[Archived] How Important Is Ram?

[Eddie]

Had someone ask me about buying a new computer and about how important it is to have extra RAM. I'm fairly good with technology, but still not sure exactly how much of a difference a RAM increase would make to the average computer user. From what I've just read opinions are fairly mixed, but I know there are some experts on here so what do they think? The choice is between 4gb of RAM or 8gb (at sizeable cost difference).

[brian_gallagher85]

I'd imagine the spec of this computer is pretty high if you're being offered 8GB

I'm not expert but I know that their are other things that can effect the speed of your system, especially the processor. I'd imagine that the 4GB is more than enough for any system though, especially if the cost difference is quite a bit.

[Cocker]

Eddie,

Whats the spec of the rest of it? As Brian said above if its got 8GB in it you probably have a pretty trick machine coming your way.

If its just a bog standard machine your after for playing a bit of footman and browsing the tinterweb 4GB should be plenty.

[roversyoyo]

As with all upgrade choices, it depends what you are going to use it for. Gaming? 8gb will give a less choppy experience and make games load quicker but I would say 4 is enough. If you aren't gaming and just browsing and using normal office apps then 8gb is a waste of money. Also 8gb cant be used on anything other than a 64 bit operating system, if its 32 bit then it truly is a waste of money.

Short answer: Just stick with the 4 gb, it can always be upgraded later.

[LeChuck]

It depends on what you use your system for and what other components are in there.

Generally I'd say ram is over-rated, the processor and graphics card are more important (hence why they are a lot more expensive). Even hard drive speeds can be more important to the speed of your computer, depending on what it is used for.

At a guess...if you're not sure if you need 8gb or not, then you probably don't. 4gb is plenty. It depends what this sizeable cost is really...4gb of good ram is about £30 (unless it's DDR3).

[Eddie]

Thing is it's a mac, so difficult to upgrade once bought. It is DDR3, so the difference is 2x2gb DDR3 or 2x4gb DDR3 and the difference in price is about 400 pounds. They aren't a big gamer, so they would never notice the difference, correct?

would it be needed if they're running parallels desktop?

[roversyoyo]

400 pounds! How do they do it and make a profit?

Stick with the 4gb, otherwise you're just throwing money away.

[brian_gallagher85]

£100 per Gig?

[mode_m]

4gig is excessive unless you are doing some fairly serious work/games with your machine but I understand it is hard to find a computer with less these days. 8 gigs is if you are running VMWare or multiple operating systems simultaneously on one machine.

If the machine is for anything aside from video editing or a server you are alright with 4gig I would say.