whats better 1gig of ram or 512mb

[CrazyRyan]

Whats better to have. An insane amount of lets say pc133 or a smaller amount of faster memory
apple seems to do just fine still having pc133

 

[dullard]

Lets compare computer A) with 512 MB of fast DDR or RDRAM with computer B) with 1 GB of slow SDRAM.

Two possible cases can arise while using these computers:

1) You need less than 512 MB of memory. In this case both computers run fully from memory. There is very little if any virtual memory (extremely slow HD used as memory). In this case, computer (A) will perform any memory intensive tasks faster than computer (B). There will be some programs that are CPU limited and others that are video card limited - these will run at about an equal speed. So I'd rather have computer (A) since it will be as fast or faster.

2) You need more than 512 MB of memory. In this case, computer (A) will intensively use the HD as virtual memory. The hard drive is drastically slower than any type of memory. Thus computer (A) will bog down to a terribly slow pace. Computer (B) will either need no virtual memory or will use much less virtual memory. Thus computer (B) will be extremely fast compared to computer (A) for all programs running.

The vast majority of people are in case (1), so I would recommend lesser quantities of faster memory. I happen to be in case (2), so I use a third computer (C) with 1 GB of fast memory.

 

[GTaudiophile]

What OS are you running?

If you're running WinXP, 512MB is the "minimum." If you're doing a lot of work with audio, video, photo editing/artistic stuff, go for 1024. If you're just surfing the 'net, checking e-mail, playing games, and using MS Office, 512 should be enough.

 

[hk29]

512mb!!!

How did Microsoft come up with 64mb minimum (recommend 128mb)? I'm personally trying to get 256mb before I load up WinXP ....

 

[Aenygma]

512 is not the min needed for XP. (and no I don't just mean what MS says) Many ppl run it fine an dandy with 256.

 

[wepopfresh]

Apple doesn't need faster memory because it is not bandwidth impaired.

On a PC though, 512mb of fast ddr will always be better then 1gig of slow mem cause you'd rarely be accesing the top 45% of memory.

 

[BatmanNate]

Bah, just make everybody happy and go for 1 GB DDR.

 

[Sunner]

Heck XP can run fine with 128 MB as long as you remove the crap that comes with it, such as Luna, about 1 billion services, etc.

Anyways, unless you're doing something that really needs more than 512 MB, I'd stick with the faster memory.

 

[NIUBurned]

Well, if you are like me and play world war 2 online in windows XP.....you need all the ram you can get! I have 512 and i would like more. Well, either way more is better... Though it really depends on what you are doing with it...

 

[BeauJangles]

256 runs XP fine!

 

[khtm]

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