Computer Memory (RAM)
Conclusion
More is always better, but when looking at value for money, there is a point beyond which the speed increases and performance increases won’t increase too much.
My current 2.0GHz Pentium 4 is a little behind the times, but still functions well for the tasks I use it for. I don’t play 3D games, and I don’t do video editing, most of my computer use is typing documents, surfing around on the internet and that kind of thing.
I run Windows 2000 on my computer, and 170MB is already used after everything is loaded. I can then run WinAmp (for MP3s), Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop (2D graphics) and Firefox (a web browser) with 10 tabs loaded inside, as well as being connected to the internet. This brings memory use up to about 380MB, which is enough to load anything else I need, and the ones already loaded run well.
Originally I had 256MB of RAM, but as the computer came close to that amount, Windows started to use the hard disk, in a way pretending that some of the hard disk is RAM, in order to allow more programs to run. But because of a hard disk’s much slower speed, the computer became too slow for normal use. I upgraded to 512MB, which has proved fine, and is still fine.
In conclusion, 256MB might do OK, but I would recommend 512MB. It will improve how your computer works as is a much better investment than getting a super fast (super expensive) cpu.