Combien avez-vous besoin de Mémoire Vive (RAM) ?

How much RAM do you need?

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Econext Informatique's second blog. In our previous blog, we explained why it was so important to choose the right processor for your computer rather than other specifications that are more or less paramount.

Most of the computers sold at the big box stores have salable but unbalanced specs that aren't sustainable in the long run. Thus, you are satisfied during the 30 days following the purchase and suddenly your computer is getting old. The internal components of the computers sold in these stores are not made to last but only to sell, a product that seems attractive to the average user who is not computer literate.

The second subject will be the famous random access memory (RAM) of the computer. The famous, yes because everyone gives it a lot of importance. Wrongly or rightly? The statistics don't lie.

The majority of new computers are sold with a lot of RAM but very little processor power. It's a bit like putting supreme gasoline in a sedan economy car or a 1989 Tercel.. I have nothing against Tercels, they are very reliable cars but....putting gasoline more efficient, it will never become a Porsche.

People fail to understand the power of a processor as we are talking about 2-4-8 cores at 2.60ghz or 3.40ghz or 1.60ghz. Many are already lost and that's normal. However, when we talk about RAM, it's easy. 8gb of RAM is 2x more than 4gb of RAM so it's 2x faster... FALSE. RAM manages applications, software, pages, games, which are open in the present moment. Applications do not eat RAM like children eat chocolate. Apps take what they need to run, based on what you're doing, always in the moment.

SITUATION 1 - EXTREME USE

My computer has the following configuration:
i5 processor
4 GB of RAM

When taking this capture, my computer is fine but has a few minor bugs, nothing too much to deal with.

My use in the photo, you can see:
-Google Chrome, I was watching a 4K video while writing this blog and having Facebook open with my friends talking to me.
- Photoshop, I was doing the designs for the website you are reading now.
-Excel and Word was open but not really used, I always have a few pages open, folders open, often, for days.
-Tidiochat, an application to be able to answer you in real time on the website.

Using my RAM? Approximately 1.97 GB of RAM

However, what do you notice?
My CPU is at 100% utilization . RAM is not my issue here .. My processor (engine) is having trouble handling 4K video playing on Google Chrome in addition to my Facebook, my editorial and my Photoshop which is open on my 2nd screen .

SITUATION 2 - NORMAL USE

Again, my configuration remains the same, my computer has not changed in the meantime. However, I closed applications and software that you would not use in everyday life, especially not at the same time.

My use in the photo, you can see:
-Google Chrome, I was watching an HD quality video, with my Facebook open and this blog's editorial page.
-Excel and Word was open but not really used, I always have a few pages open, folders open for days often.

We can immediately notice the following thing, I use around 1 GB of RAM only . My processor is almost overworked, and the computer runs smoothly without any glitches, glitches, or sluggishness.

'' But... what are the 8 GB of RAM that I have in my computer that I bought 6 months ago in a department store for! '' you will say to me.. Well, be careful.. they are not lost, but they are not useful either. Probably that if you have to use all of your RAM, your processor, which is probably not an Intel i3-i5-i7, will already be completely overwhelmed and will no longer have anything to do.

So the question is: Do you have enough 4GB of RAM? YES . Can you have more and will it be helpful. You can have more, up to 16gb in most computers, will that be useful. Not really.

We could sell our computers in stores for $20-40-60 more with killer RAM, but at the same time, we have the principles of providing you with what you need to work properly, easily and satisfactorily. For this reason, we ship the majority of our computers with 4gb of RAM and that's definitely enough as you can see, I use a little more than 1gb with the same applications that you will probably use too.

So beware of catches, 8 GB of RAM is not faster than 4 GB of RAM since, anyway, applications take what they need and not what you have to give them. Having 8 GB of RAM is not a disadvantage. However, it will not save the life of your computer if it goes into cardiac arrest, remember well. (Processor)

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