Re: memory

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Author: Stephen Partington
Date:  
To: Main PLUG discussion list
Subject: Re: memory
Most hardware will drop to the least common denominator. So you should be
fine.
On Oct 9, 2014 10:37 PM, "Michael Havens" <> wrote:

> sorry about the delay.... I had to go to work.
>
> top - 22:16:50 up 1 day,  8:59,  2 users,  load average: 0.30, 0.19, 0.15
> Tasks: 168 total,   2 running, 166 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
> %Cpu(s): 12.0 us,  2.3 sy,  0.0 ni, 84.1 id,  1.7 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.0 si,
>  0.0 st
> KiB Mem:   1983332 total,  1812836 used,   170496 free,    57184 buffers
> KiB Swap:  5855656 total,    40496 used,  5815160 free.   560792 cached Mem

>
> it looks to me like the additional memory will be beneficial.
>
> Nobody answered my question; if I am sent the 533 Mhz ram instead of the
> 800 will the different speed rams play together? The reason I ask is Amazon
> sent me a letter saying my order (the 533 Mhz) had shipped then I tried to
> change my order and the company said that it wouldn't be a problem.
> Further, they didn't charge me more so I am thinking they are BSing me. But
> if they did that I would write a negative customer feedback report. SO I
> guess they really are sending me the right memory for the price I paid for
> the slower memory. This company is Computer Memory Solutions
> <http://www.amazon.com/gp/node/index.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=A1X44CXPYKK87E&merchant=A1X44CXPYKK87E&redirect=true>
> .
>
> :-)~MIKE~(-:
>
> On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 7:49 PM, Mark Phillips <>
> wrote:
>
>> I have found the best number to watch is the amount of swap used. If that
>> grows, then you need more RAM. If you are running slow and not using swap,
>> then adding RAM won't help.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 4:53 PM, Carruth, Rusty <> wrote:
>>
>>> Unless his problem is LACK of ram. Yes, I know it said 489M free.
>>> Without a look at top I'm not convinced yet that he won't see any
>>> improvement.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Here is 'top' from a machine which is pretty un-loaded:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> top - 16:40:14 up 63 days, 1:12, 3 users, load average: 0.42, 0.62,
>>> 0.67
>>>
>>> Tasks: 287 total, 1 running, 282 sleeping, 0 stopped, 4 zombie
>>>
>>> Cpu(s): 3.8%us, 0.9%sy, 0.0%ni, 95.3%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si,
>>> 0.0%st
>>>
>>> Mem:   2564652k total,  2053712k used,   510940k free,    91448k buffers

>>>
>>> Swap: 6095864k total, 371340k used, 5724524k free, 516624k cached
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> And here's a top from one of our servers:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> top - 16:42:03 up 141 days, 19:59, 6 users, load average: 0.00, 0.02,
>>> 0.05
>>>
>>> Tasks: 274 total, 1 running, 273 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
>>>
>>> %Cpu(s): 3.1 us, 0.6 sy, 0.0 ni, 96.0 id, 0.3 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si,
>>> 0.0 st
>>>
>>> KiB Mem: 32898652 total, 32469852 used, 428800 free, 2711252 buffers
>>>
>>> KiB Swap: 33506300 total,     1224 used, 33505076 free, 22613684 cached

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> (yeah, 32G of ram. I can edit (using emacs) a 20G file with NO
>>> problems. I know because I have)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Again, nice and responsive (but then this machine says:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> /var/log/dmesg:[    0.000007] Calibrating delay loop (skipped), value
>>> calculated using timer frequency.. 4399.98 BogoMIPS (lpj=8799976)

>>>
>>> /var/log/dmesg:[    0.121190] smpboot: Total of 4 processors activated
>>> (17599.95 BogoMIPS)

