andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2009-09-24 02:02 pm

My computer's too slow

[Poll #1461959]

You can't buy a computer nowadays that's too slow to run Word Processors/Spreadsheets/Web browsers on.

So what would you be able to do on your computer if it was faster that you can't now?

[identity profile] call-waiting.livejournal.com 2009-09-24 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
lizzie_and_ari are right on the money. People in general don't have enough RAM, simply because of the way PCs are sold: on the headline figure of CPU speed, so it looks like a good deal to half the RAM but squeeze an extra couple of MHz into a machine for the same price.

I frequently refer to the HDD light on the front of PC cases as the "Buy More RAM" light. Because if it's blinking, chances are you need to buy more RAM.
zz: (Default)

[personal profile] zz 2009-09-24 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
windows will swap even when it doesn't need to, so if i have >2gb ram in a machine i'll turn off the swap file altogether, which provides a minor speed boost from windows waiting for the hard disk less. and on laptops it should also have battery life implications.