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Windows XP proves you can never have too much memory
Microsoft quotes the absolute minimum amount of RAM for running Window XP as being 64Mb with 128Mb the recommended minimum. In reality, these figures appear to be woefully inadequate.
More RAM = More Speed
On older versions of Windows, too much RAM was actually detrimental to performance. The more recent versions have far more sophisticated memory handling and can make real use of whatever is thrown at them.
For the purposes of our investigations, we were kindly supplied with some RAM by Crucial (http://www.crucial.com/uk) which we used in our Athlon XP 2400+ testbed. A variety of benchmarks were run with 256Mb, 512Mb or 768Mb of RAM being loaded prior to each run.
Before we go any further, you should note that increasing the RAM counts as a significant change for the purposes of Windows XP Product Activation. Each Ram change we made required that we obtained a new code from Microsoft. Before you increase yours, make sure you have your product activation details handy.
What became immediately obvious was that 128Mb was simply not enough to allow Windows XP to operate efficiently. We saw an average increase in speed of 25% between 128Mb and 256Mb. Many people would see less with a major processor upgrade so this was quite a startling finding. Given that adding 128Mb of RAM is not particularly expensive compared to a new CPU, this shows clearly that for XP users, memory may be the first thing to check if performance needs boosting.
The next step up was 512Mb. Here the increase was less dramatic but still quite noticeable. We saw about a 5% increase in speed depending on the test. Some benchmarks showed slightly higher results, some slightly less.
After that things slow down somewhat. There is still an improvement but you rapidly hit a point of diminishing returns. It would seem that XP has a 'sweet spot' around 512Mb where you get the best performance for the money. Certainly a far larger amount of RAM than Microsoft's literature would suggest.
Different Tasks, Different Needs
Whilst extra memory can affect the overall speed, it can also make for smoother operation depending on the task in hand. If you just use your PC for basic word processing and Internet access, you can indeed get away with 128-256Mb of RAM. More demanding tasks can soon show the inadequacy of low amounts of RAM.
Graphics and Sound are the two memory hogs. Complex documents containing graphics or embedded charts and especially more sophisticated PowerPoint presentations are much easier to handle with between 256and 512Mb. Databases start to benefit too at this level. In fact, the more RAM the better when it comes to these as they can keep their temporary tables in memory speeding up performance immensely.
The real memory hogging tasks include 3D work, both CAD (Computer Aided Design) and more generalised computer graphics, real time video editing and real world modelling such as water flow calculations. Here the sky is the limit with 1Gb or more not being at all unreasonable. Most people we know who work with 3D graphics professionally tend to run at their systems maximum, usually 4Gb!
Some of XP's own features can use lots of memory. Windows XP has a feature called Fast User Switching that lets two or more users use the PC whilst leaving the previous person's settings intact as well as their programs left running. If several people run different programs this way, the machine will effectively have dozens of programs in RAM increasing the need for more memory. Some sources cite a rule of thumb of 64Mb per person so if 3 people use a PC, allow 3 X 64Mb or 192Mb as a minimum. Our finding would suggest that 64Mb might be too conservative though so you may consider 128Mb per person a more productive amount.
Another thing to be aware of is that Windows XP constantly tweaks itself internally depending on the resources it has and a machine with insufficient RAM can sometimes decide to shutdown such features as speech recognition to claw back RAM. Adding more RAM can often restore features again which had mysteriously stopped working.
Conclusion
Windows XP is the first mainstream operating system for home users that really likes RAM. There are real benefits to increasing your RAM to at least 256Mb and preferably 512Mb if you do anything other than the most basic of tasks. Happily prices are historically very low and with sites like http://www.crucial.com/uk/ you can easily buy online from a wide range of memory types and speeds to suit your motherboard.
