Well my last few posts have not been as long as I had hoped they would be. So today I am going to try and dig a bit deeper for all of you. Today’s topic is one I have a ton of knowledge on so feel free to comment all you want and ask a bunch of questions, I do not throw any punches and I do not beat around the bush so if you think I am wrong let me know.

On to the topic, how much memory do people really need in their computer system to really make things work well? I think a lot of sites have done a pretty good job spelling things out but do they take what people do on a daily basis into consideration? I will try to break things out so you know what you need for what you are doing.

First let’s hit the easy stuff, if you are running 32-bit Windows XP home, Professional and Vista flavors the most memory the OS will see is roughly 3-3.5GBs, so you can install 4GBs of memory but the OS will reserve 500MBs to 1GB for system related functions, such as caching, .dll files, and other assorted functions, so there is nothing wrong with the memory, it is the OS.

If you are running a 64-bit OS then you are able to install as much as the motherboard will hold and Windows will see it. I do not believe there any end-user motherboards or systems out there right now that exceed 16GBs of memory unless it is a server board. The only exception is if you are running Vista home basic which has a memory limitation of 8GBs.

So now that we have the basics out of the way let’s talk about the benefits memory has in relation to the types of work people do.

If you are the type of person who works with photos and Photoshop, video editing, and 3D graphic programs then the more memory you have the faster the process may be. I process photos through Photoshop and find the more layers I work with, the slower the system gets, so by adding more memory the process with flow smoothly and there will be less time wasted waiting for the post processing to happen. The same with video editing, the more memory you have the better the application performs which cuts down on the time it takes to complete the job. Now I am not saying memory is the only thing that will make these processes work faster, of course you have to have a fast system to begin with otherwise adding more memory will a minor effect. It would be highly advisable for you invest in a 64-bit OS as long as the program you are using is 64-bit compatible to make full use of all the memory you want to add.

Now I did not include gamers in the previous paragraph because gamers need more than just memory to get the most out of their systems. Since there are games out that do not require a lot of memory it is not that easy to make a blanket statement and say they all need tons of memory too. I will say if you are a gamer and you also work with programs in any of the areas I covered above then you definitely will benefit from more memory.

The casual user will need less memory, this depends on the operating system they have. For a casual user who checks e-mail, surfs the net, uses some Microsoft office applications, and might play solitaire and uses Windows XP will need 1-2GBs of memory. If their operating system is Windows Vista Home Premium or higher then I would recommend 2-3GBs of memory for everything to run smoothly.

Since we are talking about memory should you go out and buy 4 or 8GBs of the fastest memory you can find for your system? Some people might benefit from this line of thinking, most people will not. The reason is pretty complicated but I will simplify it as much as I can for you. Hypothetical scenario: A person has a system that consists of; an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, EVGA 680i motherboard and other assorted parts, what type and speed of memory will they need? The two main factors in deciding what type and speed of memory to get is; the front side bus of the processor and the bus speed of the chipset/motherboard. So would I buy 667MHz, 800MHz, 1066MHz memory? First determine the bus speed of the E6850 which is 1333MHz, now determine the maximum bus speed the chipset/motherboard will handle which is 1333MHz so in this case it would seem to be easy to say this person would buy 1333MHz memory right? Wrong, there is a bit more to it than that, if you look on the specifications of the motherboard, it only supports memory speeds of 800MHz and 1066MHz, so the fastest memory you could use is 1066MHz memory. Sure I will get some people that say, wait you can buy 1333MHz memory and just run it at 1066MHz, yes you could and if the price is relatively the same it should not be a problem. I am just giving people the basics. So to sum this all up, buy memory that runs at the same speed as the processor and motherboard and you can’t miss. If the system you currently own was bought from major manufacturers like Dell or HP then please consult your manual or manufacturer’s website for the correct speed. This does not mean you have to buy from them; you can buy from places like NewEgg, or Tiger Direct or Crucial. I hope I have given you some insight on ways to speed up your system for the type of work or hobbies that you do.

I hope this post has been beneficial is some way to all of you, please ask or comment if you have any questions.

Kineo