Well, the simple fact is that an additional 1 GB of RAM isn't going to do much good, even if it was the same clock, considering the APU is slow anyway. Light games don't really need much RAM anyway. What they need is efficiency.

Did you install the x64 version of Windows 7 on the machine? Because if you did, I'd advise to install the x86 instead. If you consult benchmarks and performance ratings, you will, of course, come to the conclusion that I'm talking rubbish because many of those claim x64 provides better performance. There is a method to the madness, though. I have noticed that the same machine will run noticeably better with a 32 bit OS than with a 64 bit one, despite what the numbers on the benchmarks might say. I don't know why that is, to be honest, but I will argue day and night that it's true.

So let's assume you agree with me on that. Then, the only advantage of having an x64 OS is that it can handle more RAM. If you only have 3GB, an x86 will do fine.

Then again, if it's only web browsing and light games you have in mind for that machine, I would say you should go one step further than that. Forget Windows 7. Install XP instead. It will use up less space on the hard drive, it will use up less RAM, it will provide better compatibility with old games (because I assume that's what you mainly meant by "light"), and, most importantly, it will be quicker all around because it's more lightweight.

There is only one reason why you shouldn't go for XP, as far as I'm concerned, and it's the reason why I'm not using XP on my main computer: aspect ratio of the display. Normally, Windows 7 will not stretch the picture in games if the games don't allow you to set the resolution to the native resolution of your display. It will give you black stripes instead, and the correct aspect ratio regardless of the resolution. Windows XP, on the other hand, will not normally do that. It will fill the screen regardless of the resolution so if you have a widescreen display and the game only allows 4:3 resolutions (which many games do), you will simply get a horizontally stretched picture. However, while that will normally happen, it doesn't mean it will always happen. Sometimes the GFX drivers have an option to override that. Look for anything aspect ratio/scaling-related in the control panel of your GFX driver. The thing is, depending on what GFX you have and the version of the driver, you might not find such a feature in the control panel and you might end up with stretched picture without being able to do anything about it (as I did when I tried XP on my main computer),

So all in all, first install XP, see if it stretches 4:3 games, and if it does, install the 32 bit version of Windows 7. Don't buy more RAM because it won't improve the performance much anyway.

If it has now two DDR3 sticks, 2GB+1GB with same speed and latency, then the memory controller can utilize both at same lowest speed and highest CAS latency of the two. It should work up to DDR3-1333, and also with DDR3-1066.

But E-350 seems to have only one 64-bit memory controller, so even if you did get two 2GB sticks, they will run at slowest common speed and worst common latency of both of the two, but it won't still run in dual channel mode.

If it is just for web browsing and light gaming, does it need to be Windows? I mean, according to benchmarks the E-350 is more than 1.6 times faster than my main laptop with Sempron SI-40 and 2GB of memory that runs modern Linux installation just fine.

I installed XP on it once, but I used a dodgy activation crack because I didn't have any spare keys, and my friend managed to bugger it up and disable it, so he requested 7. Real shame, because XP ran somewhat OK on there. As for Linux, as far as I know, Linux support for the E350 APU is piss-poor, like it is for most ATI/AMD stuff.

But thanks for the input, it looks like I'll keep the current RAM in there and focus on tweaking the OS instead.

How about an SSD to improve boot and load times? Older gen and lower capacity should be cheapish. I had an SSD in an Atom-based netbook (MSI Wind U100) and it eased some of the frustration, even if it was generally still slow.

XP is a really bad idea right now, as it doesn't receive security fixes anymore and there are still millions of computers running it, i.e. it is THE primary target for malware at the moment.

The E-350 is still new enough to be supported by the proprietary AMD linux driver, I think? Try the live versions of Xubuntu and Mint see how they run (especially video decoding). Also, I have a HD 4680 that runs very well with the open source radeon driver, which of course is way better than integrated, but you might be in luck. Or get a used GeForce GT 210 or something like that.

An SSD is also a great idea.

oerk wrote:

XP is a really bad idea right now, as it doesn't receive security fixes anymore and there are still millions of computers running it, i.e. it is THE primary target for malware at the moment.

oerk wrote:

XP is a really bad idea right now, as it doesn't receive security fixes anymore and there are still millions of computers running it, i.e. it is THE primary target for malware at the moment.

Or you can use Windows Embedded POSReady 2009. Essentially the same thing as XP and supported by Microsoft until 2019.

Try the live versions of Xubuntu and Mint see how they run (especially video decoding).

With the Mint Live sessions you can download and install the available video drivers to test your hardware properly. I'm not sure if the 'buntus allow that -- you used to have to reboot to run a new video driver, which of course is impossible for a Live session.

But would say do try it. Go with Mint Mate. (Less eye-candy, but not a "feature reduced" light distro.) Fire up a Live USB/DVD then hit Control Centre > Driver Manager to have the machine search for any extra proprietary drivers your hardware might use. These can be for wifi and touchpad, as well as video.

Also the original 3gigs would be bags-o-ram for this setup. Linux will slurp most of the first 2 gigs pretty much immediately, but seldom lean into the third.

You can try Manjaro Openbox Edition. Live CD loads with free or proprietary drivers (choose in the boot menu). It's great for slow computers.

JidaiGeki wrote:

How about an SSD to improve boot and load times? Older gen and lower capacity should be cheapish. I had an SSD in an Atom-based netbook (MSI Wind U100) and it eased some of the frustration, even if it was generally still slow.

I can't afford one. 😜

Anyway, I made a new install disc with most of the drivers and updates integrated, and it seems to be running a lot better. I'm thinking of installing Microsoft Security Essentials, since AVG and the others are kinda heavy, and this machine needs some form of AV. It's not my machine, so I'd rather put something more idiot-proof with some sort of real time protection, but my options are kind of limited given this machine's crappy specs.