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> So I suppose that's a pretty hot machine.)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On the OTHER hand, look at this machine, which runs pretty much as well
>>> as everything ELSE here I've mentioned:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> top - 16:45:51 up 51 days, 23:59, 28 users, load average: 4.79, 4.46,
>>> 4.51
>>>
>>> Tasks: 335 total, 1 running, 330 sleeping, 0 stopped, 4 zombie
>>>
>>> %Cpu(s): 70.4 us, 0.8 sy, 0.0 ni, 28.6 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.1 si,
>>> 0.0 st
>>>
>>> KiB Mem: 8159892 total, 7781364 used, 378528 free, 290460 buffers
>>>
>>> KiB Swap:  2086908 total,        0 used,  2086908 free,  5508492 cached

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> /var/log/dmesg:[    0.000001] Calibrating delay loop (skipped), value
>>> calculated using timer frequency.. 5985.88 BogoMIPS (lpj=11971768)

>>>
>>> /var/log/dmesg:[    0.074024] smpboot: Total of 2 processors activated
>>> (11971.76 BogoMIPS)

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Again, fast cpu, but then I've got 4 processor-bound applications
>>> running all the time on it so its at a load average of 4.79. I've
>>> remembered that the important numbers come from:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> %Cpu(s): 70.4 us, 0.8 sy, 0.0 ni, 28.6 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.1 si,
>>> 0.0 st
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> If that said:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> %Cpu(s): 70.4 us, 0.8 sy, 0.0 ni, 0.6 id, 26.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.1 si,
>>> 0.0 st
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> You'd have something of a slow machine. If it said:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> %Cpu(s): 20.4 us, 0.8 sy, 0.0 ni, 8.6 id, 70.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.1 si,
>>> 0.0 st
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Youd be going to lunch while waiting for it to finish whatever you were
>>> doing, if I remember the numbers right.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> IMHO, YMMV, etc, etc J
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I look forward to hearing what Mike discovers.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* [mailto:
>>> ] *On Behalf Of *Mark Phillips
>>> *Sent:* Thursday, October 09, 2014 4:36 PM
>>> *To:* Main PLUG discussion list
>>> *Subject:* Re: memory
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Mike,
>>>
>>> On page 91 of the Dell Dimension C521 that I sent to you, you can use
>>> memory sticks at 533 MHz, 667 MHz, and 800 MHz. Since the original ones are
>>> 800 MHz, you did the right thing by changing your order from 533 MHz to 800
>>> MHz.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bottom line...unless you were doing a lot of RAM intensive computations
>>> on this machine, you won't see a lot of performance improvement for your
>>> investment of $50 in the memory.
>>>
>>> Mark
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 2:06 PM, Michael Havens <> wrote:
>>>
>>> I emailed the company I bought the ram from and they said they would
>>> send the 800 Mhz instead of the chips advertised. If that happens I don't
>>> know. If it does not happen should I get the matching 533Mhz ram or can I
>>> have the mismatching speeds (will it default the the slower speed)?
>>>
>>>
>>> :-)~MIKE~(-:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 12:41 PM, <> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I did a search on "CPU family 15 Model 79 Stepping 2" and this is what I
>>> found.
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD-Sempron%2064%203400%2B%20-%20SDA3400IAA3CN%20%28SDA3400CNBOX%29.html
>>>
>>> And here is the benchmark I found
>>> http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Sempron+3400%2B
>>>
>>> I would say at least in part the cause of your computer being slow is
>>> the CPU.
>>>
>>> I'd be interested to hear if more RAM makes a difference. Of course RAM
>>> might effect performance if you are doing something that requires a lot of
>>> RAM. I assume more RAM will effect compile speed.
>>>
>>> This is a testament to Linux breathing life into old iron.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2014-10-09 14:03, Michael Havens wrote:
>>>
>>> bmike1@C521 ~ $ lscpu
>>> Architecture:          x86_64
>>> CPU op-mode(s):        32-bit, 64-bit
>>> Byte Order:            Little Endian
>>> CPU(s):                1
>>> On-line CPU(s) list:   0
>>> Thread(s) per core:    1
>>> Core(s) per socket:    1
>>> Socket(s):             1
>>> NUMA node(s):          1
>>> Vendor ID:             AuthenticAMD
>>> CPU family:            15
>>> Model:                 79
>>> Stepping:              2
>>> CPU MHz:               1000.000
>>> BogoMIPS:              2004.24
>>> Virtualization:        AMD-V
>>> L1d cache:             64K
>>> L1i cache:             64K
>>> L2 cache:              512K
>>> NUMA node0 CPU(s):     0

