Is 2GB enough RAM when running Vista?

Filed in archive Hardware on August 14, 2007

Is 2GB of RAM enough when running Windows Vista? Recently I have come across two answers to this. First there is Chris Pirillo's video answer, where he states that Windows Vista in normal 32 bit mode cannot really use more than 2GB. Quite definitely, 4GB is nearly too much. However, if you go to a 64 bit version of Windows Vista you may need 4GB. Interpreted this really means for the most of us that 2GB is quite enough and will work in most every situation.



Then there is the answer at ZDNet in the article "The Vista RAM puzzle: Is 2GB enough?". The answer is quite clear, 2GB is more than enough. Overall, Windows Vista can only use about 2GB unless you are doing something quite out of the ordinary. In fact Ed Bott, the writer of the article states: I

It's really, really difficult to use 2GB of RAM with any edition of Windows Vista.

So from two different sources we see that 2GB is enough. If you have a machine running 1GB, however, you must upgrade to 2GB to get the best out of Windows Vista.