Monday, September 7, 2009

Update Hardware to Speed Up Your Computer

The amount of RAM is an important factor governing how well your computer will run.

As a case in point, let's say you have 2GB of RAM on your computer. That might appear to be enough, but if you're running multiple applications, especially graphics programs, that can eat up your RAM quickly.

As a case in point, let's have a look at a popular graphics program, Photoshop.

Few people realize that Photoshop is a major RAM hog. To elaborate, to run Photoshop CS4, the minimum requirement is 512 of RAM with 1 GB recommended. If you have several programs running in addition to Photoshop and then start working on large file (say 40 MB with many layers), your system could slow to a crawl quickly.

Why?

A file of this type requires 3 x 5 times the amount of the file size in RAM in order for Photoshop to function properly. In this case, that's from 120 to 200 MB of RAM for the file alone, not to mention the RAM requirements for Photoshop, the operating system and the other programs

Fortunately, upgrading your RAM is relatively inexpensive, so I recommend you buy as much as you can afford. You'll discover that most present day computers are limited to approximately 4GB of which you can use 3-3.5 GB. If you're a computer graphics professional, you might be using a 64-bit operating system. These support more RAM.

Another thing to understand is that many manufacturers install RAM at a slower speed than what is optimal for your PC (i.e., 667Mhz installed with 800Mhz available). Updating your hardware can make a difference in performance.

Give me 10 minutes of your time and I'll show you how to speed up your computer, update hardware, rid yourself of computer infestations and protect yourself online.

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