Not sure whether adding more RAM would help... If you add more RAM, it's not "just the same brand".. it's "same timings and voltage". Adding the "4GB version" of your current "2GB" sticks should be just fine.
I have been noticing that my memory has been starting to push up near the 5GB level lately, which isn't leaving me much to spare, so I'm thinking about buying 2 more of the exact same sticks that I already have in my system and then taking out the factory default 1GB sticks that Dell originally put in there... This would leave me with 8GB total (2 more than I have now and running at 6400 not 5300). I wanted to call Dell to make sure that this configuration would work, but my system is long out of warranty now and I'm sure their phone charges are outrageous so I wanted to double check with a few people here to make sure that this would work before I made the online purchase... There's no issue with taking out what Dell originally had in place is there? I added 2 sticks many years ago (alongside the original ones) but I don't want to end up somehow ruining my system, so wanted to make sure that I would have no issues in removing what they originally had in place... And in terms of timing and speed, my system has already been running off of the same sticks that I plan to double up with, so I'm assuming that this would work? Thanks again.. For the record, these are the sticks that I'm currently using and planning on buying 2 more of.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
I have a T3400 that has been my most trusted primary trading platform over the last 5 years. It runs with an Intel 2.66 Duo-Core processor. I had 4 Gigs of RAM in it until I recently upgraded to Windows 7 Pro - 64 bit version from XP, which allowed me to take advantage of adding more memory. I added two sticks of the following for $86 from Crucial. I now have 6 gigs and my trading software runs fine, even when I boot-up my internet explorer browser with a Yahoo web-page. I'm a BIG FAN OF CRUCIAL! Have always used their memory in my Dell machines. (CT2KIT25672AA80EA) 2-2GB 240-PIN 256Mx72 DDR2 PC2-6400 UNBUFF CL5. 1.8v Remember, you just need to make sure that you have equal memory sizes in each specific slot on your motherboard. Like 4x2, 4x2. Or 2x1, 2x1 (my configuration) And as Scat has mentioned on numerous occasions here, you want to run everything at 6400. If you "mix" your 6400 memory with some 5300 stuff, you will auto default to the slower speed. Refer to your online Dell Owners manual for how to do this in a "sequential" fashion. The slots are usually color-coded (black and white) so you don't get the sequence mixed up. If you are constantly pushing up into using 4-5 Gigs of your RAM, I suspect that you have some sort of a VIRUS on your machine. My rig usually "idles" around 28% use of my 6 Gigs. If you are constantly running up around 80%, something is terribly wrong.... and it could either be a VIRUS or a WINDOWS UPDATE that has gone wrong.
Thanks for the reply Landis -- appreciate it very much. I'm not always running at 5 gigs, but it generally seems to creep up to that area when I have all my trading software running. For instance, I'm running 3.3 gigs right now (all software still open but not pulling in much new information due to after hours). I haven't had any noticeable delays lately, so I'm not sure if I really need to do anything. But, at the same time, I don't want to push my system to the limit either. I'd rather have at least a little bit of a comfort zone in case I decide to add on additional programs in the future. The one problem that I absolutely know of right now is that I have half of my memory running at 5300 while the other half is running at 6400, so I'm clearly not getting everything that I could be out of my 6400 chips, but that is largely because the 5300's were the stock chips and I didn't know about the speed difference when I made the update a few years back.
I looked up Esignal's system requirements because I was curious and they recommend: Intel® Core⢠i3 / i5 / i7, 3GB RAM or "Power User" Intel® Core⢠i7, 3.2 GHz or faster 6 GB RAM. I don't know very much about computers but could your problem be your processor? And a question for anyone out there, does Esignal really use that much RAM?
I'm running a quad 2.4, and I haven't noticed any problems with my CPU usage in the task manager. For instance, it's bouncing back and forth between roughly 5 and 35% right now with all of my programs up and running (and generally staying on the lower end of that range). My RAM is at 4 gigs right now, so still have 2 gigs remaining there, but I've seen it creep up into the 5 gig area a few times. Maybe I don't need to do anything -- I'm not sure. Seems to be working OK though. For now at least. I'm not really sure how much RAM esignal uses.
Open your Task Manager and click the Processes tab. You'll find Winros and Winsig... I'm not sure whether that's all of eSignal on your machine, but you'll get a good idea of how much RAM eSignal uses.
You might find that eSignal doesn't use the most RAM on your system. In mine, eSignal uses only about 125MB... but I don't use eSignal charting.