Re: [gentoo-user] building a machine for Gentoo

[Tim Allingham]

I've recently moved from 1GB to 2GB of RAM, and have noticed a huge
difference for my usage, though I do lean quite heavily on it so for
most users it doesn't create much of a difference.

While running with 1GB I generally found I was sitting around 70-80%
utilisation, running a dual-head setup with Beryl, generally with 5-7
apps open (oOo, Opera, Nvu, Gnucash, X-chat etc).  I would often emerge
programs while these were running, with 1GB it would create regular
"stutters" as the RAM filled up, with 2GB I rarely notice a slowdown at
all.

Tim Allingham
tim@××××××××××××××××.au
http://www.datafirst-it.com.au

On Tue, 2007-07-10 at 23:31 -0500, Dale wrote:
> Dan Farrell wrote:
> > On Mon, 9 Jul 2007 21:35:22 -0700
> > "Julian Simioni" <spectre256@×××××.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > > On 7/9/07, Dan Farrell <dan@×××××××××.cx> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Agreed, of course, but one nice thing about extra ram that it might
> > > > be pertinent to mention is that it can be used to cache and
> > > > significantly reduce hard drive I/O once the cache is primed.
> > > >
> > > I just upgraded my system from 1GB to 2GB of DDR2 ... [ & ] I honestly
> > > have noticed no difference in speed while using Gentoo, which is by
> > > far my primary OS. I'm sure a detailed analysis would show at least
> > > slight improvement in some cases, but it probably isn't worth the
> > > upgrade.
> > >
> >
> > Yeah, my desktop (up 23 days, so cache has had time to fill) has only
> > managed to cache about half a gig worth of stuff, leaving 200 megs or
> > thereabouts unused.  . Most instances of applications I run are the same
> > hd data, like a thousand firefoxes, xterms, mail, etc.  So I think the
> > 'significant' part only kicks in if you run lots of different
> > programs.  I wouldn't expect my desktop to go any faster either, but I
> > would expect a little speedup if I were running a heavier window
> > manager or a full-blown DE like gnome or kde.
> >
> > It might make a bigger difference if you were running 3d games or
> > something, I guess.
> >
> >
>
> I have had 1Gb on here for a long time and usually updatedb fills up
> cache but other than that I don't use it all.  I did once when I
> opened about 400 pics with Gimp though.  I use KDE and I do quite a
> bit of pic stuff as far as storing them.  I wouldn't spend the extra
> money on any more memory for mine.  I just don't see where any more
> would do any good.  Like others I think it depends on what you are
> doing.  If you do video editing or CAD or something then you may can
> use the extra memory then.  Other than that, just watch what is being
> used and get more when you need it.
>
> Oh, I run folding on here a lot and I get bigger units to work on
> since I have more ram.  My other rigs with a lot less memory get
> smaller units.  That helps some I guess.
>
> Let us know what you get in the end and how things work out.  Show us
> some speed tests or something.  ;-)
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-)

-- 
gentoo-user@g.o mailing list