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Minimum RAM for windows 7?

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  • 22-06-2011 12:01am
    #1
    bobobear
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭


    Old laptop is finally giving up the ghost, fan is crazy loud and now screen is all blue and line-y. After 3.5 good years, it's time to move on.

    So, the tech dude in my mother's work insists that
    1) I need a minimum of 4gb RAM to run Windows 7 and
    2) HP Compaq (which is what I have now) are considered to be "bottom of the range" and I should steer clear.

    Opinions?


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    #2
    OMG Its EoinD
    Closed Accounts Posts: 309 ✭✭OMG Its EoinD


    Win7 32-bit needs 1GB to run
    Win7 64-bit needs 2GB to run

    MINIMUM !

    Well , if you just browse the web / email / youtube etc. 4GB is overkill.

    If you are looking for a cheap machine that's good for all the above

    look for

    Core i3
    2GB RAM ( Minimum )

    but you need to tell us what you need it for aswell if you wouldn't mind ?


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    #3
    Timfy
    Registered Users Posts: 728 ✭✭✭Timfy


    Minimum specs here

    No trees were harmed in the posting of this message, however a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.



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    #4
    FGR
    Registered Users Posts: 2,448 ✭✭✭FGR


    Let's put it this way..

    My parents acquired an unused Pentium 4 computer with 2.4GHZ and 640MB RAM. It didn't come with an OS so I decided to give it a shot with Windows 7.

    I was surprised when I saw that the install went without a hitch and the speed of the system was (nearly) on par with what I would have expected from a Windows XP install.

    Although the minimum requirements state 1GB Windows 7 won't install unless you have at least 512MB RAM. If you want to have comfortable performance I would recommend at least 2GB as my current laptop works brilliantly with it.


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    #5
    bobobear
    Registered Users Posts: 73 ✭✭bobobear


    I don't use it for anything crazy, no gaming. Although, I tend to run word, Excel, skype, Chrome, vlc, itunes, photoshop and a couple of small study programs simultaneously, almost all the time. It'll get pretty heavy usage, 8+ hours/day minimum. Right now I have vista and 2gb RAM with an Intel Pentium dualcore and it stalls a LOT.


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    #6
    Odaise Gaelach
    Registered Users Posts: 1,235 ✭✭✭Odaise Gaelach


    bobobear wrote: »
    I don't use it for anything crazy, no gaming. Although, I tend to run word, Excel, skype, Chrome, vlc, itunes, photoshop and a couple of small study programs simultaneously, almost all the time. It'll get pretty heavy usage, 8+ hours/day minimum. Right now I have vista and 2gb RAM with an Intel Pentium dualcore and it stalls a LOT.

    Generally, more RAM is better and if you are going to be running many programs simulatneously a RAM upgrade would be worth considering. Though I have a 2005-era iMac with 2GB of RAM and Windows 7 performs very well on it.

    The person in your mum's workplace might have been referring to 64-bit Windows 7. 64-bit OSes can take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM, while 32-bit OSes can only use up to 4GB. Though you can run a 64-bit OS on less than 4GB of RAM it will impact on your performance.

    In summary, 2GB of RAM is quite sufficient to run Windows 7, though I'd recommend you install 32-bit Windows 7 instead of 64-bit.


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    #7
    ImpossibleDuck
    Registered Users Posts: 1,154 ✭✭✭ImpossibleDuck


    bobobear wrote: »
    Old laptop is finally giving up the ghost, fan is crazy loud and now screen is all blue and line-y. After 3.5 good years, it's time to move on.

    So, the tech dude in my mother's work insists that
    1) I need a minimum of 4gb RAM to run Windows 7 and
    2) HP Compaq (which is what I have now) are considered to be "bottom of the range" and I should steer clear.

    Opinions?

    Woah!

    Opinions? He...is an idiot.
    Though you can run a 64-bit OS on less than 4GB of RAM it will impact on your performance.

    In summary, 2GB of RAM is quite sufficient to run Windows 7, though I'd recommend you install 32-bit Windows 7 instead of 64-bit.

    Not sure I agree here. I am currently running Win 7 64-bit on a 3-4 year old laptop with 2GB RAM. It's running brilliantly, never have any problems whatsoever.

    I'm not saying you're wrong because I really don't know, I'm just giving an example of how 64-bit seems to run easily with 2GB.


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    #8
    i71jskz5xu42pb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,806 ✭✭✭i71jskz5xu42pb


    Laptop Reliability - HP do not fare the best.


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    #9
    Fluffy88
    Registered Users Posts: 1,414 ✭✭✭Fluffy88


    The only thing that you have said here that would make me think you need more than 2Gb of RAM is photoshop. All the other programs you listed above will run no problem with 2Gb and still have lot's to spare, but if you do a lot of photoshop work it might be worth your time going for 4Gb.


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    #10
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    If you are running a lot of apps multitasking then more ram is going to help.

    If its just basic stuff then 2GB is fine. But if I was buying a new machine I'd get 4GB if it was an option.

    I've also noticed that even on a low end core2duo it runs vastly better than any single core machine I've tried.


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