Config Help

annihilate22 · 02-10-2009, 02:34 AM

Well i'm new to the forum so excuse me if i'm posting in the wrong place.

Well i need some advice. I'm buying a new laptop. Its motherboard supports a maximum of 4GB of memory. Is it advisible for me to max my memory to 4 GB or leave it at 3 GB cause in a number of magazines i've read that, if you max your memory to the motherboard potential it doesn't utilise it completely. Also it has a 320 GB HDD in it. I would like to know how many partitions should be made and what the partition size should be,to gain maximum performance.

rbalaji · 02-12-2009, 03:45 PM

If you are going to install a 32-bit OS in the computer, it will only utilize about 3 GB of the memory, so I would say don't get the 4 GB unless the price difference is trivial. There are some speed gains from matched RAM modules, so 4 GB is useful that way, but again, I don't know whether you would get enough speed difference to justify more than a trivial price increase.

Don't partition your hard drive. Partitioning does not in any way increase performance.

**simpswr** · 02-12-2009, 04:18 PM

While partitioning a drive does not improve performance, it will allos you to separate your data from the operating system so that incase you have to reinstall, then data is untouched.

There are other advantages as well:

http://partition.radified.com/partitioning_2.htm

rbalaji · 02-12-2009, 04:23 PM

True about data being untouched by a reinstall of the OS, but then, the data should be backed up and available on an external disk anyways. If not, it is just a disaster waiting to happen as hard disks fail all the time.

**simpswr** · 02-12-2009, 04:44 PM

True, but not relevant to the partitioning question

rbalaji · 02-12-2009, 06:46 PM

Ah well, what I meant to say was that having the data untouched is not really an advantage as far as I am concerned because my backup data is anyway untouched by an OS reinstall. All I have to do after an OS install is copy it back where it belongs.

I guess I am just biased against partitioning of hard drives. I have never been convinced that it bought me anything.

**simpswr** · 02-12-2009, 07:32 PM

It's a personal preferance thing . . there is no "right" answer

02-10-2009, 02:34 AM	#1 (permalink)
annihilate22 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 1 OS: winxp	Config Help Well i'm new to the forum so excuse me if i'm posting in the wrong place. Well i need some advice. I'm buying a new laptop. Its motherboard supports a maximum of 4GB of memory. Is it advisible for me to max my memory to 4 GB or leave it at 3 GB cause in a number of magazines i've read that, if you max your memory to the motherboard potential it doesn't utilise it completely. Also it has a 320 GB HDD in it. I would like to know how many partitions should be made and what the partition size should be,to gain maximum performance.

02-12-2009, 03:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
rbalaji Tech, Microsoft Support Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 1,193 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: Config Help If you are going to install a 32-bit OS in the computer, it will only utilize about 3 GB of the memory, so I would say don't get the 4 GB unless the price difference is trivial. There are some speed gains from matched RAM modules, so 4 GB is useful that way, but again, I don't know whether you would get enough speed difference to justify more than a trivial price increase. Don't partition your hard drive. Partitioning does not in any way increase performance. __________________ Balaji Ramanathan Computers - You can't live with them, you can't live without them!

02-12-2009, 04:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,328 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Config Help While partitioning a drive does not improve performance, it will allos you to separate your data from the operating system so that incase you have to reinstall, then data is untouched. There are other advantages as well: http://partition.radified.com/partitioning_2.htm __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow? Last edited by simpswr; 02-12-2009 at 04:19 PM.

02-12-2009, 04:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
rbalaji Tech, Microsoft Support Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 1,193 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: Config Help True about data being untouched by a reinstall of the OS, but then, the data should be backed up and available on an external disk anyways. If not, it is just a disaster waiting to happen as hard disks fail all the time. __________________ Balaji Ramanathan Computers - You can't live with them, you can't live without them!

02-12-2009, 04:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,328 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Config Help True, but not relevant to the partitioning question __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

02-12-2009, 06:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
rbalaji Tech, Microsoft Support Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 1,193 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: Config Help Ah well, what I meant to say was that having the data untouched is not really an advantage as far as I am concerned because my backup data is anyway untouched by an OS reinstall. All I have to do after an OS install is copy it back where it belongs. I guess I am just biased against partitioning of hard drives. I have never been convinced that it bought me anything. __________________ Balaji Ramanathan Computers - You can't live with them, you can't live without them!

02-12-2009, 07:32 PM	#7 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,328 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Config Help It's a personal preferance thing . . there is no "right" answer __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?