How much RAM is enough? Advice needed

Hi,

New here. Not sure if this is the right forum, but here goes.

I am in the process of buying a new computer and I need a bit of advice as to whether 512MB RAM will be enough, or should I go for 1GB? I want to buy enough RAM so that I will not experience any memory bottleneck at all for what I am currently doing, and ideally for several years, because I would like to avoid having to upgrade for as long as possible. I realize that, as hardware advances, so too does software become more demanding, filling the vacuum as it were. The option to buy the extra RAM may not even be the best price available, but it does have the guarantee of being 100% compatible, which may not be the case if I tried to buy the extra RAM from another retailer. I'd rather not have to search for the right RAM later.

Specs for the new system I've selected:
CPU: AMD Sempron 3000+ 1.8 Ghz
RAM: 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM, 400MHz
HDD: 80 GB 7200rpm, 9 ms, 8MB cache
Video: S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro IGP, 64 MB, AGP 8x, max 1600x1200
Network Interface: Ethernet integrated 100Mbps, 10Mbps
OS: WIN XP Pro
Browsers to be used: Mozilla Firefox & Internet Explorer (in combination)

Specs for old system: (purchased Jan 2000, specs not known if unlisted)
Pentium III 500E FC-PGA, 500MHz
256 MB RAM (obsolete, cannot find RAM to upgrade)
20 GB HDD, 7200rpm
ELSA Winner II graphics card
Aureal Vortex sound card
Ethernet card 10Mbps?
WIN XP Pro

With typical use, I like to open anywhere from 6 to 15 browser/application windows at once, with some running java applications. For example, I could have 8-10 browser windows (both FF & IE), MS-Excel, Winamp mp3 player, Yahoo Instant Messenger, and an internet card game client running at the same time. Why so many browser windows? Stock daytrading. My current system is not nearly fast enough. It slows down a lot, and I hear my hard disk caching often. When everything is fully running, I typically have only 10-20 MB RAM free, and I suspect that's only because XP will not allow it to be 100% full. The problem is especially bad when I am playing mp3 music on Winamp, and then I open a new application. The Winamp player freezes and I can't get it to play any sound again unless I reboot. To avoid this problem, I pause the music first. Also, I may eventually subscribe to to a real-time charting service which will provide streaming stock charts that update by the second. Usually, those are java based. Whether or not the service will allow me to open many streaming chart windows at once is in question, but I would like to. However, I almost never play any PC games like Doom/Quake that require a lot of CPU/graphics power.

Based on my current and projected usage and future demands from software/operating system growth, how much RAM do you think I should get?

Thanks in advance.

 

If 512Mb or 1Gb are your 2 options then go for 1Gb. And also install a memory defrag prog such as Memturbo. Lastly, make sure all needless start ups are disabled.

Good Luck

 

Only an 80GB hard drive? Are you on a strictly tight budget? Hard drives are so cheap these days you should consider getting at least twice that.

And I don't think you've looked hard enough for RAM for that other machine. Without even knowing what it is I can bet I can find plenty. (Its probably PC133) And I'm in Australia where parts are harder to come by than in more densely populated countries. You can download and run this http://www.majorgeeks.com/EVEREST_Free_Edition_d4181.html
to find out what you have in your machine.
A couple of other things I would consider are:
Making sure the motherboard in that new machine has a pci-e slot for a video card later on. That onboard one in that new system draws resources which would be better used elsewhere.
Definately get 1Gb of RAM.
Consider getting a sound card rather than using the onboard sound. Especially if music is important to you and it sounds like it is.
Those PIII E class chips are excellent chips and perform well. You could consider simply upgrading that with RAM and HDD and possibly a video and/or sound card for next to nothing.

Actually, looking at thos specs for the new machine, they look like they could be notebook specs. Are they?

 

Thanks for the reply. I was starting to lean in that direction as well. But I am concerned that 1 GB might turn out to be unnecessary overkill, considering that the Sempron 3000+ processor is not top of the line, and may instead become the bottleneck before I can take advantage of the speed that extra memory provides. Basically, I'd like the processor and memory to be relatively "balanced" so that neither becomes a speed drag, preventing me from maximizing the use of the other.

By the way, what is the most likely source of the problem with opening a new application while playing music files, resulting in freezing the music player? Would it be something other than memory? The processor? I do hear a lot of disk swapping when that occurs, so I suspect it is memory related.

Edit: Those specs are all for desktop. And hard drive space is not really an issue for me. I usually have plenty of space left.

 

Just rmember that the video card is going to be using memory so you'll be losing 64Mb (as a guess, maybe even 128Mb) from whatever you install.
I strongly suggest going with a good sound card so your CPU doesn't have to devote resources to that process, if you do that then 512Mb of RAM will mor than likely be fine.

 

Usually, the more RAM the better. Ebay always has RAM for sale. You might just have to do a bit of research before buying. I read that VISTA likes more RAM. So if you plan to upgrade to the new Operating System you might choose to add the memory now. Good luck.

 

And buy it in one stick, not 2 x 512megs.
To allow for future expansion, if you wnat it (and you probably will, later).
It will cost slightly more initially but will save you if you want to add more later (and give you more room, ie--more vacant slot/ slots). Bazza

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If I were building a computer now I'd be looking at 2gb,1gtb could be bought ow and another gb added later

512gb isnt enough anymore IMO

 

To work in dual channel mode although it will work fine in single channel ,dual channel offers slightly more performance is that what you meant

 

I think I'll go with the 1GB.

The system I've listed here comes as a package, so there's not a lot that I can change, RAM being one of them. But I did get a good price for it.

Thanks to all for your input.

 

definitely you should buy 1gb or more... Windows Vista recommends 1gb only to run the OS.
And like others said, if your mother has few slots you should buy 1gb in one stick

hope it helps!

 

I would go with either the 2 x 512MB or 2 x 1GB options. Thats if your motherboard is socket 939...if its a 754 the you can't use dual channel anyways so go for one stick of 1GB. I wouldn't run a computer with less then a gig these days.

 

Here a good article from Toms Hardware "How Much RAM do you really need";

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/13/how_much_ram_do_you_really_need/print.html

Summary: with modern computers, modern everincreasingly complex applications, broadband, potentially games and finally to be able to use Vista OS you need about 2Gb to keep things running smoothly otherwise you will get system stutters. Buy a 2*1Gb (or 2*512 if tight budget) as two sticks will give a slightly better performance boost and "share the load" of tasks. Just try to make sure they are in a kit and therefore should be the exact same make, model and REVISION otherwise you may end up with 2 sticks with different timings (although same make) which can cause problems. If you have dual channel mode avail on your mobo, REVISION is even more crucial, this will further increase their performance as data can be processed as roughly twice the amount:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24719

 

RAM oh yeah the more the better I am running 2gb and just ordered 2 more for a total of 4gb EEC RAM this in my neverending quest to never see a windows hourglass again!

 

Judging from your current computer, 512Mb would probably do you just fine. Having said that, I would also recommend 1Gb because it isn't that much more expensive and it is a decent performance boost.

 

hehehe.... pssst want to know a real good price on RAM...2gb ECC RAM for $25

 

Are you giving this away or what? ed

 

Nope thats what I just paid for 2 GB of RAM to bring my machine up to 4gb, pretty good deal.