Why is it important to know the amount of RAM on your computer?

Question

I was just wandering why it's important to know the amount of RAM that you have on your computer.
I can see where it would help you be more knowledgeable, but not important.
Why important?

Answer 1

You will need to know how much ram you have anytime you buy software so you'll know if your computer meets the minimum requirement needed to run the software properly. Also, if you ever wanted to upgrade the ram (a good way to make your computer faster), it's good to know what you have, so you know what to upgrade to.

Answer 2

It's been said that you can never have enough money, and the same holds true for RAM, especially if you do a lot of graphics-intensive work or gaming. Next to the CPU itself, RAM is the most important factor in computer performance. If you don't have enough, adding RAM can make more of a difference than getting a new CPU!

If your system responds slowly or accesses the hard drive constantly, then you need to add more RAM. If you are running Windows XP, Microsoft recommends 128MB as the minimum RAM requirement. At 64MB, you may experience frequent application problems. For optimal performance with standard desktop applications, 256MB is recommended. If you are running Windows 95/98, you need a bare minimum of 32 MB, and your computer will work much better with 64 MB. Windows NT/2000 needs at least 64 MB, and it will take everything you can throw at it, so you'll probably want 128 MB or more.

Answer 3

Some programs require more ram than others. If you get to the bottom of a mountain with a car with a 50hp engine and the sign says you need a 100hp engine to get over the mountain you either get more power or dont try to go over the mountain. Most people like playing video games that run smooth without jerking or like a video-editing program to only take 20 mins instead of 35 mins to do its task. If you were doing something that tasked your puter you might think that the amount of ram you had was important too.

Answer 4

I'll explain in a very simple way.

Computer RAM is something like a temporary place where everything running on your PC stores data into.

For example, say you are using an application that uses images..Photoshop for instance. All images that you use in Photoshop are stored in your RAM until you exit the program.

You can imagine that for all programs you are running. Games are also applications which consume huge amount of RAM. So the more RAM you have, the more temporary space applications have to store their data into which leads to the whole system running faster.

For Windows XP, a system with 1 to 2 GB of RAM would run in great speed.

512MB would be good for everyday computing. Internet, email, minor photo editing...etc.

For Vista, a system with 2 to 4 GB would run in great speed.

512MB would be good for everyday computing. Internet, email, minor photo editing...etc.

So Vista requires like double RAM XP uses...

Answer 5

Important if there are min requirements from application developers. If they set a min of 512mb and you have 384mb the application is unlikely to run at all - and if it does it will run badly.

Additionally, things like Operating System issues can often be resolved by increasing memory and if you know how much you have it is easier to rule this in or out as a course of action.

Finally, it helps you to be geeky if you know not only the total amount - but also the speeds ;-)

Answer 6

Some programs have a minimum memory requirement, and usually state so in their specifications. Windows XP runs happily on 512 MB (about 0.5 GB), but Windows Vista needs 1 GB to run happily (it'll run on less, sure, but with reduced functionality). The more programs you run at once the more memory you need to prevent page swapping on your hard drive, which slows things down. Some games have high memory needs too. If you're running everything you want now and don't plan to add new software then you probably won't care what memory you have.

Answer 7

RAM quickly shops documents it particularly is at the instant in use and that what verify your laptop velocity in case you get extra volume of ram then your documents would be retrieved speedier and your laptop grow to be speedier.. if u r to purchase a clean laptop, you're able to verify what you r to apply this laptop for with the aid of fact in case you're pupil forexample you will choose for roughly 504 MB ram yet once you opt for to play video games and stuff then 504 MB wont do and you opt for extra

Answer 8

Let me explain u very simple way. Let assume RAM is memory in ur brain. when u calculate equation like 1+2 u simple put 1 and 2 in ur memory and ur brain is added these two and give u result. for 1+2 case, u only need 2 memory unit, one for 1 and one for 2. But in case of very complex eqs, u need to more memory units to store during calculations. So, if u have more memory, u can calculate more complex calcuation with faster speed. Similar to ur computer also.

Answer 9

its important to people that are running games as in gamers
ppl who want to run pc at max speeds and peak performance
and stability, the ram is the next best thing to the speed of the cpu, if the cpu is a pent4 then it isn't much good without alllot of ram for performance vice versa, plus its good to know if your ram is sp 133 or ddr which is the fastest running ram you can buy
hope this helped some on the ram question

Answer 10

It is just important to know that you have BIG amount of RAM so you never run out of available RAM. If it is low, PC will start to access virtual memory (VERY SLOW). 2x512mb is great for Win XP and 2x1Gb for Vista. 2 RAM sticks (matched pair) are needed to run fast in dual channel mode.