Thinkpads Forum

Can someone please provide me with the advantages and

disadvantages of upgrading my ThinkPad X61s from 2 to 4 GB RAM.

Please Note that I'm currently using Vista Business 32 Bit Edition (Can

only utilize up to 3.5 GB RAM).

Thanks in Advance..

I don't think there are any disadvantages other than you are wasting money if you do not use more than 2GB of RAM (and only you know whether you could use more than 2GB).
An advantage that shouldn't be underestimated (though rarely mentioned) is bragging rights: 4GB certainly sounds better than 2GB.

mcmanaman wrote:Can someone please provide me with the advantages and

disadvantages of upgrading my ThinkPad X61s from 2 to 4 GB RAM.

Please Note that I'm currently using Vista Business 32 Bit Edition (Can only utilize up to 3.5 GB RAM).

Thanks in Advance..

The adventage is a snappier system when your current ram is overloaded. (when it has to write to swap). The disadventage is that it is not free.

I have 2gb on this work computer, running XP. turned off the swap because I thought 2gb was enough, but when running multiple browser windows and a heavy software the 2gb is easily swallowed. so 4gb is a very good thing, epsesially since vista eat ram with a bigger hunger than xp.

I hesitated because I thought it would affect battery life. In the end it cost me 2 minutes on a 4-cell. There is not a big boost in performance - but there is really no downside. Nowadays, you can get 4GB for under $50.

I got lucky and just bought myself an X61s for a steal from Lenovo. Still waiting for it to be built and shipped. In the meanwhile I picked up 4GB Corsair memory foir $20 after rebate...

My point being, 4GB is dirt cheap and if you are using Vista you need all the RAM you can get.

I used to run XP with 512mb of RAM. Using MS office and Internet explorer my RAM intake never exceeded 400mb.
When I bought 2gb RAM and had a total of 2.5GB, all applications were not only much faster to open but there was also less lag in the overall system performance.

You need a 64bit OS on the X61s to recognize more than 3GB of RAM.

I'm running Vista x64 with 4GB of RAM and it's decently quick. I notice more RAM usage, probably because the system sees more ram and therefore more is allocated.

I had 1GB when I first got the computer. It was insufferably slow in Vista home, so I installed another 1GB. The move to 4GB was noticeable and cheap.

I highly recommend.

You can also disable the windows paging file, since it will no longer be required with 4GB of RAM. No paging file = less strain on your hard drive = better performance (not using slow HD vs. fast RAM) and better battery life (if nothing else is using the hard drive, it will idle more and use much less power).

Cheers

Yes - Windows will grab more RAm for various buffers, etc. when you put more in - but also 64-bit uses more RAM. Lots of data are twice as big.

I think windows server 2003 is better to use full 4G memory.

Concerning installing Vista Business 64 bit, do I need to buy a new vista key for 64 bit? Or 32 bit key will work on 64 bit edition. And what about the drivers and softwares that came with vista business 32? Will they work too on a 64 bit edition??

mcmanaman wrote:Concerning installing Vista Business 64 bit, do I need to buy a new vista key for 64 bit? Or 32 bit key will work on 64 bit edition. And what about the drivers and softwares that came with vista business 32? Will they work too on a 64 bit edition??

this guide over at NBR may be of help in recycling your 32-bit activation to work with 64-bit.   the media needed for the switch is getting hard to find though.

vista 32 drivers are not compatible with vista 64.

most 32-bit software will run under the WoW (windows on windows) emulation layer in vista 64.   some apps will not install and may need to be tricked using orca MSI editor (google is your friend here).   16-bit apps absolutely will not run under vista 64.

mcmanaman wrote:Can someone please provide me with the advantages and

disadvantages of upgrading my ThinkPad X61s from 2 to 4 GB RAM.

Please Note that I'm currently using Vista Business 32 Bit Edition (Can

only utilize up to 3.5 GB RAM).

Thanks in Advance..

Hey Mcmanaman,

Something to consider here.

I have a X61Tablet with 4GB RAM however my Vista Business 32bit is only seeing 3.0GB and not 3.3/3.5GB.
I do have a desktop with 4GB RAM w/ Vista Ultiamte 32bit that shows up with 3.3GB.

FYI

-mo

I have just finished installing windows server 2003 on my 4gb ram thinkpad x61s. The server 2003 is fully capable of taking advantage of the 4gb ram. All driver got recognized except one (Intel Active Management). I made a research on this and found that Intel Active Management is not compatible with windows server 2003. Does any one have a solution.

Just out of curiosity: why did you install server 2003 (x64 or x86)?

I have 1 GB of ram. Vista is using so much ram. 800 MB is paged to disk. 700 in RAM. That means Vista is using 1.5 G of RAM just to do normal stuff. So, I think 3.5 G would be perfect for Vista.

madcow wrote:I have 1 GB of ram. Vista is using so much ram. 800 MB is paged to disk. 700 in RAM. That means Vista is using 1.5 G of RAM just to do normal stuff. So, I think 3.5 G would be perfect for Vista.

Try copying larger files