For a faster computer which is more important RAM/Harddisk/Cache Also please explain RAM and Cache?

Answer 1

Everything is important. Just like a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, a computer is only as fast as it's slowest part.

The hard drive is usually a computer's bottleneck, so make damn sure you get AT LEAST a 7200 RPM one with AT LEAST 8 mb lf onboard cache. The more RAM you have, the less often the computer has to retrieve information from the hard drive, so more is better. 1 GB is good, anything over 2 GB is overkill. Make sure you get at least DD400. I think they have DDR2 RAM out now, you might want to get that. As for your processor, cache is important, it stores very basic information closer to the chip so information doesnt' have to be pulled from the RAM or hard drive. The more the better. Just get the most well rounded machine with the highest hardware numbers you can afford.

Answer 2

From the choices you gave it's RAM, because Cache is only used if the RAM is full. Cache is almost just like a buffer... Like when the computer goes to retreve data, it gets it then holds it in cache until the component or software is ready for it.

Cache or (if you are talking about L2 cache) is not usually something people upgrade, because most people have somewhere around 1 or 2 mb's cache. which is plenty! because most processors cant handle it any faster.

However Ram is a different story, because when ram gets filled up it has to creat a thing called a Page File. The Page File is a place on the computer where the overflow of ram goes on your hard drive. In other words if all your ram gets used up, your computer will have to write it to the hard drive then read it from the hard drive then go though the process many thousands of more times. Ram is close to 100x faster at accessing and writing than a hard drive. so it dramatically slows the computer down, because it has to wait for the hard drive to do it's opperations.


Does that explain enoguh?
-ALL

Answer 3

RAM = Random Access Memory, which is chips in the computer that store information so it can be accessed quickly.

Cache = A small area of high speed storage space that is used to accelerate getting things from/putting things into memory or a file.

Which is most important for speed depends on what the computer is doing, if you run lots of programs all at the same time you'll need more RAM, if you do lots of stuff that involves saving/loading/processing files you need a faster harddrive. As for a Cache, that would depend on what type of cache, but generally a bigger cache will make your system go faster.

Answer 4

RAM! Now a days you want 1 gig of ram. And you want the newest and fastest types of RAM, so if you have an old mother board you might considering upgrading.

RAM is where your programs run. If the programs are to big to fit in the amount of RAM you have, the operating system uses hard disk space to make up the difference. Accessing RAM is way faster than accessing the hard drive. When you turn off your computer everything in RAM is lost. So operating systems write the important information to the hard drive before shutting down. Hard drives remember information after they are turned off.

CACHE is something you don't have to worry much about any more, it is handled automatically by most operating systems. A cache is RAM that holds frequently read information from the hard drive so that if you ask for the same info again the operating system does not have to go to the slow hard drive to get it.

Answer 5

RAM is memory that your cpu can store data on and retrieve it quickly. It is volatile so it will be removed when the computer is shut off.

Cache is also great. Its like RAM except on the CPU itself.
Closer to the cpu = faster. 1 gig ram or better plus a fast CPU with a good cache will net you a pretty slick operating machine.

Answer 6

For to make the computer faster you need first more RAM, second let the system control the cache and third a video and audio card. The hard disk isn't very important for speed, just storage. RAM is fast memory processing, cache is extra memory stored on the hard disk but it is slower to access but still needed.

Answer 7

RAM is most important, RAM = Random Access Memory.

Answer 8

u need a decent cpu( nothing under 3ghz) n decent amount of ram(i use 2gb)a big hard drive wont make it quick, cache doesnt come into it if u got lots of ram, the short of it is the more ram u have the more thing u can do at once without stalling ur pc, if u have a good supply of ram, ur pc wont require touching ur cache

Answer 9

The more RAM you have, the less time your computer spends using the hard-disk as temporary memory. A good, fast hard-disk will allow you to launch programs faster and speeds up disk intensive operations like movie and music editing.

Answer 10

504mb of ram