sorry 4Gb of course.
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IBM'er says Vista's RAM sweet spot is 4GB
Patrick Thibodeau
February 20, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Configuring a PC around the minimum
hardware requirements of an application or operating system is lot like
agreeing to live in a basement apartment. Sure, it will work as a place to
live -- if you don't mind damp and dim living conditions.
Such may be the case for Windows Vista's minimum requirement of 512MB of
RAM.
Microsoft's on-the-box minimum RAM requirement "really isn't realistic,"
according to David Short, an IBM consultant who works in its company's
Global Services Divison. He says users should consider 4GB of RAM if they
really want optimum Vista performance. With 512MB of RAM, Vista will deliver
performance that's "sub-XP," he warned.
Short has been beta testing Vista for two years and was at the IBM-oriented
Share user group conference in Tampa, Fla., last week discussing some of
Vista's performance requirements. His XP system has 2GB of RAM, which he
calls the "sweet spot" for that operating system, but on Vista, 4GB of RAM
may be closer to its "Nirvana," he said.
That's due in part to Windows SuperFetch, which takes data from the hard
drive, stores it in the available RAM and makes it readily accessible to the
processor. SuperFetch depends a great deal on user predictability and takes
snapshots of user activity. If SuperFetch determines that an application is
launched at a particular time, it will have it loaded into the available
RAM. With more RAM, there's more caching and better software response, said
Short.
Hardware vendors, of course, will offer systems built on Microsoft's minimum
hardware requirements called "Windows Vista Capable," configured with 512MB
of system memory and a processor that is at least 800MHz. But their heart
may not really be in it.
For instance, Dell offers a Windows Vista Capable configuration that isn't
capable of much, according to what Dell says about it on its Web site:
"Great for ... Booting the Operating System, without running applications or
games."
Dell recommends 2GB of system memory.
Microsoft may be using PCs loaded with 4GB of RAM for some of its customer
demos; At least that's what Ann Westerheim, president of Ekaru LLC, reports.
A Microsoft representative recently demonstrated Vista on a system with 4GB
of system memory to some of its customers, and the performance was so
impressive that it drew some "ohs and ahs" from the audience, said
Westerheim. The Westford, Mass.-based company provides technology services
for small and mid-sized business.
Westerheim said that for her personal use she may configure a system with
2GB RAM, only because of the cost of loading 4GB on a laptop.
Mueez Deen, director of graphics memory and consumer DRAM at Samsung
Electronics, also recommends 2GB of RAM, calling that amount the "optimal
density for the complete Vista experience - economically and
technologically."
