Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Max Out Your Memory

If your computer is running slow, one of the first things that you should take a look at is your PC's memory usage. Also, you will need to take into consideration how much memory you currently have. If you have less than 1 GB of memory, a memory upgrade would help you. Also, if you are trying to run a lot of programs at the same time, even if you have over 1 GB of memory, a memory upgrade would help system performance.

Many users start thinking of buying a new PC when it starts to slow down. However, it is always worth trying out a memory upgrade before spending hundreds of dollars on a new computer. Generally, I would even say it is worth maxing out your memory before buying a new PC, assuming that the max capacity is 4 GB or less. Also, keep in mind that Windows XP 32-bit version is maxed out at 3GB of memory. So, there is no point in going above 3GB for XP 32-bit.

Another great thing about a memory upgrade is that it is usually pretty cheap. I was able to go from 1.5 GB to 4GB for under a $100 pretty recently. This is a lot cheaper than the $500 I would have spent on a new PC. Also, I noticed a huge increase in speed when I executed this upgrade.

One thing you will want to keep in mind is that you will need to buy the correct memory for your particular computer. If you are a novice, I would recommend trying the crucial memory scanner: Memory Scanner. This tool can help you to find the exact memory for your PC. You don't have to buy the memory from crucial after you use the tool to detect what type of memory you have. However, they do have solid memory.

Installing the new memory is also quite easy as well. Generally, you just need to unplug the computer, open up the computer, and snap in the new memory into the memory slots of the motherboard. You can find a more detailed guide at Kingston.