2GB vs 4GB RAM for Linux

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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I am doing a cheap as chips build but have yet to purchase some memory.

I have a spare Pentium G840 and a Celeron G550 I can use with a H61 motherboard.

It's 95% likely that Linux Mint is going to used as the OS.

The machine will be general purpose. Web-browsing, including some flash based games, youTube (I always view full HD 1920x1080 if the option is there). It should cope with a wide variety of media formats. As it is likely to be used to watch movies, mkv, avi, rmvb, mp4, etc.

Might need a it for torrents so needs to have that open 24/7 and be able to do all the above at the same time.

With Windows I almost always go for 4GB minimum but due to cost I am considering only using 2GB in this build.

2GB vs 4GB?

Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,078
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    In the grand scheme of a build £15-£16 is not a lot even if it is cheap as chips.

    There's little to choose between the CPUs as well. Essentially the G550 has 1MB less cache, and clocks 200MHz slower. But which are you going to use? I'd bet the G840!

    So really, get 4GB of RAM. Linux Mint doesn't need it, but multitasking won't hurt by having a bit in hand.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    shhftw wrote: »
    In the grand scheme of a build £15-£16 is not a lot even if it is cheap as chips.

    There's little to choose between the CPUs as well. Essentially the G550 has 1MB less cache, and clocks 200MHz slower. But which are you going to use? I'd bet the G840!

    So really, get 4GB of RAM. Linux Mint doesn't need it, but multitasking won't hurt by having a bit in hand.

    While I always appreciate that you can spend more and thus get more, I really don't want to spend that £16 if I that extra 2Gb of ram just sits in the case and looks pretty.

    £16 will get me McDonalds for a few days or a basketful of shopping from Poundland/World.

    If I will see the benefit of that 2Gb then I may be persuaded to go on a diet for a week.

    I do appreciate your advice but I was looking more for comments regarding the viablility of 2GB. For example, I have run 2Gb with Windows 7 and it is sluggish enough for me to justify 4Gb.

    I honestly haven't made up my mind yet so I am still open to putting 4 in.

    Memory prices seem high at the moment.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    If you're using Linux Mint I'd say 2Gb is fine. I imagine Cinnamon or Mate will run fine with that. But if you want to switch to something like KDE or Unity, that's when you'd need the better hardware. But for Mint, save your money I say.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    I think I'm going to change the remit.

    I'm bored of doing these cheap Mint machines and the motherboard is apparently Hackintosh friendly which has piqued my interest.

    I am going to start a new project and try to put together the cheapest Hackintosh that I can.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    RAM is so cheap!
  • noise747noise747 Posts: 30,692
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    I got to get some more memory, but a new hard drive first, then the 500Gb seagate hybrid can have mint on instead of it being on a old Maxtor 160GB. it will be much faster than.
    windows still need to be on the SSD as it is my main OS.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,078
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    While I always appreciate that you can spend more and thus get more, I really don't want to spend that £16 if I that extra 2Gb of ram just sits in the case and looks pretty.

    £16 will get me McDonalds for a few days or a basketful of shopping from Poundland/World.

    If I will see the benefit of that 2Gb then I may be persuaded to go on a diet for a week.

    I do appreciate your advice but I was looking more for comments regarding the viablility of 2GB. For example, I have run 2Gb with Windows 7 and it is sluggish enough for me to justify 4Gb.

    I honestly haven't made up my mind yet so I am still open to putting 4 in.

    Memory prices seem high at the moment.

    If it's really a choice between a few days McDonalds and an extra 2GB of RAM, I'd slim. :D
  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    why don't you just try it and see?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    flagpole wrote: »
    why don't you just try it and see?

    I don't have the memory yet. The board only has 2 slots.

    I am used to running matched pairs for dual channel (does Linux do this as I'm still Windows thinking).

    So was thinking of either 2 x 1gb or 2 x 2gb. If I buy 2 x 1gb (which are really cheap, as I guess everyone wants 4 now) and it ran sluggish I'd have to get rid and and buy 2x2.

    I suppose I could buy 1 x 2gb and forego dual channel and see and then buy another 2gb stick if absolutely necessary.

    Any as mentioned above I think I want to take a go at doing a Hackintosh.

    So the question now is if Mac OS runs well with 2Gb.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    shhftw wrote: »
    If it's really a choice between a few days McDonalds and an extra 2GB of RAM, I'd slim. :D

    I suppose that would be the wisest choice but I'm a reluctant slimmer.

    Plus I really crave a McDonalds more than I need the extra machine. (I kinda just do these projects for fun more than actually needing the machines and then give them away to family). Which is why they need to be cheap.

