what makes a computer fast? processor or ram?

Answer 1

The strict answer to your question is, "Both".

Practically, though, most people who ask me a question like this know very little about computers (which is not a bad thing, it's just a fact). And in turn, they tend to use their computers for word processing and web surfing (not a hardcore gamer -- people who play intensive graphical games).

Here is a hard and fast rule about anybody who meets the above criteria (just a web surfer and a word processor -- not somebody designing an airplane on their computers):

1. Buy the cheapest new computer you can find out there. It really doesn't matter which one. Wait for deals (Dell has deals all the time, check www.bensbargains.net every day for a few weeks). The very cheapest new computer today is more power than you need.

2. Go to www.crucial.com, enter in your computer information, and buy 2x to 4x the amount of RAM that came with the new, cheapest computer. It will always be cheaper than from Best Buy, Dell, etc.

3. Wait for 1 and 2 to arrive; ask a geeky friend of yours to come over and install the RAM. For a geek, it takes 5 minutes. Give him or her a slice of pie as reward.

You will end up with the most cost-effective computer, which will COMPLETELY meet your needs, for the lowest possible cost.

Answer 2

Like others said, its a combo.

The processor is the first place that determines speed, though RAM can slow or speed this up some. For example, if you are running Windows XP with 128MB of RAM, it will slow your processor down. However if you have 512-1028MB or more of RAM, this should speed your computer up.

The amount of RAM required is also determined by what types of applications and software you are using. If you are working with video, pictures, games or similar, those all use more memory and thus require more RAM to run efficiently. If you also have numerous programs open at the same time, this also requires more RAM.

Answer 3

The processor determines how many math operations the computer can handle per second. RAM determines how much information the computer can hold in active memory to do things like process it at a time. So if you want a fast computer, you need both a fast processor and lots of RAM.

If you're doing graphics intensive work, you may also want lots of RAM on your graphics card, because it will help the display show images faster.

Answer 4

Yup, it's a combo...
The processor of a PC is basically the central nervous system. It transports information from one place to another and does the computers calculations. RAM is a holding place for the running applications that are opened. If there is not enough RAM, the computer can not hold many applications that are opened and the processor begins looking to the hard drive for information, not the RAM. This is called "Thrashing" and it makes the computer run much slower.

Answer 5

Not just RAM or Processor but even the Input Devices like Keyboard and Output devices like Monitors help.
Processor is capable of performing thousands of tasks simultaneously by keeping the Executable threads in Memory that is RAM. But we Lack Softwares, to be specific OS that can utilize the Processor at its best.
Note:- If ur input and output devices does not match the speed of ur CPU then ur Sys will be SLOWER.
Also note that above explanation is in general and the Speed of a Sys in itself is a very Large Topic.
Learn about Overclocking!!!

Answer 6

A processor makes a computer fast.

Answer 7

For Macs, Particularly those running OS X (10), Ram is the key to speed. For PC's (windows) Processor is what makes it faster

Answer 8

Both. Processor is the speed that you get, but if you don't have enough Ram to support your opened applications, then your computer gets slower.

Answer 9

its called the pipeline. any slowdown in either Ram, Processor, or Video card, will slow down the computer. a fast computer has to have a good combination of the three.

Answer 10

Processor, L1/L2/L3 Cache, RAM, and Hard drive. If your computer is running slow, than you need to clean out the spyware (hogs processor and RAM):
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ad-aware/
http://www.filehippo.com/download_spybot_search_destroy/
http://www.filehippo.com/download_cwshredder/
and cleanup your hard drive:
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
Defragment your hard drive:
http://www.filehippo.com/download_oo_defrag/

If all that doesn't do it, than it is time for More RAM; Faster CPU, make sure when selecting a CPU to look for L2 cache numbers better than 1mb; or a bigger hard drive, 40GB or better.