Tag Archives: RAM

Skype’s RAM usage is dreadful!

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I’ve been a fan of Skype for many years now – as it seems to be the most reliable and practical way to keep in touch with friends on the phone for free. I was a user of the Skype “subscriptions” for many months and was very impressed with the value for money and quality of the service.

However, it has come to my attention that the newer versions of Skype seem to be using extortionate amounts of RAM – even when the client is in idle mode.

Windows Task Manager (3)

Above is a screenshot of my Task Manager in Windows 7 32-bit on my netbook. As you can see, it’s using well over 80MB of RAM in idle mode. If you go into a call, this will trickle up to over 100MB.

I find this a little excessive – especially since the program is only trying to keep a login alive whilst in idle mode. Do something about it, Skype!

Samsung introduces a 32GB RAM chip!

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Yep, you are reading that correctly. Samsung has managed to squeeze in 32GB memory into one chip.

It’s great news that means that technology is moving on at a really swift pace. The chip is aimed at server use, but it’s still very exciting news.

The 1.35 volt chip also claims to run a bit faster than previous 1.5 volt DDR3 chips. Of course, the chip will definitely not come cheap. There is no price set at the moment since the word at the moment is that Samsung probably won’t have it available to the public anytime this year. There’s also the question of finding a computer that will support that much RAM.

And when you think of it, what the hell are you going to do to fill up 32GB RAM. I have a 2GB RAM laptop here running Vista and that struggles to get past using more than 1.5GB, even when I’m doing intensive work on it such as video editing. You’d have to run hundreds of resource-hogging programs to fill up 32 gigs! Even a server would struggle to gobble up 32GB of RAM – you’d have to have excessive load on it to choke on RAM that big. On the other hand, it hopefully will bring more reliability to shared servers meaning less downtimes and more power availability.

But anyway, it’s nice to hear that RAM technology is progressing.

EI System 1201 with 2GB RAM – Tested and confirmed

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Well after my post I did a little while back, I decided I would pluck up the courage and actually go and buy a 2GB RAM chip for my laptop.  It arrived today (special delivery from Crucial) and I just got it fitted. Guess what? Works an absolute dream! Vista is so much faster and usable!! Absolutely love it. Would recommend any day!

So for those who are interested, this is what I bought: 2GB PC-5300 DDR2 200pin SODIMM. Make sure you get the 2GB chip and not the 2x1GB kit as the laptop does only have one slot.

Once its fitted, fire up the laptop and see how quickly it boots. It doesn’t boot quickly first time as it works out it’s had a hardware boost, but once you’ve booted it for the first time shut it down and boot it again. With any hope, it will be much quicker.

So, there you go, for the people who were wondering, you can run an EI System 1201 with 2GB RAM. Sorted.

Should you defragment your RAM? (How to guide)

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Well, everybody knows that Vista can’t really be ran on 1GB RAM – especially if you use a lot of system programs. I personally know differently, because I’ve found out that if you can “defragment” your systems RAM once the amount of available RAM falls below a certain point, you can clear up some used RAM (often quite a lot) and make your computer much more usable.

Trouble is, there isn’t much free software you can find that does the thing I want it to do. I have found one program, though, and despite the fact it doesn’t claim it will run on Windows Vista (the program was created in 2003), it will run fine without any issues.

You can grab the program here, and it is completely free (unlike most of the shareware I found on the internet). Just download the ZIP file, run the included EXE file, and when it is installed and it runs for the first time say Yes when it asks if you want to configure it.

Make sure your configuration options match mine:

ram

When that’s done, you should see it defragment in a dialog box. When it’s done, just click Send to Tray. You’ll see in the notification tray area a black box with a number in it. That is the amount of RAM available.

The system will automatically defragment the RAM when less than 1/3 of it is available. But, if you want to manually defrag it, just double click the icon.

Simple as that. You’ll get better performance and also be able to run more programs at the same time. The program will automatically load up on boot, so you won’t have to constantly reload it.

Also, the program will work on all computers from Windows 95 upwards so you can basically use it on any PC.

Enjoy, and post a comment if you have any problems.

EI System 1201 (DSG Retail) and RAM

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I own an EI System 1201 as one of my laptops, as I thought it was an excellent budget buy. I bought it in June ’08 with Vista Home Premium… and sadly 1GB of RAM. Vista and 1GB RAM don’t mix, trust me.

Anyway, I googled some RAM for the system and many sites are telling me that it only has 1 RAM module. However, I’m not totally sure of this. I’ve taken the back off and this is what I saw:

Image 1

Image 2

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that is two slots.

Many sites are claiming that it is one slot only, but I think there may be another one hidden underneath it.

I am also trying to get clarification on whether the maximum memory is 2GB. I’ve seen this site, Ei Systems Laptop Memory :: 1201 Laptop Memory :: Offtek.co.uk, the Memory Superstore, which claims that there is a 2GB module avaialble for the system.

It’s all very blurry for me – can you get 2GB in by either getting 2x 1GB modules or 1X 2GB module. If you’ve got any experiences in installing memory in this laptop, please post a comment? Have you ever got 2GB in?

Update 7.2.09 – Thanks very much to Mark (see comments) who has now can confirmed he can upgraded his EI System 1201 with a 2GB PC5300 667mhz of RAM, and that he is relatively sure there is only one slot. So my mistake if I got that wrong :).

Update 21.2.09 – Have ordered a 2GB piece of RAM for the laptop from Crucial, so will report back when I have it delivered and installed. Wish me luck.

I can confirm the RAM upgrade was successful.