Will increasing T60 RAM from 2 to 4GB really increase speed?

[paranoyd androyd]

I currently have two separate 1GB RAM chips installed in the two memory slots, but I'm considering buying two new 2GB chips to increase to 4GB.

The reason for this consideration is that I've been getting a lot of screen freezes lately (accompanied by fast beeping sounds) whenever streaming online videos or programs like sports. I frequently clear recent browsing history and defrag the hard drive, but this doesn't appear to help things.

Will increasing RAM necessarily solve this problem? Or is it simply time for a new laptop?

Specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo
T7200 @ 2.00GHz
Fujitsu 80GB HD 5400rpm - 20 GB Free
2GB RAM

Or is the issue that my CPU speed is too slow? Or my hard drive too slow and/or too small?

I primarily use my T60 to surf the web on firefox (multiple tabs open usually per session), stream video, and occasional spreadsheet work.

Thanks for your help

[ThinkRob]

The reason for this consideration is that I've been getting a lot of screen freezes lately (accompanied by fast beeping sounds) whenever streaming online videos or programs like sports. I frequently clear recent browsing history and defrag the hard drive, but this doesn't appear to help things.

Will increasing RAM necessarily solve this problem? Or is it simply time for a new laptop?

Possibly.

But a better first step would be to test the memory that you already have.

Use something like memtest86+ to verify that the memory that you have is actually good.

[Neil]

Welcome to the forum! I don't know what is causing the problem with streaming video, but I don't think more RAM will help. Streaming video just doesn't need much RAM, and the T60 has a chipset limitation that would only allow it to use about 3GB of the 4GB you are thinking of installing. So, IMHO you wouldn't gain much.

[rumbero]

The reason for this consideration is that I've been getting a lot of screen freezes lately (accompanied by fast beeping sounds) whenever streaming online videos or programs like sports.

If you could exactly describe what these "fast beeping sounds" actually consist of, maybe we could find out the associated error code description. Please count the beeps, and whether they are short and long ones, and the exact sequence in which they are sounding.

Will increasing RAM necessarily solve this problem? Or is it simply time for a new laptop?

I doubt that adding more RAM would make any noticable difference, but than again we don't know yet what operating system you are using. It makes a difference whether you are still using WinXP, or possibly already Windows Vista or even Windows 7. If you were using Linux you most probably wouldn't complain about any lack of speed.

Specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo
T7200 @ 2.00GHz
Fujitsu 80GB HD 5400rpm - 20 GB Free
2GB RAM

For mere web browsing and streaming video this looks like a pretty decent configuration. Whether RAM is sufficient depends to some degree on the OS used, but the most delimiting component is most probably just the hard disk.

A noticable speed increase could really be noted by replacing the slowest member of the computing chain, which usually is the hard drive. Replacing it with any SSD would definitely work miracles regarding interactive usage of the machine, as both the CPU and the RAM wouldn't need to wait for data to arrive from the hard disk anymore.

[paranoyd androyd]

Possibly.

But a better first step would be to test the memory that you already have.

Use something like memtest86+ to verify that the memory that you have is actually good.

By possibly, do you mean more RAM could help or that it's possibly new laptop time?

Thanks for the suggestion - ran the memtest and it passed no errors.

[paranoyd androyd]

Welcome to the forum! I don't know what is causing the problem with streaming video, but I don't think more RAM will help. Streaming video just doesn't need much RAM, and the T60 has a chipset limitation that would only allow it to use about 3GB of the 4GB you are thinking of installing. So, IMHO you wouldn't gain much.

Thanks, what part of computer speed gets taxed the most when streaming video and web surfing? CPU? RAM? HD?

[paranoyd androyd]

If you could exactly describe what these "fast beeping sounds" actually consist of, maybe we could find out the associated error code description. Please count the beeps, and whether they are short and long ones, and the exact sequence in which they are sounding.

The video stops playing and these very short beeps start immediately at the freezing point. The beeps keep on going until I force a power down by holding down the power key. crtl+alt+delete doesn't work when the freeze happens.

I doubt that adding more RAM would make any noticable difference, but than again we don't know yet what operating system you are using. It makes a difference whether you are still using WinXP, or possibly already Windows Vista or even Windows 7. If you were using Linux you most probably wouldn't complain about any lack of speed.

On XP Service Pack 3.

For mere web browsing and streaming video this looks like a pretty decent configuration. Whether RAM is sufficient depends to some degree on the OS used, but the most delimiting component is most probably just the hard disk.

A noticable speed increase could really be noted by replacing the slowest member of the computing chain, which usually is the hard drive. Replacing it with any SSD would definitely work miracles regarding interactive usage of the machine, as both the CPU and the RAM wouldn't need to wait for data to arrive from the hard disk anymore.

Thanks for this information. I've read a lot about how either a 7200rpm or SSD can really help speed. Curious though, how does web surfing and web streaming draw on the hard drive? (Sorry, I don't understand hardware all too well, much better at software.) I thought the hard drive is already active when you're loading or playing something that you've already saved locally?

