Persuading my girlfriend.........

[jeremymacmull]

Ok here's the deal

My girlfriend has a laptop with 1.7 ghz celeron and 96 mb of ram running win xp home whats more is this ram is shared with graphics ie 32 mb of it so in effect she only has 64 mb as ram

Ive been trying to pursuade her for some time to buy a 128 or better a 256 mb module (her laptop max 2 slots and 512 mb)

I KNOW there will be a massive performance improvment but she will not believe me


So the challenge is

can anyone find figures thatll show the difference in performance between a computer running XP with 64 mb vs 160 (64+128) or 320 (256
+64)

and i mean figures that wont be disputed by her (startup times, internet explorer times etc etc )(but anything really)

thanks to all

i look forward to your help :D

JEREMY

[mf]

Well, a friend of mine's parents had 128MB RAM in their P4 that ran XP. Needless to say, it booted up in over 5 minutes. I bought an extra 128MB with him, we plugged it in, and it booted in less than a minute. I know it's an anecdote and not a graph or anything, but well, maybe my postcount will make her believe my story is true ;).

[r6d2]

Originally posted by jeremymacmull
Ive been trying to pursuade her for some time to buy a 128 or better a 256 mb module (her laptop max 2 slots and 512 mb)
Come on, don't be cheap and buy it yourself as a gift for Saint Valentine's day. ;)

About your credibility problem, sorry, this is not the right forum. :D:D:D

(just kidding)

[jeremymacmull]

Thanks i know its true (I went from 128mb to 512 in my laptop when i had it and things flew) but i need concrete facts or figures preferably in a table or graph form or she wont believe me

Trust me ive tried the logical approach including looking at task manager showing her it needs 140 mb to run (or what its using at the moment and she only has 96 ) but that did not work either

so thats why im thinking graphs or numbers from ANY review test etc site

JEREMY

EDIT as for the money that is not a problem ive offered many a time to buy it for her as a present heck its only £50 for 256mb but its not the money its the fact that she does not want to be "Geeky" and all this after shes been going with me for a year and half :D

JEREMY

[bilu]

You're asking a bunch of guys about how to persuade your girlfriend...to buy RAM??? :devil:

(just kidding, married guy myself)

EDIT: For the moment, can't you decrease the amount of memory available for video?

Bilu

[jeremymacmull]

WELL I thought the title was catchy !!! :D

I dont need to persuade her to do anything else cos shes perfect!!

JEREMY:devil:

EDIT as for video its set to the minimum ie 32 done that already (it was set to 64) good idea tho but implemented it already

[bilu]

Geez.... default was 64 MB Video and 32MB RAM ???? Argh :eek:

[r6d2]

What???

@jeremy, are you sure about what you said?

I guess I'm beginning to see the cause of that credibility matter... :D

[jeremymacmull]

OK OK there was an option to reduce it to 16 mb but then worms 5(a game we like playing dont play so well among others) DONT ask how or why it does not make sense to me either!!

It was a very cheap offer £999 and it has firewire and good hdd and svideo for when she bought it that was amazing the reason it was cheap was the ram amount (which was still a good deal cos to upgrade it to 320 would cost much less than buying a laptop with all the features and more ram from the shop)

besides that comment does not actually help what im trying to do :rolleyes:

JEREMY
PS but thanks anway!:D

[gooki]

Just buy the ram and install it while she's nto looking, then don't say anything.

[mudda_t]

Just buy the ram and install it while she's nto looking, then don't say anything.
I second that!!!

[jeremymacmull]

Now come on guys if i wanted to buy the ram and install it just like that i would have already done so 3 months ago

But shell be pissed off with me and its not worth it as i dont want to upset her

JEREMY

[smiller667]

Why on earth would she be pissed off? Get the ram and don't say a word - if she asks, tell her you worked some magic on her laptop ... she will love you for it.

If you still want some benchmark, go for your own PC, rip out all your ram and insert a tiny 64 stick. Measure boot time. Change back to your normal config (1 gig of ram or so :)) & measure boot time. Do some intermediate measurements with eg 128, 256, 512 megs. Make a nice bargraph chart (in percent, not absolute figures), create some nice (?) powerpoint mumbo-jumbo. Then connect her laptop to the beamer, darken the room and deliver a convincing presentation :D ...

Other than that, look for gf with a degree in physics or informatics :D ... jk.

Steve

[Kedirekin]

PC World used to have side bars occasionally (with their PC reviews) that gaves stats like performance versus memory. I haven't subscribed to PC World in ages though - don't know if they still do that. If you have a decently fast connection, you might want to rut around at www.pcworld.com.

Other than that, I don't ever recall seeing a chart of performance versus memory. In all the cirles I know of, it's just accepted that, unless you're getting a budget PC, you get at least 256 MB RAM (and even if you get a budget PC, everyone just knows you upgrade ram first time you have $50 to spare).

[Sirber]

Running TweakXP could get you a 30% speed gain, since XP is built to go 30% slower :D

[bilu]

Now I've noticed something: you're running XP on that machine??? :eek:

If you need Windows and have less memory my recommendations are:

1) Windows ME if you can get it to work: faster with memory and disk than Windows 98 SE (and much more than 98). My first choice when all the software and hardware works with ME.

2) Windows 98 SE if you got incompatibilities with ME: slower than ME but faster than 98. Much more compatible than ME.

Under 98 SE it's better to set virtual memory to a constant value about 2.5 times the amount of RAM. A bit faster even if you create a FAT16 partition just for the virtual memory - less filesystem overhead, makes a BIG difference. And a FAT16 small partition with ONE file is faster than a FAT32 one.

