 Understanding Memory |
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  Dec 16 2005, 09:55 AM
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#1
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Newbie [Level 1]  Group: Members Posts: 13 Joined: 16-December 05 Member No.: 15,789  |
QUOTE Should you live with a minimum amount of RAM and save a few dollars, or should you spend some extra cash and load up the system? Just how much memory is enough? The answer really depends on what you're doing with the PC; RAM requirements can vary from system to system. Let's do the math. ... ... ... Stephen J. Bigelow is the author of Troubleshooting, Maintaining, and Repairing Personal Computers (Fifth Edition). This post has been edited by OpaQue: Dec 25 2005, 11:36 AM |
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Dec 16 2005, 10:40 AM
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#2
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Premium Member Group: Members Posts: 199 Joined: 29-September 05 Member No.: 12,363 |
Nice guide, I agree it depends on what you will you will use your computer for.
 Some tings take more memory like games but if you are just working on your computer with programs like Flash or something then you wont need any big memory, you just need to have the usualy 256MB RAM. 
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Dec 16 2005, 11:16 AM
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#3
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Privileged Member Group: Members Posts: 570 Joined: 5-July 05 From: Ballarat Member No.: 9,042 |
I also recommend upgrading and not adding more, if your going to spend money, save and spend it good, and get a 512MB stick instead of having two 256MB ones, as later on you can then add another 512MB if needed or wanted.
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Dec 16 2005, 01:34 PM
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#4
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 144 Joined: 26-November 05 Member No.: 14,940 |
That's a really informative guide. Thanls man. Keep it coming. As for me I don't require that much memory since I mostly use my PC for surfind and reading and maybe a little bit of coding. But these darn anti-virii really take up RAM but there's no ther option <sigh>.
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Dec 18 2005, 10:05 PM
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#5
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Member [Level 1] Group: Members Posts: 69 Joined: 4-December 05 Member No.: 15,309 |
The only reason I'm using a gig of RAM is for playing games without slow down. It's really hard playing games like Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 with only 512 MB of RAM.
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Dec 18 2005, 11:02 PM
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#6
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Super Member Group: Members Posts: 268 Joined: 10-October 05 From: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Member No.: 12,762 |
From experience 512MB of ram should be all you need right now. I used to use a computer with 1gig of DDR ram and when I purchased a new computer I got one with 512 DDR2 ram and I can't tell any difference in my computer use. They both run quite smooth with the latest games and applications. I am not sure if it is because I went from DDR to DDR2.
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Dec 19 2005, 03:34 PM
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#7
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Braindead by Default Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 5-November 05 From: United States of America Member No.: 13,837 |
What are you playing, Arigato? I have a fair bit of slow-down in some games (although I crank the realism settings up all the way), and I'm using 2Gb of RAM (although I believe it is only DDR; not DDR2, so that would be a factor).
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Dec 23 2005, 07:46 AM
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#8
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Super Member Group: Members Posts: 205 Joined: 3-September 05 Member No.: 11,447 |
in today's normal computer application such as browsing, office applications, 512MB is enough, well you can also have a decent performance with 256MB, but I agree memory in computer system is the first one to be considered when upgrading, bigger memory really help a lot
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Dec 24 2005, 12:07 AM
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#9
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Super Member Group: Members Posts: 442 Joined: 27-May 05 From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 7,580 |
From my experience, the more RAM you have the better. Todays computers actually have about 1024 MB, or 1GB of memory to power their PC. Some home computers even go as large as 2GB. The demand for RAM will always grow, but the more you have, the less wear and tear there will be on your computer. For example, if you open many applications and tools at the same time, you use a lot of RAM. Once you run out of your available RAM, then your hard drive makes Page Files, which immitates RAM, but it is extremely slow. It's like comparing a turtle to a Viper. One is extremely fast, while the other is sluggishly slow. It also is hard on the hard drive. hehe So buy as much RAM as you can afford, and put it in your computer. Your computer will thank you for it by running far faster, and with an extended lifespan. Windows XP is a hog when it comes to RAM, and it always will use up 2/3 of whatever is in your computer. I'm hoping the next version of Windows, called Vista coming out sometime next year will not be such a hog, but knowing Microsoft, they'll make the minimum specs be 1/2 a GB, or 512 MB minimum. To run properly, it will probably need 1GB.
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