T61, 2gb ram running windows ultimate

[roumancesoireee]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering if anyone has the same set up as I do. I find that when I have Chrome (with 8 tabs open), Firefox (3-4 tabs), Skype and 2-3 Word 2010 docs running, it can get choppy ... normal?

Thanks

[Bánh mì]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering if anyone has the same set up as I do. I find that when I have Chrome (with 8 tabs open), Firefox (3-4 tabs), Skype and 2-3 Word 2010 docs running, it can get choppy ... normal?

Thanks

Well its not surprising given how little memory you have installed. You might want to try ReadyBoost if you dont want to upgrade to 4GB or 8GB assuming you are using a 64-bit OS.

[roumancesoireee]

I do have the 64 bit OS, so 8GB would work?

[rumbero]

I do have the 64 bit OS, so 8GB would work?

While not officially supported by Lenovo, as no 4GB modules were available on the market during that time frame, the Santa Rosa chipset of the T61 easily allows for up to 8GB of RAM. I am running 2x4GB on two T61 myself, and it really helps a lot to avoid swapping when working within a memory hungry context (e.g. virtualization).

See www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Unofficial_maximum_memory_specs for further information, and please also note viewtopic.php?f=29&t=100723.

[Bánh mì]

Where to get a DDR2 8GB kit at a reasonable price? Seems like DDR2 prices are outragous compared to cheap DDR3.

[rumbero]

Where to get a DDR2 8GB kit at a reasonable price? Seems like DDR2 prices are outragous compared to cheap DDR3.

I guess one simply has to accept that, unfortunately. I paid for 2x4GB DDR2 at least three times as much as one would pay for 2x4GB DDR3 modules. Didn't find any other possibility. But it was worth it.

[JeffCullen]

I just paid around CA$180 (tax included) to upgrade my T61p to 8GB. I paid about CA$80 (tax included) to upgrade my girlfriend's mid-2010 MacBook Pro to 8GB around a month ago. In either case given what you can do with 8GB of RAM I think those prices are reasonable... it's a LOT of RAM for most tasks... to be honest I was never getting even near the 4GB I had before but wanted to buy it before supply and demand makes it more expensive.

[Bánh mì]

@ that price its about 75% or possibly < than the cost of certain SSDs in the 120 gigger range. Seems to me in terms of parts swapping ie one day trashing the T61 but using the SSD in a new T4XX. I mean we are looking for marginal improvements and seems to me the bang for the buck might lay with the SSD option?
Do I spend money on interchangeable way forward parts or obsolete and scarce ones?

[TuuS]

I just paid $82 for 8GB of ddr2 ram for a T61 and $37 for 8GB of ddr3 ram for a newer thinkpad. You can get it cheaper if you look for mail in rebates and sales, but this is what I paid after a 5min search for both.

[rumbero]

I mean we are looking for marginal improvements and seems to me the bang for the buck might lay with the SSD option?

A SSD may be lots faster, but is still just limited volume storage, and from a functional point of view it is definitely no RAM replacement. Using a SSD as RAM replaceent for faster swapping purposes is not really a good idea, as it only adds to its wear. But apart from that your thoughts still make lots of sense!

If one actually benefits from maxed out RAM mainly depends on the expected usage context. If one only does some web browsing and the usual office stuff, then 4GB should be enough, and maximizing RAM to 8GB might be just wasted money. But if one runs some virtual machines, possibly even in parallel, the picture might already be a bit different.

Personally, i preferred to rather invest in a 750GB WD Scorpio Black 7200rpm drive with 5 years warranty (when they were still affordable before the Thailand flood), since this is much more GB for the buck than with any SSD. I don't care so much about the load times from disk, as they are fast enough for my needs, but i do need lots of storage space to accommodate various virtual machines which i fire up on a regular basis. Also, i still doubt a lot about the long term reliability of SSD's (google for e.g. "intel 320 8mb bug"), and since i don't like to beta test on my own costs for the IT industry, i'd rather wait for this technology to mature a bit more and also become significantly cheaper. In fact, i never had any HDD die on me during 15 years of computing experience - they usually only grew old and became obsolescent with technological advancement.

Since i have had 8GB RAM built into my Linux based T61+ it has never touched swap anymore. That's just awesome! Since i don't plan to upgrade my T61+ Frankenpad (composed of T61 mainboard with T9500 CPU in a 15" T60 chassis with a new BOE Hydis UXGA Flexview display) to any newer Thinkpad for a few years to come, that upgrade therefore made lots of sense.

Bottom line is that all upgrading scenarios should be well pondered depending on the expected usage scenario. So your thoughts actually have lots of merit.

[craigmontHunter]

I have a simmilar T61, but with 4gb of ram, and I don't notice any stutters or anything in use. I bought an SSD for it, and there is a noticable speed diffrence, and SSDs are more durable, which is very important to me, since I carry my laptop around everywhere with me, and I have a desktop to store all my stuff on, so I don't need a lot of space on this (I got a 120gb SSD for $150)

[Bánh mì]

Thanks to all. Am still sitting on the fence on what to do! I just notice my T61 is not as snappy as notebooks with newer generation CPUs and am trying to take the most cost effective approach.
There's been a flurry of SSD sales in the past month or so. Where to get 8GB or RAM for that price? Can PM me if you have time.

[JeffCullen]

Good thread and good debate.

I am really on the fence with the SSD thing... like rumbero, I've been a huge fan of WD's Scorpio Black series drives since they came out... I'm not sure the "SSDs are more reliable" argument is any good either given all the firmware problems, BSODing, and even Intel having issues with their 320 series deciding it's only 8mb and wiping your data. I know a lot of this has been solved with firmware but I still don't find it mature... still, my most impatient clients have SSDs in their machines -- one client has a SSD-equipped T520 with 16GB of RAM and complains that his machine takes almost a minute to boot... however he uses his machine to demo ERP software and has several instances of SQL Server running locally as well as IIS and countless other functions that would normally only run on a dedicated server.

I don't reboot that often and can't say that I find myself waiting too long for apps to launch from the 7200rpm spinning disk...

Still, I'll likely take the plunge early in the new year.

[craigmontHunter]

Like I said, if you don't do memory/processor extensive stuff (and you don't seem to with your current specs) and don't need huge amounts of hard drive space, I would reccomend upgrading to 4gb ram and a SSD. As I mentioned above, thats what I have, all I need in my laptop is 120gb, and I even do some basic engineering things with it (Pro/Engineer, MATLAB, MAPLE, inteillicad...) - the Core2 series is by no means slow for most use, and if it does ever have to page to disk, the SSD is fast enough for it to be a lot less of an issue than with a platter drive. You do need to weigh your options - but from what you have said, I don't think you would see much benifit out of more than 4gb of ram, unless you can find it really cheap.

my $0.02

EDIT;
Another thing to note is substantially better (30 minutes - 1hr) battery life - while I used to have to watch my power use (screen brightness all the way down, slowest speed...) to make it through my classes, after I upgraded I run it with full brightness and adaptive CPU and still have 30% battery left (in numbers - it went from 3.5hrs tops with max savings when doing work to avg of 4hrs with normal settings when doing work, and almost 5.5hrs with max savings)