[Neil]

Kinda sounds like your CPU is overheating. I'd start by removing the fan, cleaning it well and applying new heat transfer compound, and see if that fixes the problem. But, you might want to run TPFanControl first and see if your temp spikes before the systems locks up.

[rumbero]

On XP Service Pack 3.
[...] how does web surfing and web streaming draw on the hard drive?

The memory management of WinXP is pretty bad, and the disk is constantly used for swapping. That slows things down considerably. If you would consider upgrading your system to Windows 7, this would already help a bit, as Win7 is finally applying the same memory management strategies which made Linux be so much faster on the same hardware.

Other than that, the suggestion by Neil to clean your Thinkpad's cooling unit from accumulated dust is a very good idea! This might be a possible root cause of any such kind of crashes.

For this you have to open up the machine and clean the fan from dust. Just make sure to block the fan wheel from spinning with a tooth pick or similar before blowing it out with some canned air or air pump. If the fan wheel is not prevented from spinnning it would create high currencies which might damage some electronic circuits on the mainboard.

There are some very well done videos on www.lenovoservicetraining.com/ion/T60_T60p which show in great detail how to access the fan unit.

[paranoyd androyd]

The memory management of WinXP is pretty bad, and the disk is constantly used for swapping. That slows things down considerably. If you would consider upgrading your system to Windows 7, this would already help a bit, as Win7 is finally applying the same memory management strategies which made Linux be so much faster on the same hardware.

I thought I read that the T60 couldn't be upgraded with Win7 due to a lack of memory that Win7 requires? If that's not true, would increasing the T60 to 4GB of RAM be sufficient for Win7?

Other than that, the suggestion by Neil to clean your Thinkpad's cooling unit from accumulated dust is a very good idea! This might be a possible root cause of any such kind of crashes.

For this you have to open up the machine and clean the fan from dust. Just make sure to block the fan wheel from spinning with a tooth pick or similar before blowing it out with some canned air or air pump. If the fan wheel is not prevented from spinnning it would create high currencies which might damage some electronic circuits on the mainboard.

There are some very well done videos on www.lenovoservicetraining.com/ion/T60_T60p which show in great detail how to access the fan unit.

I opened the machine and cleaned the dust off the fan - there was a decent, but not overwhelming amount of dust in there.. hopefully this will help things, thanks.

So are you saying the crashes I'm experiencing are potentially due to overheating and not a lack of CPU speed or RAM? The bottom of my T60 has always been very hot and I've had to put a pillow in between my lap and the laptop in order to sit down with it. Is this uncommon - is the T60 known to run hot, or is normally relatively cool to warm? Thanks again.

[ThinkRob]

So are you saying the crashes I'm experiencing are potentially due to overheating and not a lack of CPU speed or RAM? The bottom of my T60 has always been very hot and I've had to put a pillow in between my lap and the laptop in order to sit down with it. Is this uncommon - is the T60 known to run hot, or is normally relatively cool to warm? Thanks again.

Crashes aren't due to a lack of CPU power or RAM. (At least not with a functional operating system.)

And no, the T60 is not known for being particularly hot.

[rumbero]

I thought I read that the T60 couldn't be upgraded with Win7 due to a lack of memory that Win7 requires? If that's not true, would increasing the T60 to 4GB of RAM be sufficient for Win7?

On the T60, due to hardware restrictions, you wouldn't be able to use more than 3GB of the installed 4GB RAM, so installing an additional 2GB module replacing one of the existing 1GB modules should be sufficient. And yes, Win7 will make your T60 more responsive to such a degree that you would actually note it.

While i do prefer Linux for everything since more than 15 years, i have to admit that Win7 has become much better than any of it's former Windows incarnations. For my taste it is still far from being good enough to lure me away from Linux, but at least already good enough to not want to have to use any of it's ancestors at work. Seems like Microsoft has at long last started to invest more effort into actual technical advancement than just only in marketing.

The bottom of my T60 has always been very hot and I've had to put a pillow in between my lap and the laptop in order to sit down with it. Is this uncommon - is the T60 known to run hot, or is normally relatively cool to warm? Thanks again.

You are aware that putting a pillow in between lap and laptop does indeed block the required air flow of the cooling unit? Maybe changing this bad habit might also help. Try something with a hard surface instead, so that there is a gap left under the bottom of your T60.

If your T60 still runs too hot, and since it has already a few years on it's back, it might also be advisable to refresh the thermal grease between the CPU/GPU and the fan unit.

[dr_st]

You are aware that putting a pillow in between lap and laptop does indeed block the required air flow of the cooling unit? Maybe changing this bad habit might also help. Try something with a hard surface instead, so that there is a gap left under the bottom of your T60.

For this exact purpose cushioned lap desks have been created. They have a soft pillow or pillow-like padded surface on bottom, for purposes of convenience, and a hard flat one on top, to provide stability and adequate air flow to the laptop's intake vents.

Something like this:
http://www.brookstone.com/epad-portable ... ed-lapdesk
Or like this:
http://www.organizeit.com/euro-lap-desk ... pid=bzRate
Or like many other options.