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Thread: How much is too much?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    26

    How much is too much?

    I built my first computer last year but I only put a few gigabytes of RAM in it. I was wondering if there is a recommended amount of RAM that you should not exceed? I once read where windows machines didn't run well if they had too much RAM (beyond 3 gigs), just wondering if the same principle applies to Linux operating systems?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Canada
    Beans
    459
    Distro
    Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

    Re: How much is too much?

    you have RAM limitation if you use a 32 or 64 bit OS, a bit of reading may help you:

    http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/c...confusion/3124
    Best, Gnusci

    "Never make a calculation until you know the answer." -- Wheeler, Spacetime Physics, pg 60.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Maryland
    Beans
    1,461
    Distro
    Kubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: How much is too much?

    Quote Originally Posted by mrdave100 View Post
    I built my first computer last year but I only put a few gigabytes of RAM in it. I was wondering if there is a recommended amount of RAM that you should not exceed? I once read where windows machines didn't run well if they had too much RAM (beyond 3 gigs), just wondering if the same principle applies to Linux operating systems?
    I don't think it was a case of Windows not running well with more than 3 GB of RAM, but rather Windows couldn't use more than 3GB of RAM if it was using a 32-bit kernel. With a 64-bit kernel (both Linux and Windows), you can address more than 4GB of RAM and actually make use of it.

    With regard to how much is too much, it really all depends on what you want to do and how much you have to spend. Motherboards will have a physical limitation in terms of how much RAM you can add (this work computer that I'm on now can only hold a maximum of 16GB of RAM for example). So that would be the limitation. For most purposes, I couldn't imagine you need more 4 - 8 GB of RAM. Again, that all depends on what you do with your computer.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Beans
    26

    Re: How much is too much?

    Thanks for the replies. It seems like I have plenty of RAM and if I want a faster machine I need to look for a faster chip.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    2,047

    Re: How much is too much?

    An SSD to replace the hard drive (or use the SSD just for the operating system) would be another big speed-up if you don't already have one, probably more of a speed-up than a faster CPU or more RAM if you already have plenty of RAM. You can always have both an SSD and a second hard drive for data files.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Beans
    26

    Re: How much is too much?

    Actually my computer is plenty fast for me. From the time I hit the power button, it takes about 70 seconds until I'm on the WWW. I saw a video about Ubuntu booting up and it was like 15-20 seconds and it just got me to thinking that maybe with some better hardware, it could be a lot faster.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Beans
    2,047

    Re: How much is too much?

    70 seconds? Consider using Standby to put the computer to sleep instead of shutting down/rebooting every time. That should drop that 70 seconds to about 10 seconds to be back on the web.

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