RAM Limitations for OS?

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 10:06 pm

A friend of mine was told, when she got her new computer, to not put in more than 256MB of RAM because she's got Win98SE as her OS. I'm running Win98SE as my OS and I have 384MB RAM. Occasionally, my computer will freeze up. This happened a lot when I was still using my 3-year-old 8Gig hard drive, but now I'm just using my few month old 40-gig High Performance hard drive, so it doesn't happen as often. Should I take out one of the three 128MB RAM chips, reducing my RAM to 256? Is that likely to fix the problem?

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 4:11 am

What speed is the RAM? 66/100/133

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:01 am

I don't think that OS's have limits on how much maximum RAM they can support; that's usually more a function fo the motherboard. If you look at your motherboard's documentation, it should tell you how much RAM it can support. Older motherboards may only support 128 MB chips where newer boards will support 512 MB chips.

Windows 95 was very inefficient at using memory, but later versions of Windows 9x and the various NT-based OS's shouldn't have any problems supporting 384 MB of RAM. My motherboard is a Soyo 7-VCA2 and it supports up to 1.5 GB (in 3 slots with a maximum of 512 MB per chip). I have 384 MB in it right now (1 256 MB, 1 128 MB chip) and have never had any memory-related freezes or crashes.

As our friend Mr Sleep says, you should check to make sure that all of your memory is the same type (PC 66/100/133, etc.). If you mix and match, you're going to have problems. You might want to take a chip out and see if the chip itself is defective, but just haivng 384 MB of RAM shouldn't cause any problems.

Demis · Post by **Demis** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:08 am

SDRAM works better if you have more, the more you have the faster you pc will work.

RDRAM though come in pairs to work properly, if you have only 128Mb if you open your case you will notice that there is also a blank ram stick that is placed just near the real RDRAM. And the case with RDRAM goes the other way, ok there are faster than SDRAM but the more you have the slower you pc will be at the beggining until the memory banks fill up with data, after that there are much faster that even DDR but until then their are very slow.

Quark · Post by **Quark** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:51 am

What your friend was saying probably wasn't a compatibility issue, it's a practicality one.

Win98 and older don't benifit much from over 256MB memory simply because they don't know how to use them. Unless you're running three big programs at a time constantly, the system doesn't speed up from using that extra memory.

fable · Post by **fable** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 9:40 am

'Course, if you *are* running several memory guzzlers simultaneously, that extra RAM will help. The problem is, those same programs are likely to be just as draining on resources as they are on memory, and under Windows 98, there's no way compensate for this last. You can have a ton of memory still available, but if your resources are drained to nothing, you'll still crash.

For what it's worth, I suggest a good memory manager like Memokit (ALS Software). It shows you how low you are on resources as well as memory at all times, and it also shows how much each executable (including the nominally "hidden" ones) are taking out of RAM. You can also reset the priority of individual tasks: very useful when you want an Internet window to just sit in the background for reference purposes, for example--you can set it to a low refresh priority, so it doesn't get in the way of a print job, etc.

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:08 pm

Originally posted by Mr Sleep
What speed is the RAM? 66/100/133

I don't know. How can I find out?

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:17 pm

Originally posted by HighLordDave
I don't think that OS's have limits on how much maximum RAM they can support; that's usually more a function fo the motherboard. If you look at your motherboard's documentation, it should tell you how much RAM it can support. Older motherboards may only support 128 MB chips where newer boards will support 512 MB chips.

Windows 95 was very inefficient at using memory, but later versions of Windows 9x and the various NT-based OS's shouldn't have any problems supporting 384 MB of RAM. My motherboard is a Soyo 7-VCA2 and it supports up to 1.5 GB (in 3 slots with a maximum of 512 MB per chip). I have 384 MB in it right now (1 256 MB, 1 128 MB chip) and have never had any memory-related freezes or crashes.

As our friend Mr Sleep says, you should check to make sure that all of your memory is the same type (PC 66/100/133, etc.). If you mix and match, you're going to have problems. You might want to take a chip out and see if the chip itself is defective, but just haivng 384 MB of RAM shouldn't cause any problems.

I looked at the manual for the motherboard(it's a Soyo, I think), and it says the motherboard, which has 3 RAM slots, can have up to 3GB memory, so the motherboard is certainly capable of handling a mere 384MB. I've currently got a 128MB chip in each slot.

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:21 pm

Originally posted by Quark
What your friend was saying probably wasn't a compatibility issue, it's a practicality one.

That's what I figured when she told me what she'd been told, but I wasn't certain.

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:22 pm

Does the machine identify 384 MB of RAM when going through the POST?

