefined
Serial Number: 00087874
Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum0
Part Number: JM1333KLU-2G
Rank: 2
Handle 0x002E, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0028
Error Information Handle: 0x002F
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: CHANNEL B
Bank Locator: CHANNEL B-DIMM 0
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1333 MHz
Manufacturer: Undefined
Serial Number: 0008AF96
Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum1
Part Number: JM1333KLU-2G
Rank: 2
[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t bios
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
Vendor: Intel Corp.
Version: TCIBX10H.86A.0037.2010.0614.1712
Release Date: 06/14/2010
Address: 0xF0000
Runtime Size: 64 kB
ROM Size: 1024 kB
Characteristics:
PCI is supported
BIOS is upgradeable
BIOS shadowing is allowed
Boot from CD is supported
Selectable boot is supported
BIOS ROM is socketed
EDD is supported
5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
8042 keyboard services are supported (int 9h)
Serial services are supported (int 14h)
Printer services are supported (int 17h)
ACPI is supported
USB legacy is supported
BIOS boot specification is supported
Targeted content distribution is supported
Handle 0x0027, DMI type 13, 22 bytes
BIOS Language Information
Language Description Format: Long
Installable Languages: 1
en|US|iso8859-1
Currently Installed Language: en|US|iso8859-1
[fred@arch ~]$ sudo dmidecode -t system
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
Handle 0x0026, DMI type 12, 5 bytes
System Configuration Options
Option 1: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Handle 0x0031, DMI type 32, 20 bytes
System Boot Information
Status: No errors detected
Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
Manufacturer:
Product Name:
Version:
Serial Number:
UUID: FA8443A7-7ABC-DF11-8211-001A9239FA9B
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
SKU Number: Not Specified
Family: Not Specified
What are you exactly saying by "filling up?" I ask this because if you are using your "free" command, remember that you have to account for your buffers and cached memory. (If this is what you are implying)
Distribution: ArchLinux 64 bit (with Openbox and fbpanel)
Posts: 136
Original Poster
Rep:
There is a 3 page post here http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...rmance-917353/ about some of my RAM problems. In short, when the system uses up 90% of the physical RAM, the machine crawls to almost a halt. I regularly restart Firefox/Chromium/Thunderbird when conky shows the usage is high. I can sometimes tell b/c the machine just slows down.
I have tried many things, but I think for $100 this will be the best solution.
I didn't fully read through every little detail in the thread yet, but I would like to ask one question - If you ran any direct RAM/memory tests, did you get any sort of bad output?
Ninja edit: After soaking in some more of the details, it definitely sounds like an odd quirky issue. Have you fully swapped out the memory with completely new modules?
Are you running preload? Preload is an adaptive readahead daemon that preloads some libraries to ram. Linux/Unix uses ram differently than "other operating systems" so that a heavy ram load does not necessarily mean a slow box.
Well I would at least acquire a different set of RAM chips and swap them, and see if the issue persists or not. Say for ex, the problem DOES persist after swapping, then it could even stem down to a motherboard issue (north bridge, MMC, etc). Hopefully, it is nothing this major, and comes down to either weird/bad memory, software/kernel, etc :/
Distribution: Ubuntu 11.4,DD-WRT micro plus ssh,lfs-6.6,Fedora 15,Fedora 16
Posts: 3,233
Rep:
replacing the ram is a good idea, though before buying bigger ram, i would look into the make/model of motherboard to see what the max amount of ram supported IS, because if you buy 8 and your machine only supports 4 max it's never gonna work.
Distribution: ArchLinux 64 bit (with Openbox and fbpanel)
Posts: 136
Original Poster
Rep:
This is my mobo:
Code:
sudo sudo dmidecode -t 2
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.
Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Product Name: DH55PJ
Version: AAE93812-302
Serial Number: BTPJ037001W3
Asset Tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
Features:
Board is a hosting board
Board is replaceable
Location In Chassis: To be filled by O.E.M.
Chassis Handle: 0x0003
Type: Motherboard
Contained Object Handles: 0
and I do believe that this link to intel.com indicates "Support for up to 8 GB of system memory" so we're OK.
So back to my original question:
>precisely what I should buy? I think I want 64bit DIMM 4G at least 1333MHz, but I really don't know.
Seems from that link actually that it only runs up to 1333 MHz so getting faster won't help. So I need two 240 pin DDR3 SDRAM DIMM 1333MHz 4 GB modules right? Price in the USA online appears to be around $50. I will buy here in Israel and I see on this Israeli comparison shopping site that prices are around $50 also, which is around 180 NIS today.
So just clarify that I've got it right and I will do it.
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