Laptop Memory Upgrade question

[wylie348]

I was thinking about upgrading my Feisty laptop from 1 GB to 2 GB of ram, but did not want to do it unless the performance was significantly enhanced (or even a little faster). It is already really fast but hey - a little faster would not hurt. Anyone know if doubling the ram when it is already at 1 GB will make a difference?
I know it may depend upon multiple factors, but usually I am running a browser, xournal, amarok (until I get a better gnome music player), and file browsing...on a core duo.
Thanks for any input before I shell out ...

[Skia_42]

I would try running all the programs you usually run and opening up the System Monitor .(System>>>Administration>>>System Monitor)
This should give you an idea of how much memory you are using and if you need to invest in more.

[wylie348]

Good suggestion - I should have mentioned that I did that, and although I had memory free, I was using some swap, and even if I had memory free, I was curious just how much of an improvement in overall system performance I might get. Bottom line is I am interested in others using laptops with 2 GB ram.
Thanks again,

[Skia_42]

Thats odd that you are using swap memory, It sounds like your system could be improved with more ram but I don't know that for sure. Could you post your specs with lots of programs running. (ammount swap and ram used/free)

[Polygon]

im a pretty heavy gamer and even when im doing play games i dont think ive ever maxed out my RAM usage (1 gb)

i think if you just add that , unless you do a lot of CAD or some other work that requires massive amounts of ram, its just going to sit there unused.

[wylie348]

Well, I have openoffice, gimp, firefox, amarok, xournal, beryl, system monitor, and glxgears running. System monitor reports user memory 50% and swap use 1%. CPU 1 is averaging 80% and CPU 2 is at 20% on low activity (I am typing this post, but not moving things around).
Your thoughts?

[Polygon]

yeah, that just reinforces my statement, if you have all of that stuff open (including openoffice and firefox) and you only have 50% ram and 1% swap used, you are fine. Personally,i would spend the money on something else, as adding another gig would kinda be useless

[wylie348]

Thanks - I have to agree. I really appreciate the forum feedback!