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:27 pm

Originally posted by fable
'Course, if you *are* running several memory guzzlers simultaneously, that extra RAM will help. The problem is, those same programs are likely to be just as draining on resources as they are on memory, and under Windows 98, there's no way compensate for this last. You can have a ton of memory still available, but if your resources are drained to nothing, you'll still crash.

I generally have at least one IE window, a few or more IM windows(AIM and MSN), and Winamp. I've been known to have 20+ windows open at once and doing stuff in all of them(No, this isn't how I spam

). I also sometimes, while having those other 3-4 things open, will have BG1/BG2 open and play it. I don't know how much those drain on memory or resources, though. I do know that about once a week, my computer gets down to about 10-15% resources, so I restart.

For what it's worth, I suggest a good memory manager like Memokit (ALS Software). It shows you how low you are on resources as well as memory at all times, and it also shows how much each executable (including the nominally "hidden" ones) are taking out of RAM. You can also reset the priority of individual tasks: very useful when you want an Internet window to just sit in the background for reference purposes, for example--you can set it to a low refresh priority, so it doesn't get in the way of a print job, etc.

Where can I get one of these?

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:29 pm

Originally posted by Ned Flanders
Does the machine identify 384 MB of RAM when going through the POST?

When going through the what?

When I right click on My Computer and click Properties, it says 384MB under the General tab and the Performance tab.

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:54 pm

SS,

by POST i mean power on self-test. When you first power on your computer it will identify cpu, memory, video card, HD, OD, etc... It should say 384 MB of RAM. sounds like it is veryifying all memory anyway (via your 'my computer - properties).

Instant messengers are resource hogs.

You can pick up the software fable is mentioning anywhere. local comp usa or best buy. Probably better deals to be had at ebay, buy.com, and/or cdw.com.

Check the shipping costs though as they may outweigh buying the software from a local retailer.

Shopping online is a little more convenient though.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:55 pm

POST (power-on self test) is what you computer does when it boots up and before the operating system loads.

Depending on the BIOS that you have, it may or may not show a memory test. Most Soyo boards use Award BIOS and it does show how much memory the system detects before loading Windows.

If there is a way in Windows to check the clock speed of your memory, I don't know what it is. If you bought it as part of your computer, you can check your documentation to see what kind of memory they put in (PC 66/100/133). If you bought your memory from a retailer, check your sales invoice; that should tell you.

If all else fails, pop open your case and see if the manufacturer put a sticker on one of the chips identifying the clock speed. If there are no stickers on the chip and you still can't find out, call around to local retailers and ask if they have memory testers. If you find someone who has a tester, you can take your chip to them and they can tell you what kind of memory you have. They can also tell you if the memory is defective or if there is another culprit causing your system to crash.

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 4:02 pm

Originally posted by Ned Flanders
SS,

by POST i mean power on self-test. When you first power on your computer it will identify cpu, memory, video card, HD, OD, etc... It should say 384 MB of RAM. sounds like it is veryifying all memory anyway (via your 'my computer - properties).

Instant messengers are resource hogs.

You can pick up the software fable is mentioning anywhere. local comp usa or best buy. Probably better deals to be had at ebay, buy.com, and/or cdw.com.

Check the shipping costs though as they may outweigh buying the software from a local retailer.

Shopping online is a little more convenient though.

I prefer to go to a store rather than shop online when possible.

As for the POST, it does detect the 384MB of RAM.

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 4:04 pm

Originally posted by HighLordDave
POST (power-on self test) is what you computer does when it boots up and before the operating system loads.

Depending on the BIOS that you have, it may or may not show a memory test. Most Soyo boards use Award BIOS and it does show how much memory the system detects before loading Windows.

If there is a way in Windows to check the clock speed of your memory, I don't know what it is. If you bought it as part of your computer, you can check your documentation to see what kind of memory they put in (PC 66/100/133). If you bought your memory from a retailer, check your sales invoice; that should tell you.

If all else fails, pop open your case and see if the manufacturer put a sticker on one of the chips identifying the clock speed. If there are no stickers on the chip and you still can't find out, call around to local retailers and ask if they have memory testers. If you find someone who has a tester, you can take your chip to them and they can tell you what kind of memory you have. They can also tell you if the memory is defective or if there is another culprit causing your system to crash.

Okay, I'll look at'em later when I have the chance to shut down my computer. I bought two of my RAM chips at Sam's Club and the third came with the motherboard.

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 4:25 pm

If there are compatability issues with the memory chips, a lot of times it will prevent the machine from booting.

there are so many risks with a win9x system. There aren't any good diagnostic tools to track errors.

Sailor Saturn · Post by **Sailor Saturn** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 3:16 pm

I checked my RAM chips and all three are 133.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 4:00 pm

Originally posted by Sailor Saturn
I checked my RAM chips and all three are 133.

Try it with different memory chips, alternate between them, it might be one of the sticks is defective *shrug*