Can more memory make my computer faster?

Answer 1

Yes, to a certain degree.
A lot of time is spent transferring data from the hard drive to main memory. If there is not enough main memory the operating system will use virtual memory, essentially swapping data to and from the hard drive. But hard drive access is very slow compared to main memory and this will slow down your system considerably.

Answer 2

As stated by another, Yes to a degree more memory will give more speed. But this actually only applies to a certain frame of computing. A good way to explain it would be simmilar to this: A computer needs only so much RAM (the memory you wish to add) to run programs of cirtain types. Obviously some requier more RAM than others. If your objective is gaming than RAM alone will not help, you would need a video card that has its own ram, dedicated to just rendering graphix and images. Otherwise the main memory would be used for this task causing the computer to slow down. But this is all assuming that you have a CPU that can handle the tasks you are putting it up against. A 2 ghz CPU with 256 RAM will run smoother than a 1.2 ghz CPU with 512 RAM. But personally tht wouldnt stop me from buyign a little more RAM to give it an extra kick. Speaking from experiance, make sure you buy the correct type of RAM, and to save money, try to make sure when you finally buy a new computer if possible, get one that uses the same type of RAM. This way there is no need to pay extra for more RAM. I hope this helps, if not just gives far too indepth thaught into a simple question.

Answer 3

it can, but it really depends on your setup and what you're trying to do with it.

There a number of places where the speed of your computer can bottleneck and if any one of them is limiting your speed, it won't get faster during that bottleneck condition no matter how much you improve the others.

Two of the main ones are memory (RAM) and processor speed.

One way to examine what is happening with these two (if you're using windows XP) is with Windows Task manager.

To start Task Manager you can go to Start>Run and type taskmgr in the box that comes up, then click OK

The window that comes up lists all the programs that are running and what resources they are using. If you go to the tab labeled "Performance" you can see a graph of how much CPU and RAM is being used. If you watch this graph at times when your computer seems to be running slowly, it can give you a clue as to where your computer is hitting a limit. If the processer is grinding away at 100% that tells you that your processer is maxed out working as fast as it possibly can on the task you've given it. Similarly if the memory is way up in the red, then extra memory would help you finish your task faster.

**NOTE: be careful about the end task/end process button, while you probably can't do any permanent damage to your computer with them, if you accidently close something that your computer needs to run, you might lose your work if it hasn't been saved.

It's important to remember though, especially if you do a lot of multitasking that you can also speed things up by giving your computer less to do at once. If your computer is trying to do 3 things at once, it is going to take longer to finish 1 of those tasks than if it were working on that 1 task alone. This is (one of the reasons) why spyware/malware is so bad because it creates a bunch of small tasks that accumulate and bog down your computer.

So if you are multitasking you may be able to save some $$ by cutting down on the # of things you do at once instead of upgrading. (i'm really bad about this i currently have 16 windows open at once XD )

A lot of it depends on what you are asking the computer to do. If it's burning a cd that takes forever, for example, the speed of the cd burner may be the culprit as opposed to memory. If rendering graphics is slow the graphics card may be undersuited to the task. If you're doing something that requires a lot of reading/writing from the hard drive, a slow hard drive could be the culprit.

More memory will definately expand your computer's capabilities, but a lot of memory has been sold in this world on the idea that it will always speed things up. Sometimes it does, but it's not always the most effective choice.

Answer 4

Andy & Julie give good answers in regards to why and how to figure out if you need a memory upgrade and how much.

Other things to try, though, are a virus/spyware check and a hard drive defragmentation.

A regular Windows defragmentation will not, however defragment files that are open, including the registry and the swap file (described by Andy.) I like Sysinternals' PageDefrag utility for addressing that. It can be set up to run as your computer boots and defragment registry files, the paging (memory swap) file, and event log files. That could lessen the effects of too little memory until you can upgrade it, and it's a free download.

Answer 5

Depends on what you mean by "faster." If you want your computer to start more quickly, or run more programs without dragging down, more RAM probably will do the trick. As for increasing the speed of mathematical computations (everything the computer does is a computation) or accessing hard-drive data, no, RAM won't help.

Answer 6

Depends, there are some cases, that if you are low on random access memory (RAM) your compuer can be slow, and very inconvienient, but I do believe that you would have to either get a better processor. If you have an old PC maybe it is time to upgrade your PC. or maybe (If you know how overclock your processor) which makes it faster. and it increases heat. if you do not know how I recommend that you bring it to a computer repair store in your local area.

Answer 7

Nowadays mostly everyone will recommend 512Mb for a Windows XP installation.

Of course this depends on what you do! If you do video editing or need to have dozens of simultaneously open programs, then you may need more.

In XP, one way to check your situation is to open all the programs you normally keep open, then go in the task manager by pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE, go on the performances tab, look for the total in Commit Charge.

You'll get optimum performance if you ensure to have a little more memory than the amount shown. Keep in mind there are 1024KB in 1MB so divide the number by 1024 to get the number in mb.

Answer 8

Yes the more ram you add will make your pc run faster, but a faster processor and hard drive helps too.

Answer 9

yes only at really certain level. i had 512mb first i add another 512 and hoped my comp will run 2x faster but i can say it was just a little bit faster now i add 1gb so total 2gb ram i thought i will be 4x faster than before but now its just twice faster before.

Answer 10

yes