upgrade RAM worthwhile? Toshiba Satellite C50D-A. 4GB now, 1.5GHz, HD

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › upgrade RAM worthwhile? Toshiba Satellite C50D-A. 4GB now, 1.5GHz, HD

isune

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#208882 3-Mar-2017 17:34

Toshiba Satellite C50D-A

PSCFWA-02500K

The crucial.com memory test identified it as C50D-A025 compatible upgrades

This laptop sometimes gets a bit sluggish and I'd rather upgrade than buy another one.

I don't do anything gaming or graphics intensive, just browsing, and music.

It's got:

4GB which is 800MHz (one slot is free). Max allowed RAM is 16GB

1.5GHz, HD

I'm keen to keep this under a $100 which rules out changing the HD...

I was thinking of getting Kingston 8GB DDR3 1600 Sodimm for $75

I'm not that familiar with all the technical aspects so I apologise if I've missed out any important information. Thanks heaps for any ideas :)

timmmay

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#1729536 3-Mar-2017 18:05

CPU performance is moderate - 33% as fast as my 6+ year old i7 2600K. I probably wouldn't spend any money on it. If anything, you can get a 120GB SSD for less than $100, I'm not sure if that or RAM would help more, but I'm leaning towards the SSD due to boot and swap speed.

The best thing to do is check task manager to see if you're running out of RAM.

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Hammerer

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#1729605 3-Mar-2017 19:51

It will almost certainly be slowed down by startup software such as Adobe Reader and other software that preloads. Cleaning that out will free up RAM.

I use CCleaner to clean up but running Windows program Msconfig.exe also allows you to stop autostart software.

Shoes2468

784 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1729637 3-Mar-2017 21:39

timmmay:
CPU performance is moderate - 33% as fast as my 6+ year old i7 2600K. I probably wouldn't spend any money on it. If anything, you can get a 120GB SSD for less than $100, I'm not sure if that or RAM would help more, but I'm leaning towards the SSD due to boot and swap speed.

The best thing to do is check task manager to see if you're running out of RAM.

I would go with ssd for sure it will help more overall than just more ram, at least if the pc has to use the swap file it will use the much faster ssd, 4gb ram is not bad but not amazing either. You could get a 256 for around $100 if you keep an eye out for a special

michaelmurfy

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#1729642 3-Mar-2017 21:54

The best upgrade you can do for a laptop is grab a SSD. My Surface Pro 3 has 4gb of ram and I run Photoshop and many other tasks on it at once with ease. Windows 10 is pretty good when it comes to memory management. My desktop has 32gb of ram and in no way do I need it.

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PhantomNVD

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#1729697 4-Mar-2017 07:40

+1 for SSD over Ram, AND you can transfer it to the next machine if needed as it's not going to suffer from specialised size/type issues like RAM does.

For 'basic' use like yours, 4gb Ram should be fine.

Bonus of a new ssd is that it also forces you to do a fresh install of your windows,( which might even sort your issue even without the new ssd as windows gets full of junk over time anyway...

Batman

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#1729700 4-Mar-2017 08:00

RAM no. SSD yes esp if you got an old one lying around.

isune

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1729805 4-Mar-2017 12:51

Thanks everyone

I tested to see what happens when I opened up a bunch of applications. The memory usage at its highest was 78%ish and sits around 70% when idle

The CPU gets up to to 99% at times - but I don't know how to interpret that. Does disk use % matter?

I'm heading towards buying a new SSD based on responses. If there are any brands or specs that I should like or stay away from I'd appreciate any guidance, or direct recommendations of who has good deals or a good product...

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts - this is such an awesome, helpful community

andrewNZ

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#1729843 4-Mar-2017 13:02

Samsung Evo are some of the best
Intel are good
Had no problems with Kingston

This will likely be an astonishing improvement, you will notice it!
If your budget is flexible, don't be afraid to spend a little more to get a bigger one, you won't regret it.

Batman

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#1729867 4-Mar-2017 13:48

in terms of RAM, if you're running a 32 bit OS you will only see 4GB RAM anyway .. is your OS 64 or 32 bit?

70% is ok, not ideal, adding more will be a better when you need 101%, but the SSD will be life changing, differences seen every second you are touching the laptop. not cheap though, and very high depreciation - try secondhand.

isune

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1729911 4-Mar-2017 14:34

joker97:

in terms of RAM, if you're running a 32 bit OS you will only see 4GB RAM anyway .. is your OS 64 or 32 bit?

70% is ok, not ideal, adding more will be a better when you need 101%, but the SSD will be life changing, differences seen every second you are touching the laptop. not cheap though, and very high depreciation - try secondhand.

It's 64 bit...

So you're saying a secondhand SSD is a good move? That sounds risky to me given I wouldn't be able to judge if it's still good, unless they have a refurbished with warranty somewhere online?

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#1729915 4-Mar-2017 14:37

isune:

joker97:

in terms of RAM, if you're running a 32 bit OS you will only see 4GB RAM anyway .. is your OS 64 or 32 bit?

70% is ok, not ideal, adding more will be a better when you need 101%, but the SSD will be life changing, differences seen every second you are touching the laptop. not cheap though, and very high depreciation - try secondhand.

It's 64 bit...

So you're saying a secondhand SSD is a good move? That sounds risky to me given I wouldn't be able to judge if it's still good, unless they have a refurbished with warranty somewhere online?

I bought one of the first ever SSDs. OCZ Vertex 2 ... 120GB cost like $900+ !

It's been trashed, dropped, reformatted a gazillion times, transplanted in 3 laptops, a desktop, used as an external drive, and now resting in a PS3 (daily use) ... they are meant to be more robust than spinning HDDs.