Under ME it works better by leaving Windows manage virtual memory automatically.


Believe me, in terms of performance you won't regret installing WinME if it works with your software and hardware. That's my choice for every machine with 64MB or less where I have to install Windows.


Bilu

[r6d2]

Originally posted by jeremymacmull
But shell be pissed off with me and its not worth it as i dont want to upset her
With 32-MB RAM, browse to Microsoft and show her the minimum requirements for XP.

[Sirber]

I got ME for a week, it was the buggiest version I got so far...

[Tuning]

For low memory systems I would recommend disabling services in XP. It can save plenty of RAM in range of 20-30MB. I'm using the same method and have only 128MB RD RAM, with this and 5600rpm HDD I can boot up in 50seconds (P4 1.4Ghz). So everything mentioned here is not correct. btw, disabling some services can help you to remove some annoying features of XP, like Auto Run CD, Automatic updates,grouping in taskbar etc ..

Just right click Mycomputer->Manage->Services and Applications -> Services. Note that some services on disabling will result in system unstability and sometimes will not boot.(Be carful!).
One more option is group policy edit. In "run" type gpedit.msc and there you can find plenty of options that on enabling (Read the purpose of each!) improves system performance.

Another way is to use a pgm called XPlite, it saves HDD space and disables some unwanted services.

@jeremymacmull,

I gotta idea...
Just cut and copy the file called "boot.ini" residing on C drive to some where else.( You need to remember it..)like you are doing some thing casually. Then I can guarantee, your GF will ask you to fix on the very next restart...Pretend some thing H/W related and replace with new RAM and the same boot.ini in C drive....:D , everything will be OK and the system will be silently upgraded.:p....haha :D :D :D

[SeeMoreDigital]

I have not read all the posts here but...

Why not take some RAM out of your laptap to show her how slow it runs without it!

Cheers

[bilu]

Originally posted by Sirber
I got ME for a week, it was the buggiest version I got so far... Don't get me wrong, ME *IS* buggy. Mostly on hardware support. But *WHEN* it works (i.e. supports all hardware) it works nicely.

Bilu

[Happygolucky]

Originally posted by jeremymacmull
Now come on guys if i wanted to buy the ram and install it just like that i would have already done so 3 months ago

But shell be pissed off with me and its not worth it as i dont want to upset her

JEREMY

I would have to ask you, is this the kind of person you want to spend the rest of your life with? If she's like this about something as simple as RAM for a laptop, run... and I mean RUN away as fast as you can and never look back.:devil:

[tiki4]

Bah, get Chibi Jasmin into this thread and ask her. She's one of the few known girls around here.

tiki4

[jeremymacmull]

WOAH how many replies this is proving to be a popular thread

(must be the title :devil: )

Anyway

ok as for the first few suggestions of ripping the ram out my laptop and showing her what it does differently no go i have a p3 850 with pc100 ram two sticks of 256 so if i took out one id still have 256 which is more than adequate

secondly she has Pc2100 ram so they are not compatible

Next point installing it when i replace the boot.ini file this again is subterfuge and i dont want to do this

Next point Win 98 and Win Me um yes and no she would never agree to me reinstalling everything nor would i want to its a lot of hassle

but it is a good idea including putting the page file on a separate partition (i might still do this for XP ) thanks BILU !!

LASTLY for all those comments about is this the girl i want to be with

the answer to that is a resounding yes the computer bits are not important in the slightest in the long run loads of other things take precedence !







BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel i showed her the thread some time ago when there were 10 posts or so and just due to the fact that there were so many people putting suggestions (which at the time were good ones) and comparing things she agreed to buy the ram etc


A Big thank you to all who participated in this thread even if not for the suggestions then just for the sheer amount of posts and views

HEHEHE

JEREMY MACMULL

[kisk]

tell her there's a new virus going around that's infecting computers with only 128mb of ram and that if an upgrade isn't made by leap year day then the cpu will melt.

trust me, she'll buy it! :D


... seriously though, I'd just buy a stick and secretly install it. Don't say anything until she does. When she comes around talking about how her computer seems faster, simply tell her "you're welcome!" :p

[Pyscrow]

Number 1 rule
Let sleeping dogs lie, DONT TOUCH HER COMPUTER!

what do you want for the next month or two - a faster laptop for her or "her favours" you wont get both!

[jeremymacmull]

@Pyscrow good suggestion

@every one else
dont worry our relationship is far more solid than that
and anyway the ram issue is over thanks for the suggestions.

Jeremy MacMull

[Pyscrow]

An object lesson for those young men out there - experienced Husbands always know how to end an argument and get the last words in -


Those last words are


: Yes Dear

[bilu]

Well, that's a good suggestion: you wouldn't like her nagging you over something for your computer that you think it's pretty much unnecessary, would you?

So unless a computer with approximately the same CPU speed but more RAM having a better behaviour she just won't be convinced. She'll think it's CPU, Windows, whatever. Not necessarily RAM.

She's being logic, for someone who don't have as much computer experience as you do. If you were her and had her experience you would probably do the same.

Bilu

[jeremymacmull]

I must say for what i thought would just be a simple answer thinging

this thread has sure gotten popular. amazing number of viewers
however i dont see much point for this thread anymore as the issue is no longer.

But anyway some sound words of advice i must has appeared i enjoyed the one from Pyscrow particularily :D

JEREMY