Processor vs. Memory

Senior Editor Kalpana Ettenson responds: If you have a limited budget, your first goal should be to get as much RAM as possible in your new PC. The reason for such a priority is that a new system running Windows Vista needs at least 1GB of RAM to do anything worthwhile. Having 2GB of RAM is ideal and will significantly improve performance on hard-core tasks such as video editing and gaming. If you still have money left over, you can buy a faster CPU, or you can configure your hard drives in a RAID setup, to get more bandwidth from your storage media.

Senior Editor Kalpana Ettenson responds: If you have a limited budget, your first goal should be to get as much RAM as possible in your new PC. The reason for such a priority is that a new system running Windows Vista needs at least 1GB of RAM to do anything worthwhile. Having 2GB of RAM is ideal and will significantly improve performance on hard-core tasks such as video editing and gaming. If you still have money left over, you can buy a faster CPU, or you can configure your hard drives in a RAID setup, to get more bandwidth from your storage media.