How much RAM do you need?
If you read the specifications on the side of the Windows Me box, you will read that the minimum hardware requirements for the operating system include 32 Megabytes (MB) of Random Access Memory, or RAM.
Microsoft does remind you that more memory will improve performance. Now, take the box of Windows XP Professional, and you will read that Microsoft recommends 128 MB or higher. The notice says Windows XP Pro may still run on a system with 64 MB of RAM, but the performance will be limited and certain features will not work.
During times when memory module prices are not so high, it is not uncommon for new PC buyers to equip their new baby with one gigabyte (GB) of RAM. However, when the prices are up, and the new baby uses the more expensive Rambus RAM (RDRAM), an investment of that scale would account for a significant portion of the PC's price.
In the PC community, we often hear the term "sweet spot". We can keep increasing the size of the RAM on our PC to boost its performance. However, we can only do that up to a certain point, which is its sweet spot. Beyond that point, the return on our RAM investment will begin to decline.
So, how much RAM do you need? What is the sweet spot? It is the billion-dollar question. Obviously, we should just forget the minimum requirements that Microsoft prints on the boxes of its Windows products. Twice as much is perhaps what we should start with. So, for example, if you run Windows XP Professional, you will have to start with 256 MB of RAM (twice the 128 MB recommended minimum). If you run Windows 98 or Windows Me, you should shoot at 128 MB.
Why do you need a lot of RAM? One of the most useful things that Windows has brought to PC is the multitasking capability. In Windows, you can run both programs-and a dozen more-at the same time and move between them by pressing Alt-Tab. This was not easy to do in the pre-Windows era. However, to be able to keep all these programs running simultaneously, you will need to provide them with a lot of RAM.
Thus, the amount of RAM that you should have on your PC also depends on your work habits. Do you usually run multiple programs at the same time, or do you worry that you cannot navigate among them safely and therefore always close the programs that you no longer need?
If most of the times you run Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Word and Excel at the same time, perhaps 256 MB will be more than enough. But if you also run image editing files such as CorelPhotoPAINT and Adobe Acrobat Reader as well, you had better raise the amount of your RAM to 512 MB. For a good second opinion on your RAM requirements, you can consult Crucial, one of the leading RAM vendors. Just visit www.crucial.com/library/howmuch.asp.
If you do video editing or run heavy-duty Computer-aided Design (CAD) applications, you will need one or even two GB of RAM. In that case, your PC has become a workstation.
How do you find out the size of RAM already installed on your PC? In Windows XP, go to Control Panel, and then click on Performance and Maintenance. Then click on System. In Windows 98 or Me, go to Control Panel and then double-click on the System icon. The amount of existing RAM is given on the General tab. What happens if you do not have enough RAM? Well, each time Windows cannot get memory space to store the applications that are running in the background, it will store them temporarily on the hard disk. This will create additional burdens on the hard disk and, theoretically, will somewhat lessen its useful life.
So, as a rule of thumb, you should at least double the minimum requirements specified by Microsoft for the operating system that you use, and increase it fourfold if you have the budget to do so.
-- Zatni Arbi