Which is better - quantity or speed?

jmp_78 · 30 Jul 2010 at 11:15

There is no reason for asking this, other than curiosity! The examples given are purely made-up as two opposites - more slow RAM, or less fast RAM - which would provide better day to day performance?

Let's say...

4GB DDR2 667MHz
or
2GB DDR3 1600MHz

02goswej · 30 Jul 2010 at 11:23

2GB Will most likely be useless no matter what speed it is (With Win7/Vista and 62-Bit Applications Running), since programs require certain amounts of RAM to run. If there is not enough it doesn't matter how fast it is, it will not be functional.

So my answer would be A: 4GB DDR2 667MHz

/Johnathan

edscdk · 30 Jul 2010 at 11:26

if you are running 32bix vista / w7 for general office /home / 90% of uses the faster will be better...

infact most 64bit w7 / vista installs I see dont go over 1.5gb memory usage...

obviously for games and other high memory usage things the more memory would be better...

02goswej · 30 Jul 2010 at 11:34

Running Skype, Google Chrome, Anti Virus (Not Scanning), UPEK Biometrics Services

I'm already at 1.84GB Used.

But true you can get away with 2GB. Although I would expect some applications to be sluggish, especially if multitasking.

/Johnathan

MooMoo444 · 30 Jul 2010 at 11:35

4Gb is the magic number, speed of RAM isnt really a massive factor unless you're overclocking.

Cycrow · 30 Jul 2010 at 15:41

it really depends what you do on the pc.
if your always maxing out your ram, than more ram would be better than faster ram.

but if you never use up the amount you have, more ram will make little difference, so faster ram would be better.

JamesTuc · 30 Jul 2010 at 18:15

Agree with Cycrow

AtticusFinch · 30 Jul 2010 at 18:20

4 = more than 2

ergo better

jmp_78 · 30 Jul 2010 at 18:37

AtticusFinch said:
4 = more than 2

ergo better

True, but 1600MHz = more than 667MHz.

chipps101 · 30 Jul 2010 at 18:47

latency comes into it also as you can have ddr2 667 running at cl4 and ddr3 1600 running at cl9, clock speed is not the only factor.

HW91 · 30 Jul 2010 at 19:02

it depends which motherboard you have

Si105 · 30 Jul 2010 at 19:34

Only using my desktop PC for gaming I haven't felt the need to upgrade from 2GB to 4GB yet. When I use Windows on my MBP with 4GB multi-tasking is way better but I very rarely multi-task. Also on my desktop i don't install anything that whores memory such as AV.

franco_22 · 30 Jul 2010 at 21:15

4GB definetely

bells · 30 Jul 2010 at 21:59

4g absolutely

Tikkabhuna · 30 Jul 2010 at 22:24

Well my analogy is this. It's like using a sports car and a lorry to deliver things. Without going over the sports cars capacity it will be faster than the lorry. But if you were moving house you would have to make more trips.

So until you start having to use page file then the DDR3.

Bint Box · 31 Jul 2010 at 06:39

Quantity, size matters, if it's big it must be good.

4gb

Rgds
Binty