Thinkpads Forum

Would there be problems using Vista Ultimate on an X61 with only 2 GB of RAM? It seems that it might not be enough memory to cope. Is 4 GB required? Thanks.

I find 2gb a bit limiting for me on vista... something like 5x-6x% mem usage which doesnt leave me a whole lot to run my mem-intensive apps. Running 3gb on vista is my benchmark now... for me its akin to 2gb on xp.

I ran 2 GB for about a year and found 4 gb provided a good improvement with Vista Business running on my Z61t. With the price of RAM...how can you go wrong?

Good luck...Bill

3GB is the limit that 32-bit vista can address on the X61.   anything more is a waste.

going from 2GB to 3GB on the X61 does make a noticeable difference under vista.   i'd recommend it.

Erik...good point about the 3 GB limitation. However I took the big plung when FRY'S had a 4 GB sale on A-data RAM for around $60 with rebate. The package contained 2ea. 2 GB chips. I moved the old RAM to my T43 and the 4 GB to the Z61t.

If my Z61t ever gets an OS that supports the full 4 GB...I am ready.

Bill

Thank you for the responses.

Is Ultimate 64 bit or 32 bit? Or, should my question be is the x61 a 64 bit or a 32 bit processor?

I'm confused. I'm thinking about buying a TP Reserve Edition machine (no sniggering please, the price is attractive and the the service agreement is wonderful, at least on paper). The model has 2GB of memory but is running Ultimate. I'm not sure what the processor is but from what you've said I'll need to check that.

So if the processor is 32 bit would it be safe to assume the OS is also 32? If so then an upgrade to 3GB of memory is the right move?

If 64/ 64 then 4GB? I assume they don't come 32/ 64 or 64/ 32 - sorry, I'm not computer savvy to this degree of knowledge. Apologies if my questions seem 'dumb'.

My alternative choice would seem to be an X300, but from what I've read it might be better to wait for later releases in 2/3 months for the new Intel chipset and the other bits and pieces. Not sure though. Tricky this choosing business.

Ultimate comes in 2 flavors (as well as Business and Home Premium) You can get it in either 64bit or 32bit. The CPU on the x61 is a Core 2 Duo so any machine using that will be 64bit capable. It can also run a 32bit OS also.

As for the reserve edition (hungry? why wait, grab a snickers bar ) it's probably a Core 2 Duo also (i didn't check it out much) so you should be able to get 64bit on there. You would also be able to run 4GB with any 64bit OS and even 8GB (2 x 4GB memory which isn't out yet)

2GB is usually more than enough. I ran Vista Ultimate on an X60s for more than a year, and then again for 2 months on an X61s.
After this I switched to Vista 64 and 4GB memory: The difference in performance is negligible.

Note that Vista will always use up all of your RAM, be it 2 or 4GB, for caching. This is a good thing (memory is here to be used, not to lie around "free"), and does not mean that Vista "needs" xxGB of RAM to run.

There might be cases when more RAM means a difference: Many Virtual machines running in parallel, for example.

Best regards, Martin

Reserve is just an X61S with some leather glued on.

I fail to see how its attractive when you can just get the x61s with on-site thinkpad protection for half the price.

blackomegax wrote:Reserve is just an X61S with some leather glued on.

I fail to see how its attractive when you can just get the x61s with on-site thinkpad protection for half the price.

Is 4 hour on-site service available with a standard x61s, or even x300? I haven't seen that being offered.

if you have not ordered yet get a 1Gb single stick, then look on newegg or the like nad buy 4 gigs for like $60.

Memory is quite easy to install on the x61 / x61s Couple screws in the bottom, remove door, put in memory at angle, push down into place...

Problem solved.

I have 2Gb on my 2.4 C2D at work and it is quite limiting. It runs, but it's definately slower than my C2D 1.8 on the thinkpad at home.

With 4Gb Vista runs more like Xp with 2GB, maybe even a little faster.