Do We Really Need 2GB of RAM?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/2gb-ram.html' target='_blank'>http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/2gb-ram.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"How much RAM should be enough for comfortable work of an up-to-date platform? Most today’s systems are equipped with 512MB or 1GB of RAM. This amount of memory has been quite sufficient recently for work in most contemporary applications. However, the memory makers and retailers started pushing forward the idea that today’s systems need as much as 2GB of SDRAM. Is it really so? Some people believe it makes sense, some don’t, but it is us who will be digging out the truth. Since there appear more and more 2GB memory kits in the market, we decided to carry out our own investigation that would show us whether contemporary computer systems will really require over 1GB of system memory."</i><br /><br />An interesting article full of benchmarks, though the end conclusions are somewhat dubious. Thier benchmarks show that, with the exception of some current computer games, it's rare to find programs that need 2GB of RAM, even when you're multitasking. 1GB is the "sweet spot" of performance and pricing.

[jeffd]

the only time I run our of memory on my 1gig is if an application is misbhaving. even the ram hungry world of warcraft only has a 500 meg foot print for me.

[Mike Temporale]

Well, I have a gig in my laptop. If I could put more in it, I would. Unfortunately, the machine max's out at 1 gig. When I look down the running processes in Task Manager and see Outlook @ 150MB+, WinWord @ 30MB+, MSN Live Messenger @ 90MB+, and I'm not even working yet! Wait until I launch Visual Studio, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, MS Digital Image Library, or any one of the other applications I use on a regular basis.

While most programs might not use 2 GB yet, give it a year or so and things will change. ;) Better to plan for the future.

[mcsouth]

Nice to know that I'm on the curve for a change - I just upgraded my desktop to 1 GB of RAM a few months ago. I couldn't resist since the DDR dual channel kits (2x512MB) dropped down well under $100 - I think I paid about $85, which included shipping, and for Crucial memory at that!

I just bumped my wife's laptop from 512MB to 768MB - I figure I'll get her to a GB one step at a time. Besides, she saw more improvement from the bigger, faster hard drive than the RAM upgrade, so it's hard to convince her that she needs another 512 MB SODIMM, given the price.

I'm not sure that I saw any big change in how my unit runs, other than it doesn't slow down when I have numerous apps open - it always seems to chug along at a steady pace, no matter how hard I push. Mind you, it is only a lowly Athlon XP 2800+......

I had thought about taking my desktop to 2GB, but the price jump was just too much to justify. Glad to know that I made the right choice after all! :D

[BuzzLightyear]

I have 2GB of RAM in my laptop - once I have Java IDE, Source control package, Firefox (2 or 3 tabs open), remote control session, local DB resources started, email client and a handfull of those "always running" apps that I cannot live without I show well over a GB being used.

Buzz

[Kacey Green]

I can put a gig to use quickly also, 28 IE windows and 2 Firefox windows with 30 tabs each snapstram's beyond tv and firefly, calculator and a few of the systray apps, but I'd wait a bit before jumping up a notch, sys still runs smooth as described above. oh yeah dual core.

[klinux]

I agree with Jason that 1GB is the sweet spot.

The $ associated with acquiring that second GB can usually be better spent elsewhere (more flashcards, buy another progra, support Open Source, leave your PC to go outside, etc).

[sojourner753]

I have 2GB of RAM in my laptop - once I have Java IDE, Source control package, Firefox (2 or 3 tabs open), remote control session, local DB resources started, email client and a handfull of those "always running" apps that I cannot live without I show well over a GB being used.

Buzz

The only time I think about anything over 1gb is at work where I work with Eclipse IDE, Websphere, Oracle Client, IBM MQ Series, Firefox and ... Outlook for administrivia.