What is more important: Ram, or the processor ?

How does one know if he needs to add ram to his system, or get a new computer ?
I am asking in general.
What is all the fuss about ram ?
When will I choose to opt for more ram ?
how can I tell if I am in need ?
Are there any "signs" ?

 

Bring up your task manager. If you are using more memory than there is RAM in your computer then you need more.

 

Press Shift+CTRL+ESC and look at the bottom at your commit charge and if it is more than half way used up, you should add more RAM. That is my general rule of thumb.

Here is the deal, processes always use your RAM when they are running. But they don't always use your processor, they only use your processor when the processor is performing a task. like right now, my outlook is taking 29MB of memory and 0 processing percentage. Because I'm not in outlook. Now if I start writing an e-mail or deleting old e-mails it may use 5 to 10% of my processor's capable limit. It really depends on what you are doing with your computer. Most people upgrade RAM because it is constantly dropping in price and the price/performance ratio is pretty good. You also don't usually see people upgrading their processor because the processor price/performance ratio is usually AWFUL. For instance I got a 2.2 ghz processor in the T61p I ordered. If I wanted the 2.4 it would have cost me an additional $315 to at only .2 more ghz. But, I got 2 gb of ram in my laptop and if I wanted 4 gb it would cost me about $300 more, but I would have doubled my ram.

Hope that answers your questions, I'm spent.

 

ram is most certainly the way to go, especially if you run vista

 

All depends what you're on. If you've got a 1ghz processor and 4 gigs of RAM, go processor, obviously. But these days, with new machines, it's almost always ram.

 

Check on task manager how much you are using. If you are using more than you have (or close to max) get more ram.

If you are in the planning stage
XP-1GB
XP and lots of apps at the same time - 2GB
XP will NOT use more than 3GB (32bit limitation) Exception for this is 64 bit XP which is a bastard child and virtually unused.

Vista - 2GB (yes, it's a pig) Vista32 will also not recognize more than 3GB.
Vista64 will recognize more than 3GB, though very few applications available today are designed to run in Vista64.

Of course, it's always easy to add more ram, but not so easy (cost effective) to pull out the processor and replace it (with some designs it's impossible.)

then there's the # of avail RAM slots. Typically in a notebook that's 2. So if you got a machine w/ 1GB of ram in two slots, you'd have to discard your ram and start over to get to 2GB.

Bottom line. Get the fastest processor you can afford. Get 1GB of ram in a single chip/slot. Buy another chip on the aftermarket (most of the OEMs are stupid high on ram prices.) Install the 2nd chip yourself. That'll give you 2GB of ram which is probably plenty for XP and Vista32 and the current hardware/software capabilities.

 

I agree with the racist (about RAM & CPU) for the most part.

RAM is more likely the bottleneck than the CPU, but because your computer isn't that old to begin with, I suggest you just add RAM and wait another year or two to upgrade your computer.

 

It really depends on what you are doing which you didn't say so it's kind of hard to say. For general tasks like office and internet, memory and hard drive speed are an important factors as well. I'd personally say get the better CPU right now as it's harder to upgrade later and memory it dirt cheap right now. Upgrading it yourself is usually the cheapest way to go.