>>>
>>> :-)~MIKE~(-:
>>>
>>> On Thu, Oct 9, 2014 at 10:04 AM, <> wrote:
>>>
>>> what CPU does that box have?
>>>
>>> On 2014-10-09 09:36, Mark Phillips wrote:
>>> Michael,
>>>
>>> It seems the max memory is 4GB for that system - 4 banks of 1 GB
>>> sticks.
>>> RAM memory Capacity - 4 GB
>>> Memory Type - DDR2 SDRAM - DIMM 240-pin
>>> Data Integrity Check - Non-ECC
>>> Speed - 667 MHz ( PC2-5300 )
>>> Features - Dual rank , unbuffered
>>>
>>> You already have 2 1GB sticks in the machines - what speed are
>>> they?
>>> You should match the speed for all four sticks.
>>>
>>> The second set you mentioned are only 533 MHz, whereas your bus is
>>> 667
>>> MHz. If your system is slow, get the fastest memory you can afford.
>>>
>>> Mark
>>>
>>> On Wed, Oct 8, 2014 at 1:51 PM, Carruth, Rusty <>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Yes, 1024 is one gig, but often some memory is stolen by the
>>> motherboard - for example if you have an on-board graphics card
>>> that uses main memory for its RAM.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Personally, if you can afford it and the 4G is less than 2x the 2G
>>> I'd get 4G - but if you could find 2x2G sticks then you could
>>> have 6G total - not bad IMHO.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> FROM:
>>> [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org] ON BEHALF OF
>>> Michael Havens
>>> SENT: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 1:43 PM
>>> TO: PLUG
>>> SUBJECT: memory
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I know this is a stupid question but...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I got a Dell dimension c521. It is slow so I figure I should add
>>> memory. There are 4 memory slots with 2 being used. How much memory
>>> is that? Well, the cards that are in there say it they are two
>>> cards with 1024 mb apiece. 'free -h' reports
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> free -h
>>>
>>>                    total       used       free

>>>
>>>        shared    buffers   cached

>>>
>>> Mem:          1.9G       1.4G       489M        18M
>>>        59M       535M

>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> isn't 1024 one gig? Where is the rest?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> SHould I buy this?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> NEW 4GB 4X1GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHZ RAM MEMORY FOR DELL DIMENSION
>>> C521 [1]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> or should I get this?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2GB (2X1GB) RAM MEMORY CMS COMPATIBLE WITH DELL DIMENSION C521
>>> DESKTOP [2]
>>>
>>> :-)~MIKE~(-:
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>>>
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>>> Links:
>>> ------
>>> [1]
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.amazon.com/4x1GB-PC2-5300-667MHz-Memory-Dimension/dp/B00KFND9SC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412798813&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dimension+c521+memory
>>>
>>> [2]
>>> [2]
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Dell-Dimension-C521-Desktop/dp/B00BL30RZS/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412798813&amp;sr=1-3&amp;keywords=dimension+c521+memory
>>>
>>> [3]
>>> [3] http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss [1]
>>>
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>>> Links:
>>> ------
>>> [1] http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>>> [2]
>>>
>>> http://www.amazon.com/4x1GB-PC2-5300-667MHz-Memory-Dimension/dp/B00KFND9SC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1412798813&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=dimension+c521+memory
>>> [3]
>>>
>>> http://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Dell-Dimension-C521-Desktop/dp/B00BL30RZS/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1412798813&amp;amp;sr=1-3&amp;amp;keywords=dimension+c521+memory
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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