Is quad core noticeably better than dual core?

[Robert Maxwell]

This person is correct. Program caching is a good thing.

I'm not sold just yet. On a box with 2+ GB where you are the sole user, yeah, I can see it. But on a box with just 1 GB (like my personal computer), or on a box that you're sharing with other people, it doesn't seem as viable. Now, I don't know what my box is doing with the RAM that it uses, but between the core services, GNOME, and "essential applications" like Firefox, there's not oodles of memory left, and my instinct is that what is left should remain free. Perhaps I'm incorrect?

As another poster said (more or less), "unused memory is wasted memory." The amount of time it takes to clear an unused program from memory is negligible. If Vista has a decent program cache system, you would lose only a tiny bit of performance as the OS clears an unused program from memory in favor of the one you really want to load. Over time, it would become smarter about what programs you frequently run, and work to fill up your memory with the most common ones.

There were programs I used back in the Win95 days that actually did essentially the same thing. You picked what programs you wanted it to keep in memory, arranged them by priority, and as long as you had enough RAM, most programs would come up very quickly.

Filling up your RAM with a program cache is a good idea. Whether Vista has a good implementation of such, I don't know.

 

[RAMA]

Vista grinds away at the HDD for ages upon startup as it insists on filling every inch of available memory with programs it thinks you might want to load based on previous usage history. It doesn't bother me, but it's amusing that with 4GB of RAM in this PC the Task Manager never displays more than 50MB free.

Based on my one week of experience with Vista, there MUST be something wrong with your machine, I have 3GB of PC2-6400 memory and a readyboost flash drive, my system always has plenty of memory. Maybe its your HDD. Incidentally, you may want to get an 8GB flash drive to install as a readyboost, it alleviates some of the supposed superfetch strain.

RAMA

 

[BigFoot]

Yes and no, it totally depends on what you're doing on the PC. But most likely it won't make much of a difference (unless you do a lot of 3D rendering or video encoding).

 

[USS KG5]

^^

I expect there are a couple of registry hacks, and they referring to that.

This STILL does not explain why Windows uses a Gig of page file while I have a gig-and-a-half of memory free.

 

[Lindley]

Well, I'll give a shot and see what happens.

Should be interesting. Post an update to let us know what happens!

So far, so good. No problems, and while there are still delays with programs I haven't used in a while, they're about 10x shorter than they used to be. Java-based programs in particular are much faster to come back up after inactivity.

 

[Chess Piece Face]

I've got the "octo-core" mac pro...2 quad core chips. Even with a mere 2 gig ram, this machine fucking screams. I can run 2 instances of handbrake to rip 2 dvds at once, listen to itunes, surf, convert an avi to mp4 with virtualhub and run video from my hd antenna with eye tv and not a single problem. It's sick.

 

[Marc]

I've got the "octo-core" mac pro...2 quad core chips. Even with a mere 2 gig ram, this machine fucking screams. I can run 2 instances of handbrake to rip 2 dvds at once, listen to itunes, surf, convert an avi to mp4 with virtualhub and run video from my hd antenna with eye tv and not a single problem. It's sick.

Seems a bit of waste to go for such a grunty machine and only stick 2Gb of ram in

 

[BigFoot]

^ Agreed. I've got 4GB of RAM in my C2D machine.

 

[FordSVT]

There is an HP Pavilion Elite m9360f with an Intel 2.5Ghz Core 2 Quad Core, 8GB DDR2, 2x500GB HD and a 512MB GeForce 9800GT with a 24" monitor for $1900 in the flyers.

Is this a good deal and would it be enough for me to surf the interwebs and write emails to my grand-mum?

 

[BigFoot]

^ In case you're being serious (you can't always tell these things online), then I gotta tell you that the config you mentioned is way too good for surfing the web and writing e-mails. Seriously, every single component is way too good for that.

 

[FordSVT]

^No, I was not being serious.

Your avatar makes me want to do bad things, BTW.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Ok, I thought you were being sarcastic.

And yeah, same here (about the avatar).