Extra RAM

[mellowyellow]

I have a pentuim 3 which currently has 128 MB of RAM and i want to add "at least" another 128 MB but hopefully more (512).

The current O.S i have is Win 98se which according to a friend will run into to a wall of diminishing returns if i add anything above 128 MB because of 98se. .

I want to run software such as photoshop 7 and elements 2 both which seem pretty ram hungry, however if the above is true would i have to upgrade to XP to overcome the ram issue or can i still get away with using my exsisting O.S and retain the benefits of adding extra RAM?

Thoughts.........

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Install Windows 2000. That alone will speed up your computer. I have 256 DDR RAM on my comp, and Win98se worked fine for me (admittedly i used it for a whole 25 mins).

I don't think you'd have any problems.

 

[Desredandwhite]

you should should still see an improvement on 98, though later versions will be able to use it better.

Photoshop in particular is a RAM hog (don't forget to always edit your preferences and set it to use at least 50-75 % of all available RAM. You should see a difference straight up.)

 

[nonchalance]

I'd suggest upgrading your OS - preferably to XP.
When I upgraded my Win98 box from 128MB to 384MB RAM, it stopped booting up properly, and wouldn't recognise the extra 256MB... XP fixed that.

Incidentally, Adobe warns seriously against setting Photoshop to use anything more than 40% of available RAM.

 

[TheMase]

There was a problem with 98 where if you add more than 128 meg ram, the performance of the machine decreased.

 

[Desredandwhite]

ah, there you go. I have never actually had Win95/98/me on any of my machines. Went straight from Win 3.1 to win NT The evolution reads something like...

DOS (3, 5, 6) -> Windows 3.1 -> Windows NT 4.0 Workstation -> Windows 2000 -> Windows XP Professional (and soon to include OS X 10.2 as well )

I've heard it said that 75% is the upper limit of RAM you should allocate to photoshop - though YMMV.. if you have lots of RAM, it's probably safer to push it up to that 75% limit as the OS has plenty left over to avoid crashing Runs well here on 75% (256MB RAM) and at home (768MB RAM)

 

[M29]

Originally posted by mellowyellow
The current O.S i have is Win 98se which according to a friend will run into to a wall of diminishing returns if i add anything above 128 MB because of 98se.

Windows ME that doesn't like anything more than 128MB. Not 98Se.

I have a Win98SE machine with 576MB (512+64) Ram and it runs fine.

You can also change your vcache settings to boost system performance up a little as well. It would be better to upgrade XP anyway, microshaft won't be supporting 98 much longer.

 

[campbell]

I have 98se, with Pentium 3 and 512mg.I use Photoshop amongst other programs, and its fine.

 

[mellowyellow]

Appreciate the feedback guys,i guess the i'll take advantage of XP academic and upgrade.