Windows – Does upgrading from 2GB to 4GB RAM on an i5 improve performance?

64-bitmemorywindows 7

  • Core i5 2.3 Ghz processor
  • 512mb ATI HD 4570
  • 2GB 1333 RAM
  • 64bit Windows 7 Home Premium.

Will adding another 2GB to my present 2GB improve my laptop's performance ? And in which aspects ? Will it be better for gaming?

Best Answer

That's entirely dependent on what you use your computer for.

If you're running out of memory it will, if not it won't (or will give at most a modest benefit from additional caching.

To see if you're using more than 2GB of ram:

  1. Open task manager.
  2. Go to the Performance tab.
  3. Look at the value listed as Commit (GB).

It will be in the form A/B. B is the total physical + virtual memory you're using and can be ignored for now. A is the amount of memory you're currently using. If A is above 2GB you're exceeding your available memory and will benefit from adding more. If it never reaches 2GB more ram won't help.

In general if you're only running Win7 and a game at a time 2GB will probably be sufficient, your GPU is likely slow enough to preclude running games that have high enough system demands to need more than 2GB. If you leave a number of other programs, or just a web browser with a large number of open tabs, running while you game you're much more likely to run out of memory.

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