which is better, a faster processor or bigger memory?

Answer 1

probably bigger memory for most things but probably better to compromise on the two rather than get really fast cpu and little memor or the othe other way

Answer 2

IF you have only a choice of one, then make it memory (RAM - NOT A HARD DRIVE).

Ram allows the processor to rip through more calculations per second than a hard drive. The more ram you have the quicker it can do it without having to read and write back to the hard drive continually.

Once you have that I would then recommend upgrading your processor - At some time when you can afford to.

Upgrading your processor but not having enough ram is not going to make much difference. Basically while the processor is faster, it is still limited by ram and hard disk read/write times. The hard disk speed is a very big limiting factor in todays computers.

J

Answer 3

It really has to do with what do you want to do. If you are interested in doing video editing for example, cpu speed is more important.

Generally they are both important, however, you can easily increase your memory in the future but, changing the cpu is more expencive and you might need a new mainboard as well.

Also, If you have a decent memory (eg 1gb, I dont think that you will notice any difference by upgrading it to say 2gb)

I hope this helps

Answer 4

If you mean RAM + cache by "memory" then I feel there exists a balance here...

Very fast processor with little memory is not good at all, with today's memory hungry applications running in it more page faults will occur leading to more and more swapping leading to a low throughput all together. (OS works more here than the applications)

Slow processor with more memory is not worth again since all operations will be dependent now on the processing power again leading to low throughput and slow system. (Applications are getting slowed down due to low processing power)

Answer 5

It depends on what you decide to do with your computer. Here's a simple guide:

Wordprocessing, internet browsing, chatting (no multitasking) -
A decent processor speed and memory size should do.

Wordprocessing, internet browsing, chatting (multitasking) -
Memory size plays an important part.

Gaming -
Both are equally important.

Answer 6

THat depends solely on what you intend to do with your computer: gaming or word processing, however I recommend you have a mix for both. I recommend 512 MB Memory for good Word Processing, Maybe atleast 1 gig for gaming PC.

Answer 7

Bigger memory and bigger cache memory

Answer 8

They work hand in hand together one is no good without the other that's like a person buying the best PC made then hook it to a dialup connection making as slow as it can get

Answer 9

a Faster processor!!

memory always depends on your usage, but usage depends on speed.

Answer 10

The speed of both is dependent upon the speed of the main bus.