You Want 4 GB RAM on Your Notebook?

Buy RAM to Increase Your Battery Runtime

The question of how much RAM you really need is discussed roughly once every two years, and with every launch of a new Windows version. While there are so-called sweet spots at any given time, factors such as the operating system and popular applications have an influence on the ideal amount of RAM as well. 512 MB RAM can be considered the minimum memory capacity to execute Windows XP or Windows Vista today. However, anything less than 1 GB will have a noticeable performance impact, as the operating system will swap data onto your hard drive—which brings down performance and battery runtime on notebooks. Given that, we looked at the opposite end of the equation: what would happen if you went for a comfortable 4 GB RAM capacity on your notebook?

Corsair’s XMS2 DDR2-800 DHX RAM (TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX) has dropped from almost 150 Euros to about 40 Euros within one year. Although we looked at the German price comparison platform at Geizhals.at, these DIMMs currently start at $79 in the US.

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