Will adding more ram make my computer faster than getting a faster cpu?
by 
Steven Stevenson
ANSWERS: 2
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You're not going to like this answer: It depends. If you tend to run large complex applications, and several of those at the same time, your system could be starved for memory, and ends up "swapping" the memory to disk to make enough room for everything, you could well notice a large improvement in performance by adding more memory. However, if you usually only run one application, and you are meeting the recommended memory guidelines for that application, adding more memory probably won't help. One thing you can do is look at how much memory is being used in your system when you have the program(s) running that you'd like to go faster, and bring up the Windows Task Manager (I assume you are running Windows XP or Vista), and click on the Performance tab. This will show you the total amount of memory in your system, and how much is free. The more free memory you have, the less likely that increasing the memory will result in a faster system. Good luck.
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It can, depending on the computer. If you have a gig in there, and it's still running slow, prolly is best to drop a newer proc. in. What do you have? If it is anything less than a lga 775 core 2, or a AMD AM2(+), and you're trying to run newer games, then you need a new proc. Also depending on what you're trying to run, esp on Vista, if you have a integrated graphics system, may want to up that to a separate video card, if the graphics cannot keep up in Vista, it can run slow also. My way of checking, if the computer is less than 5 years old, is to drop in more memory, if that doesnt help much, or at all, try a faster processor, just make sure that the socket matches, the BIOS, or motherboard can accept the new chip.
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