    I know its not a lot of cash but I like to get things right. If a machine will run fine with 2Gb I honestly would prefer to spend the extra money saved on other things (double cheeseburgers or crisps).
  • JeffG1JeffG1 Posts: 15,243
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    I know its not a lot of cash but I like to get things right. If a machine will run fine with 2Gb I honestly would prefer to spend the extra money saved on other things (double cheeseburgers or crisps).
    In which case, 4GB and live longer. :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    You guys are too healthy :) I should do well to follow your example but I like my treats.
  • Esot-ericEsot-eric Posts: 1,293
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    Any as mentioned above I think I want to take a go at doing a Hackintosh.

    So the question now is if Mac OS runs well with 2Gb.

    It'll run on 2GB, but it won't run well.

    If you're going to use one of the previously mentioned processors in your Hackintosh you'll probably need a supported graphics card as the integrated graphics in those processors don't have support in OS X (though i have read that a few people have managed to get it working).

    Ideally you'll need a processor that has HD3000 or HD4000 graphics.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    I have an old Nvidia GT 240, will that work?

    And an even older 8400gs.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    On further reading, especially with Mac OS in mind, I think I'll buy 4GB. Just gonna have to make do with lettuce for tea for a few days.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    If you're going hackintosh you'll need to have some serious knowledge of hardware/software as kernel extensions for unsupported hardware in the OSX kernel are "fun" and always allow for some extra fun when patching as the fruity one loves to make life fun by removing something from the kernel just to annoy the hackintosh community
  • Esot-ericEsot-eric Posts: 1,293
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    I have an old Nvidia GT 240, will that work?

    And an even older 8400gs.

    Seems that there is support for the GT240 in OS X, so you should be able to get it to work, but depending on the brand of card you may have to do some finagling.

    As Maxtoria says, Hackintoshing can be very complicated if you have unsupported hardware.

    This site has a lot of information.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    Maxatoria wrote: »
    If you're going hackintosh you'll need to have some serious knowledge of hardware/software as kernel extensions for unsupported hardware in the OSX kernel are "fun" and always allow for some extra fun when patching as the fruity one loves to make life fun by removing something from the kernel just to annoy the hackintosh community

    I'm new to Hackintoshing but very comfortable with building PCs. I enjoy learning too so this seems like a nice project to get into. I did 10 minutes reading this morning over toast and tea and I had just planned to follow one of the many guides I've seen online.

    The plan is to buy hardware that is supported. There seems to be a lot of info. on what works or not. Since I only have the CPU and motherboard (and graphics below) I'll buy the remainder according to what I read on some of the budget builds that I see in the guides.
    Esot-eric wrote: »
    Seems that there is support for the GT240 in OS X, so you should be able to get it to work, but depending on the brand of card you may have to do some finagling.

    As Maxtoria says, Hackintoshing can be very complicated if you have unsupported hardware.

    This site has a lot of information.

    Its an XFX that I got off eBay about 18 months ago. I had it in a Linux machine but removed it when I upgraded the Linux machine.

    I don't mind complicated. It gives me a reason to learn. The guides seem fairly straightforward and I haven't seen anything I'm too concerned about just yet.

    Though I bow to the pair of you as its always better to get advice from people that have already been there and done that.

    No doubt I'll be back to solicit your advice on the first bump in the road.
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    when you got it all setup install linux on it quickly just to make sure everythings fine and give it a bit of a workout checking temps etc so you know everythings fine then start on the hackintosh so you know the hardwares all good and talks to each other ok and no weird problems coming through due to something overheating etc

    I'd wear 2 black turtlenecks when you start just to appease the fruity god in the iCloud ;)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    That's good advice thanks Max. I had planned on using Win XP. I have a retail version though the license is currently in use on a family members PC but I'll not verify it and use it during the period they allow before they shut it down. Since most of the utilities and stuff I'm familiar with are Windows based.

    I've got my Mint DVD too so can always use that to further test.

    The board and g550 are from eBay so I had planned to test these anyway. The G840 is brand new.

    I'm tempted to sell them though as I fancy an i3. I quite like the idea of using on die graphics rather than a discrete card. I didn't realise the HD 2000 weren't compatible. But from what I've read HD 3000 is.
  • Esot-ericEsot-eric Posts: 1,293
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    Yeah, HD3000 works.

    My last Hackintosh had an i3 2105 in a Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2V-B3 motherboard.

    OS X runs fine on it, but i did get the occasional graphical glitch (1cm square grey blocks sometimes appear and can't be cleared up without rebooting). Still haven't completely solved this, though my sister now has this machine.

    Currently using an i3 3225 (Ivybridge) in a Gigabyte Z77-DS3H (v 1.0) and OS X runs a dream on it. Everything works and no graphical glitches at all using the HD4000 graphics. The only problem i've had is a few times the ethernet hasn't come up. A reboot solves this.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,583
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    I have the GIGABYTE GA-H61M-S2PV.

    1cm square grey blocks would bug me. I may see if I can get that GT 240 working with the G840.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,151
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    gosh, I'd take 2gb extra ram over a lifetime supply of Mcdonalds "food", any day of the week!!!
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