How much Ram is Really Needed for XP

[coopaloop]

How much Ram is really needed for running Windows XP...Is 512 enough for
a non gamer...Or would adding another 512 stick make it noticabily faster.

[Cyber6]

How much Ram is really needed for running Windows XP...Is 512 enough for
a non gamer...Or would adding another 512 stick make it noticabily faster.


The minimum requirements for WinXP OS is 128Mb. 256 is recomended. I have WinXP Pro running on PIII-900MHz with 256Mb and it runs flawlesly. For regular applications (internet/email/wordprocessing) runs as fast as my Pentium M 750 processor.


C.

[Milkin_it]

25mb

[-Jb-]

256MB would be the lowest I would consider for a relatively 'clean' install of XP with basic uses. If you bought an OEM machine loaded to the nines with preloaded goodies, it'll eat away a good portion of the ram installed.

Although, if you have Norton AV (I hear Kasperavy is also huge on memory usage), browse loads of IE windows, and want to listen to MP3's at the same time, 512MB->1GB of ram is your friend.

[Cafe_333]

If you already have 512mb in there, it's already fine for what you do. In fact, everybody can get by on 512mb, but I will tell you that XP does run smoother on more ram. Of course upgrading to 1GB is more of a luxury than it is a necessity - but considering the cheap cost of such an upgrade, it does yeild greater returns. And everyone who's tried going from 512mb to 1GB have all noticed/felt a big difference in performance boost and will tell you that it was worth every bit of their money. So in short, if you got the money, go for it and get another stick of 512. If not, you'll be just fine on 512 - and save getting a 2nd stick for future upgrade considerations.

[TigerEROS]

At least 512MB for it to be stable ... but no one would complain about having more RAM. I have 1GB and I think it is too little.

[coopaloop]

Is now a good time to buy Ram? Or will prices increase soon

[deep]

Only on a very clean install have I seen WinXP survive and thrive with 256MB of RAM. I have to go with it on my wife's laptop as it's not worth upgrading, but I really receommend 512MB.

A friend bought a couple of Dell's with the base 256MB RAM, and with all of the auxillary crap they installed, the machines crawled. Deleted a bunch of nonsense, upgraded to 512MB, and they were like new machines.

[ericyjh85]

trust me, get 1GB ram, it will be the best $60 you can spend for you computer.

512mb and 1gb ram means a world of difference. You load everything much much faster.

[Milkin_it]

trust me, get 1GB ram, it will be the best $60 you can spend for you computer.

512mb and 1gb ram means a world of difference. You load everything much much faster.

true, wish the ram was cheaper though - like FREE! haha

[duckdown]

While 1GB is ideal, 256MB should pose no problem

[akosh]

I've used it with 64 - wasn't too bad.

[duckdown]

I've used it with 64 - wasn't too bad.

yeah

lack of RAM shouldn't restrict you from installing XP ever.. if anything it will just be slow as hell from all of the HDD accessing

[stevethewheel]

We have it running on a Celeron 800 and 256 mb. It's fine for doing any one or two things at a time. Can even burn CD's no problem.

I recommend you get 512 though if you are just starting out and have to buy your very first stick of memory.

[fuhreal]

I have an AMD XP 2600+ running with 1 gig of Ram, I'd like to have more as Uncompressing large files still takes alot of time, however running Photoshop, surfing the net while also running Excel, word and playing music, poses no delay in switching apps. (This particular machine has been running since 2002 without a format :cheesygri )
I also have about 6 programs always running (A/V, Spysweeper, Incd, Firewall etc...)
Think of it this way.. the more ram you have the more things you can do at once. Also check your HD space, increase your swap file size to accomodate for your lack of RAM. However RAM is alot faster than windows using the SWAP.

I have a laptop as well, its a PIII 650 with only 392MB ram. This machine runs "OK" but the lag when multiple apps are open, like outlook and basically anything else causes alot of lag, however this is also due to the weap proccessor.... bleh... i want a new computer :(


IMO go with 1 gig if you do alot, if you don't do much, 512 should be fine.

Most tech's that are worth what you pay them will tell you XP should have a minimum "workable" amount of ram 512MB.

[NiMSo]

512MB should be fine for a non-gamer, who doesn't do any intensive multimedia editing, etc. I usually monitor my RAM usage, and it rarely peaks over 400MB when I'm doing normal browsing or office work (I have 768MB installed).

