Chapter 1: How Much Memory Do I Really Need?
In this series of guides my hope is to answer some of the questions that I regularly encounter whilst out and about visiting customers and solving problems. Often these questions are not the reason for my visit but more a general question that crops up regarding everyday computing issues.
I am also happy to take requests so if you have a specific question you would like answered, you are very welcome to contact us. You never know, it might even end up being the subject of one of these guides!
This first chapter is dedicated to the age old question of "How much memory do I need?"
When we refer to memory, we actually mean RAM (Random Access Memory), which are solid state chips, plugged into slots on your computers motherboard.
Often people confuse their storage area, which is called a Hard Disk (or Hard Drive), with memory, probably because they are both measured in Megabytes and Gigabytes.
Your hard disk is typically a mechanical device, though we are now starting to see “Solid State” disks, which confusingly, are a form of memory chip wrapped up in a case and presented as a hard disk!
So lets get things cleared up right away. Your Hard Disk stores your files, settings and programmes. Your RAM, (or memory) is the workspace, used by the computer to perform all its actions.
So when you click on an icon on your computer to launch a programme, it is “loaded” from your hard disk into memory. The basic rule of thumb is that the computer's brain can only work on things in memory.
Different versions of Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh or Linux, require different amounts of memory to perform well. Although the manufacturers of these operating systems provide guidelines, it is never very clear, hence this guide.
We are going to separate out 3 groups of users and very simply, if you only do the tasks in group 1, then that's your group. If you do just one task in the second group regularly, then that is enough to move you into that group and the same for the third.
Our minimum memory recommendations are then listed below each group.
Now bear in mind, we are just talking about how much memory here, not how powerful a graphics card you need or how many cooling fans are going to stop your PC from melting.
If you are interested in finding out a complete recommendation for a new pc or what might need upgrading, then please contact us via our free email support service. (The address is always at the top of the page!)
These are our minimum recommendations to get decent performance out of your computer for the given tasks. Your computer will function with less memory and will not complain if it has more!
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The Usage Groups:
- Group 1 – Everyday Computing
- Internet: Web Browsing / Email / Chat
- Office: Word Processing / Spreadsheets / Presentations
- Photos: Loading (from a device) / Store / Organise / Correct (Red Eye etc...)
- Videos: Loading / Store / Play
- Music: Loading / Store / Play
- Games: Solitaire, Minesweeper and puzzles
- Memory Recommendation:
- XP / Mac / Linux: 1GB
- Vista / Windows 7: 2GB
- Group 2 – Additional Multi-Media Computing
- Internet: Creating Web sites
- Office: Presentations with lots of animation
- Photos: Advanced Editing (Photoshop / The GIMP)
- Videos: Editing / Cutting / Creating
- Music: Editing / Cutting / Creating
- Games: Platform Games / 2D Shooters
- Memory Recommendation:
- XP / Mac / Linux: 2GB
- Vista / Windows 7: 3GB
- Group 3 – Extra Overheads
- Internet: N/A
- Office: N/A
- Photos: N/A
- Videos: Creating Large Movies (15 mins or more)
- Music: N/A
- Games: If it isn't in 3D, it isn't worth shooting...
- Memory Recommendation:
- XP / Mac / Linux: 3GB
- Vista / Windows 7: 4GB
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