You should buy as much computer memory as possible. Right? Wrong! Computer memory is quite expensive and one must buy computer memory intelligently. Although buying computer memory may not be rocket science, it still needs some degree of knowledge to be able to invest intelligently in it. You must know when to buy more memory, how much memory is actually needed for the tasks at hand and where to buy it. Although it would be nice to have as much computer memory as possible it would be wasteful investment if you don’t really need it. Also, you may need to buy computer memory for replacing defective ones. The computer memory that one needs to buy is usually a stick of RAM memory.
You will need more computer memory under certain circumstances. When upgrading your operating system you may need to buy computer memory to upgrade as per the supplier’s recommendations, otherwise your computer will become slower if inadequate memory is used. You may need additional memory if you are installing new applications that require more memory than you already have. Usually the latest video games or video editing applications will require memory upgradation. In case you are installing a new multimedia card or computer peripherals you may need more memory. Finally you will need to buy computer memory if your system starts slowing down or crashing frequently.
Not all operating systems need the same amount of memory. Usually the recent one will need more computer memory to run smoothly. For example the Windows 2000 OS needs only 256 MB RAM while Windows XP will need at least 512 MB RAM to do so. Business software applications, games like the latest Half Life version and video editing software will use up a lot of memory. If you intend to use these be sure that you have adequate memory before investing in them. Although multimedia graphic cards have built in memory they use up a lot of you computer memory also. Again be sure that your computer memory matches the card’s requirements, otherwise your computer may refuse to run altogether. Printers can use up a lot of memory when printing large files and so may be the case with scanners.
Whenever your system starves for memory it will use up hard drive space to create virtual memory and the process is called ‘paging. This can slow down your system. You can tell that your system is paging by listening to the hard drive. It will make a long chugging sound when it borrows memory from your hard drive when you try to copy or work with large files. Your memory requirements may range from 256 MB to more than 1 GB. If you wish all systems to work smoothly you must buy computer memory when necessary.
Memory also has limited life depending on usage. It may stop functioning properly, especially in old computers forcing you to buy computer memory for replacement of the defective ones. In case you decide on upgrading or replacing your computer memory, you must determine how much memory you will actually need. Your motherboard must have adequate number of slots to accommodate additional RAM sticks. You can buy computer memory from shops directly or get them online. There are many suppliers both online and offline. You can compare the prices before buying.