Adding another 512 might help, but won't make a huge difference unless you use memory-heavy applications.

[canabiz]

What about people who don't play games and need to do graphic designs/video editing ? those programs are memory hogs eh ?

I have 512MB now gonna get another stick just for that since I'll be getting a new camcorder soon

[eelfliw]

With all my regularly used apps loaded, I use about 450 megs of RAM (according to taskman).

My old laptop has 640 megs of RAM. There was considerable amount of swapping.

My new laptop has 1 gig of RAM. There is virtually no swapping even though I'm using the same apps. This results in a much more responsive system.

I don't know why XP swaps even though there's enough free RAM to load the apps. But it does.

Therefore, I would say 1 gig ram is a good starter for XP. And if you use photo editing programs such as Photoshop to edit files larger than 50 megs, I recommend 2 gigs.

[strider_k]

I have a laptop with 256 mb in it and 16 mb of it was shared by the video card. I was not satisfied with the performance. I just purchased another 512 mb of ram for it. And there is no regret. The laptop is much more responsive in win xp. It loads faster as well. Right now, I let my video card shared 64 mb of memory. :D (still sucks) After all, this laptop is used for web surfing ,word processing, and the video out function. Anyway, the ram is definately a great investment. Worth every penny.

[Milkin_it]

512MB should be fine for a non-gamer, who doesn't do any intensive multimedia editing,

like PS, adobe and macromedia programs?

[Milkin_it]

With all my regularly used apps loaded, I use about 450 megs of RAM (according to taskman).

My old laptop has 640 megs of RAM. There was considerable amount of swapping.

My new laptop has 1 gig of RAM. There is virtually no swapping even though I'm using the same apps. This results in a much more responsive system.

I don't know why XP swaps even though there's enough free RAM to load the apps. But it does.

Therefore, I would say 1 gig ram is a good starter for XP. And if you use photo editing programs such as Photoshop to edit files larger than 50 megs, I recommend 2 gigs.

what do you mean by swapping? youll hear the H.D. click more?

[hightech]

There are specific keys in the windows 2000 and windows xp registry that allow you to take advantage of the ram. If you do a google search, I am sure you can find this info. I have books on the registry for windows 2000 and xp and made some modifications and with 1 gig of ram, the swap file is hardly used.

[Cyber6]

Did I mention that I have WinXP Pro running smoothly on 256 MB of RAM ??

The question is "How much Ram is Needed for XP?" from here http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram5.htm I quote:


How Much Do You Need?
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.

Linux works happily on a system with only 4 MB of RAM. If you plan to add X-Windows or do much serious work, however, you'll probably want 64 MB. Mac OS X systems should have a minimum of 128 MB, or for optimal performance, 512 MB.

The amount of RAM listed for each system above is estimated for normal usage -- accessing the Internet, word processing, standard home/office applications and light entertainment. If you do computer-aided design (CAD), 3-D modeling/animation or heavy data processing, or if you are a serious gamer, then you will most likely need more RAM. You may also need more RAM if your computer acts as a server of some sort (Web pages, database, application, FTP or network).

C.

[eelfliw]

what do you mean by swapping? youll hear the H.D. click more?
Yes. Esp when I switch from one app to another, there's considerable delay as pieces of the window slowly gets painted and the hard disk grinds away.

[Milkin_it]

Yes. Esp when I switch from one app to another, there's considerable delay as pieces of the window slowly gets painted and the hard disk grinds away.


perhaps less of this and longer life with the H.D?

[computersshopper]

Microsoft clearly states 64mb is the minimum and may hinder performance and 128mb the recommended.

[djspazz]

At least 512MB for it to be stable ... but no one would complain about having more RAM. I have 1GB and I think it is too little.


Depends what you use your computer for. Most people with very few applications running in the background can get by with 256mb. However, this might pose a problem when more applications are opened. There is very little room for other apps to run. 512mb is what I consider the minimum requirements for smooth operation of the OS and gives room for other apps to run well too. Now if you are not a basic computer user, ie. you use photoshop, some video rendering program etc... 1GB is the minimum. In addition the OS, background apps (virus protection etc...), you now need ram to run programs that require a lot of resources. I have 2GB of ram now and to most people, that would be overkill. But, with everything running, and doing some video rendering, I'm over 1GB usage.