I'm running on 2x1GB DDR2 Ram and am thinking of upgrading it to 4GB ram. I've read that WinXP will only allocate 3.0-3.5GB of ram for usage, and the extra will be either

a)wasted
b)used by system but not shown or sth

So... Is it a good idea to upgrade to 4GBs? Or go 3GB (1x2GB + 1x1GB)

Currently my laptop usually uses about 30-50% of the ram. Increased recently but am not sure if it has something to do with me using 2 monitors together (Dual View). And my laptop is having some slight problems but a performance boost is always welcome in my book. The lappie's supposed to last for about 3-4 years btws. So hoping upgrading now is a better idea as I'm worried the DDR2 ram might be extinct soon with technology spiking so quickly.

DDR3 is still "exotic" on full main boards.

DDR2 will be around for a few years.

I would only ever use exact matching "sticks" of RAM. Same brand; same speed; same model; ideally purchased as pairs.

I don't think any laptop would ever utilize over 2GB RAM.

If you were to go to 4GB where Windows would only detect 3GB you would never notice a difference between 4 & 3.

I doubt that you'd ever notice a difference between 2 & 4 on a laptop.

All that being said what problems are you having?

my laptop is having some slight problems

Also I'm sure you will get other ideas later today.

Just to add as to dual monitors on a laptop the graphics is most likely on-board and so yes it is drawing off the board RAM.

I'm running on a 8600GT 512MB card so will it still draw off my 2GBs?

Problems like services or programs crashing and such. Just reformatted and it's running fine now lol.

No it won't. I overlooked that. Unexpected for a laptop.

Ah. Thanks for the great help as usual Jeph. =)

Well, I won't be spending the extra 400MYR to upgrade my laptop then =D