PC 133 Ram for Mom

[DruidAllanon]

I just found out my mother's Dell 900mhz has only 128M ram. She runs Windows ME and the computer is about 4 years old. It is all she needs for her infrequent use surfing the internet, email, and some light word processing. .

It seems to me that she would get a good speed bump if I add 256M of memory.

I could do Rosewill at Newegg for $37 with shipping or Kingston/Corsair/Crucial for $12-15 more at ZZF. It seems to me the ZZF memory is worth the extra money. Do you agree?

Also, do you think I will see a benefit to going with 256M or additional ram (system total 384M) instead of just adding another 128M?

Thanks.

 

[razor2025]

Windows ME, I think, was built upon Win98/95 core, so extra RAM wouldn't really help your mom use the computer. I think Windows 98/95 core can only take advantage of 128MB of RAM maximum. Ask her if she feels that the computer is sluggish. If she does agree that the computer feels slow, do a diagnostic on it. That means

Run anti-spyware
Clean up harddrive (delete useless/temp files, defrag)
Run anti-virus.

After diagnostics, and the computer is still sluggish, then consider a RAM upgrade. 256MB (384 total) should be more than enough for her use. A extra 128MB (256 total) should be just right for Windows ME. I think you might want to think about moving her to Windows XP, Windows ME is a horrible OS that never should've seen the light of day. If you do indeed move her to Windows XP, 256MB of RAM is a must.

As for RAM brand. Any major brand would do. Try the Rosewill first, and see if it works. No point paying $12-15 more for premium brand, when generics works. Also, check what kind of RAM the motherboard takes. Read up whether it takes high/low density and single/doble sided. Also, you might want to check up how much total RAM it can support.

 

[Zolty]

Another 128 or 256 would help, but I wouldnt go anything fancy. As long as ME works it doesnt hog memory to badly. If she was running XP I would say get at least 512 mb, but for ME 256 -384M should be fine.

 

[Zolty]

ME will recognize up to 512, they fixed that problem in 98

 

[ribbon13]

WinME teh sucketh. Win98SE is better.

one 256mb added to that system would be as much as I'd put in it... you'd be better off getting her a new cpu, ram, and board.

 

[Zolty]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
WinME teh sucketh. Win98SE is better.

one 256mb added to that system would be as much as I'd put in it... you'd be better off getting her a new cpu, ram, and board.

I think he mentions that she is fine with the current pc, for surfing email ect that pc will work with out a problem

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Zolty
ME will recognize up to 512, they fixed that problem in 98

It will handle a lot more than 512MB, try 2GB. However more than 1.5GB can lead to errors and/or reboots.

If you have more than 512MB you should edit your system.ini and add a vcache entry.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;253912

 

[thegorx]

$37 for 128mb of pc133 ouch

I'd look around some more try ebay

 

[John]

Originally posted by: thegorx
$37 for 128mb of pc133 ouch

I'd look around some more try ebay

Try our own FS/T forum

 

[DruidAllanon]

I hear what you say about ME, and I have thought about just doing a mobo/cpu/ram with xp. Perhaps something like an XP 1800+ and mobo and 512 K ram for about $200 plus XP home OEM for $90? $290 isn't bad for a reasonably up to date system. Her 4 year old video card might be a bit strained and I assume the HDD is 5400 rpm.

On the other hand, she only uses the computer a couple of times per month (she is mid 70s) so just sinking $40-50 into memory seems to be a good way to go. I wonder if there will be a noticeable increase in speed.

 

[DruidAllanon]

Actually, it is for 256M but it is still high given the cost of all of the tooling on this stuff should have been amortized long ago. I can get good ddr 400 value ram for less.

 

[rise]

i got 256 stick for a friend for 30ish at newegg. it was easier than looking around.

 

[thegorx]

don't skimp on the motherboard
not to say it has to be expensive
but get a socket A board, if that's what you're going for, that has good reviews
check the bios updates and fixes and the dates

I just got a board that got good reviews but I should had looked at the bios updates and fixes because I'm thinking it's a lemon from the get go.

 

[thegorx]

what type of CPU is in that DELL ?
DELL's use intel don't they ?

I put an old 1Ghz duron on a newer board and it seems to do pretty well

 

[DruidAllanon]

It is an Intel cpu.

It seems people don't seem too offfended by the thought of Rosewill from Newegg. Perhaps it makes sense to drop that $37 stick of 256M in and see how much the computer is used over the next few months and then see whether a redo of the mobo and cpu is warranted. If so, the socket A suggestion is good advice so I don't start with something that is so outdated. Or maybe I should give her my kids' 1600+ rig and put a socket A mobo in their rig.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: DruidAllanon
I just found out my mother's Dell 900mhz has only 128M ram. She runs Windows ME and the computer is about 4 years old. It is all she needs for her infrequent use surfing the internet, email, and some light word processing. .

It seems to me that she would get a good speed bump if I add 256M of memory.

Yes, she most certainly would.

It seems to me the ZZF memory is worth the extra money. Do you agree?

No, I do not.

Also, do you think I will see a benefit to going with 256M or additional ram (system total 384M) instead of just adding another 128M?

Any computer will see improved speed with more RAM. The degree of improvement for the older W9x OS's starts falling off sooner than for the NT-based Windows versions, but there is still a *major* speed jump between 256 and 512 for W98se. I always considered WinME to be a horrible POS, and regularly remove it from any PC's, other than laptops/ notebooks that are older models, that pass through my hands. I prefer W2k, except as I say, for slower model laptops.