When Should You Purchase Additional Computer RAM Memory?

By Abbey Dale

Although the common way of thinking is that you can never have too much computer RAM memory, the fact is that you do not really need any more RAM than what you use for your everyday computer work tasks. If you purchase more RAM than you really need, it will not actually help your computer operate any better, and it will not be a good value for you. Instead, you should carefully assess your computer system to determine if it could benefit from a computer RAM upgrade.

Your computer's operating system uses a lot of memory, and if you have recently upgraded to a more up-to-date operating system, you can bet that the new version is using significantly more computer RAM memory than the previous version did. Each new version of an operating system seems to always require more memory than the previous one, primarily because of features and functionality that have been added. Whenever you upgrade your computer's operating system, you should asses your memory requirements, because not only your operating system, but also all other applications could suffer if there is a RAM shortage.

Upgrades of common business software are another thing that could create a need for more computer RAM memory. Just as with operating systems, business software gets more complex with each new version, and invariably it seems like the computer RAM memory needs increase. If you are installing new software on your PC, look at its memory requirements, and see if you need to upgrade.

If you are planning to add new computer peripherals to your system, such as a scanner, printer, or other type of device, you might find that you need to increase the computer RAM memory on your PC. Printers can utilize a great deal of memory when printing very large files, and these days, files are getting larger and larger. It is no longer unusual to be printing extremely high-resolution photographs, which are very large. Additionally, if you are adding a scanner, you will probably be scanning photographs and other types of documents that you require as a high-resolution document. While scanning an image, the scanner will need to hold information in memory, and if the files are customarily very large, you will need to make sure you have adequate computer RAM memory to get the job done.

Multimedia card additions or upgrades can be another reason to review the computer RAM memory needs of your computer. Multimedia cards generally depend heavily on your computer's RAM, and must have a sufficient amount available in order to work properly. If you do not have sufficient computer RAM memory, your multimedia card will not work as fast as it should.

In addition to the specific scenarios described above, there are times when you realize that your computer can just benefit overall from a computer RAM upgrade. Sometimes computers just do not have adequate memory to allow for efficient everyday usage. You might realize that it seems like things are taking longer than they should, or you can actually hear your hard drive working on tasks, such as coping, or editing large files. If this happens, it is a sign that you would benefit from a computer RAM memory upgrade.

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