upgrading my ram/hard disK???

Question

I bought a notebook few months ago. It has 60 gb of ram and the intel core 2 dual processor (1.67ghz) T5500 Intel(R) core (TM)2 CPU @ 1.66 GHz, 896 mb ram.
In the system information, it says that it has 896mb of ram, but when i checked my disk defragmenter, it says that the C drive only has 60gb of ram???
Anyway the main idea is that I wanted to speed up my computer, and the only way to do it is to add ram.
I wonder what's the price of upgrading the hard disk from a 60gb one to a 120gb one?
Or should I purchase an external HDD?
Which one would be better?

Answer 1

1.) Your C:/ drive is NOT RAM. RAM is virtual memory. Your C:/ drive is a hard drive onto which you store information. RAM is essentially how your computer keeps all your windows open while you're working without saving anything to your C drive. That being said, you're running 896 mb of RAM. If you're running Windows XP, the recommended amount of RAM is 512 mb, so you are well above it. If you're running Windows Vista, Microsoft recommends 2 gigabytes of RAM--more than double what you have now. If you want to speed up your computer, RAM will certainly help, but it will only run as fast as your processor will let it (which basically means there is a performance cap). The first thing you need to do is determine what sort of RAM you have. In order to do this, you should consult the information that came with your computer. It should be DDR, DDR2, or SDRAM. You MUST buy the same type of RAM that is in your computer now, or else it will not fit into the RAM slot. Your best bet is to get it installed by a professional. It is also important to note the SPEED of the RAM, designated by "PC." RAM comes in all sorts of speed, for example: PC1600, PC 2100, PC3200, etc. You need to buy the same speed as well. If you'd like your computer to run in tip-top shape, I would recommend buying either another 512mb or 1gb. You can consult www.newegg.com and www.amazon.com for price quotes, as well as your local retailer.

It is important to note: Upgrading your hard drive will mean you can store more things on your computer. An external hard drive is merely a way to store more data. RAM is the way to make your computer FASTER.

Answer 2

You don't have 60 GB of RAM. HD, yes, but not ram. Now, if you want more speed, you should go for more ram. Reason is that most programs don't fit in the ram you have, so part of the program sits on the disk. As the program runs, pieces get swapped in and out of ram from the disk. So, the whole huge program will run, but it is slowed by all the swapping. If you have more ram, there is less swapping, so everything runs faster. Ram is generally easy for the owner to add himself. You need some help from the manufacturer, but start by searching the web for "ram upgrades" and add the type of your computer. There are ton of folks out there selling ram, many having good technical information since it sells more chips. If you want to go for more disk, you can get an external disk drive that communicates over the USB port. I have one that has 280GB. It is the size of a text book and cost about $60 on e-bay.

Answer 3

Hi,

I think you are confused...

It seems like you have 1GB of RAM = 1024MB of RAM. It says in the system information that you have 896MB of RAM that's because your video card is borrowing your RAM to operate the video card.

So your Video Card is using 1024MB - 896MB = 128MB of RAM.

When you go to the disk defragmenter and it gives you 60GB. That's your Hard Drive space. 60GB = 61440MB (60GB x 1024MB), that's because 1GB = 1024MB.

60GB of HDD is sufficient enough for everyday use, but if you want to upgrade it to 120GB, you can do so but you have to replace your current HDD to a new one. If you don't want to do so, you can purchase an external HDD. For me personally, I'd vote for external HDD because you can carry your files around and plug it in to a different computer when you need to.

Upgrading RAM is another different issue. It depends on what's the maximum RAM that you can put on your computer. Most notebook can go up to 2GB = 2048MB, check the detail specs of your laptop for this or call the manufacturer.

You also need to know what kind of RAM you need to get because there are a lot of kind out there.

For example, there is this PC4200 DDR533 RAM, there are also PC5200 DDR667, if my memory serves me right.

Hope that answers your question.

Answer 4

I think you messed up between ram (memory) and hardisk capacity
60GB is your hardisk capacity and 896 is your actual memory.
To made your computer faster is upgrade your ram to higher value. More higher memory you have more faster your computer.
The price to upgrade 60GB to 120GB is not has to many differences, since the hardsik cost for 60GB and 120GB is less than $20. I recommended you to upgrade the hardisk to more higher value, so you'll get more space to save your data.
Upgrading notebook is not easiest as upgrading desktop computer (PC). You have to call your vendor to do this, since the component on laptop is more smaller and sensitive than PC. If you dont want get busy with that kind of thing just buy the external, but it cost more than internal hardisk

Answer 5

60Gb of ram!! o.0

Best bet is to get an external HDD its gona cost u an arm and a leg to upgrade go for an ecternal will work out better.

Answer 6

Internal HDD is better. internal hdd performance is good as compare to external. if there is a budjet problem and u need more storage then go for external one else wait for money to upgrade if u can..................