How much ram

[thomasmaca45]

Please reply as i am new to the forum.
What can i do with 1 gb of ram eg how many tabs can i open.

 

[jmacavali]

It depends on what the other specs of the computer are. Also what other programs are running and how much other stuff you have going on.

Antivirus programs and other programs that run in the background are notorious for taking up RAM.

You'll need to provide more details about your computer and about exactly what you are trying to do.

 

[thomasmaca45]

Just surfing web.
Just normal usage

 

[jmacavali]

What OS are you running?
What Antivirus are you running?
What other programs are running in the background (instant messangers for example)?

The best way to tell is just to try it. If it's too slow or can't do what you want, you can always add more RAM.

 

[OhSnapWord]

For most people, 6-8GB is ideal.

 

[jmacavali]

For most people, 6-8GB is ideal.

We function just fine running XP with 2-3 GB where I work on about 600 computers. Fortunately we only use the comptuers for web browsing and word processing.

I think 6-8 is overkill for the average user. And from my guess this is an old computer that the OP is trying to decide if it's worth hooking up or not.

Honestly, 1GB isn't really going to be suffiecient no matter what you do. You will notice the slowness. I would recommend 2-4GB - preferebly 4 for most home users (which you can't hardly buy a new computer without 4 in it now). If it's an old computer upgrading to 2 or 3 (because it's probably not 64 bit and therefore only supports upto 3) should be enough for basic functions like web browsing.