How much faster will my laptop be if i upgrade 1.5GB of ram to 2GB of ram?

Question

i have a dell inspiron 1501 laptop and was wondering how much faster it will make my computer if i upgrade my ram from 1.5GB to 2GB which is its max. Also do u think its worth it. The way i look at it its the only way to upgrade my laptop.

Answer 1

Hardly any faster in XP but could be a bit faster in Vista.

Disabling unnecessary startups might do more wonders to your laptop. You can do that in msconfig (Run msconfig).

Answer 2

Yes, it will be faster. How much depends on the application. When your RAM is full, the computer uses the HD to store temp data, and it's much slower than ram. So you'll have 4x more storage space on the Ram after upgrading. If your applications only use 512 or less MB of memory while running then there will be no change (thats very unlikely) If they use 512MB to 2GB then you will notice a huge difference. If they use more than 2 GB there will be a considerable change but any overflow will still slow you down. It will still be faster than what you have now. The overall effect depends on the Operating System, software you're running, which background apps load when you turn on your system, and how many things you run at the time The speed of a laptop largely depends on: (1) the motherboard's processor; (2) the memory it possesses [RAM]; (3) the hard disk's capacity [its ability to breathe if bombarded with multiple applications; and (4) the number and kind of programs installed. If you enhance any one of these parts, you may get a 25% increase in efficiency, and a 15-25% increase in speed. These figures are mere estimates, of course. But enhancing any of these four affects the performance of any computer unit. I would also advise you to stay away from Windows Vista first since it's too big a program to be swallowed by a 1.66 ghz Intel Solo. Your laptop would run faster with an XP Pro.

Answer 3

Well generaly it depends what you are performing on your laptop. since you seem to know alot about computers considering you are asking about upgrading im going to safely assume some engineering programs(using that as a broad term) but really what this will do is make your laptop do things like compile programs, or do large art/design changes/scaling much faster. If your laptop is slow on things like games it could be your video card or processor. Or for small activities like online apps or simply browsing folders, that means you probobly have other things wrong with your computer. Just incase check out some sites like PCPITSTOP.com and check before you go make a purchase thatwill probobly run you over 100$ and might not even help what you want to acheieve. For how much faster? Depends on your current rig, could be a big change if your programs are pushing the limit and require like 1.75gigs then it will make a big diference.
Hope this helps
Dan

Answer 4

if it is running vista, then you will need all the ram you can get. If its XP, then you wont see much of a difference when you are already running at nearly the top of the line performance. That and you will have to replace one of the 512s with a 1 gig chip, which would be a waste, unless you sell the old one. dont upgrade for the sake of upgrade...esp when there is nothing wrong..

Answer 5

Most performance tests have shown that the single most significant increase in performance is due to a increase in the amount of RAM. This is due to the fact that when Windoze runs out of RAM it begins using the HDD, which is slower by at least a factor of 1000x. Additionally, the unnecessary use of the HDD lowers its lifespan, and, particularly in your case, it significantly reduces your battery life because the HDD uses about 1000x more energy! So, yeah, beef it up!

Answer 6

you would hardly notice any difference since u have more that 1 gb ...now if u had 512 and upgraded to 1 gb u would notice great dirrenece bcz 215 is considered minimal while 1 gb is considered recommended and bcz it gives performance to the computer

Answer 7

You don't say which OS you're running. I'm assuming XP, which 1.5gb is plenty. (You won't notice much difference, unless you're running some memory intensive programs).

If you're running Vista, then I'd make that decision myself based on how it's performing as it is.

Answer 8

1.5Gb is fairly good, I don't think you would see a difference in performance, especially if you are using windows xp.

Answer 9

I seriously doubt you will see any difference, going from 1.5 to 2 isn't a big enough difference.
It's not worth it in my opinion.

Answer 10

That just gives you more space to save stuff on your computer. It depends on your CPU speed and the cache.