Re: Hard disk capacity
- From: Ron Martell <ron.martell@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 19:47:16 -0700
"Irene" <Irene@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>I would like some information about the Dell Dimension 3000, Intel Pentium 4
>Processor (280GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB) Microsoft Windows XP Home
>Edition, 256MB Shared DDR SDRAM, 40GB HARD DISK
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>and the Intel Pentium D processor 830 with dual-core tech. (3GHz, 2MB L2
>Cache, 800MHz FSB), Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, 2GB
>Dual-Channel DDR2 SDRAM, 500GB SATA 11 RAID 1 (Data Mirroring)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>I have some questions I would like to have answered, please.
>
>1. Is this enough disk space for typical applications?
>
>2. What are the storage requirements for the following applications:
> Any version of Microsoft Office?
> Adobe Photoshop?
> Netscape Navigator?
>
>3. When buying a new software package, why doew it state the minimum RAM and
>hard drive space the computer must have to be able to run this program?
>
>4. If the computer does not have RAM, what types of files will you be unable
>to open, and why?
1. Your first computer spec (Dell Dimension 3000) is a bit light on
RAM for most normal uses. That machine would benefit from having the
RAM increased to 512 mb. The 40 gb hard drive on that system is a bit
small by current standards but is probably adequate for most home
users unless the machine is going to used for working with digital
videos (movies etc.) or for massive amounts of photographs or other
large data files.
Your second computer spec (Dell Pentium D 830) is very much a high-end
power user's system by current standards. The way things change in
the computer business it will probably be considered an entry level
system by this time next year. The 2 gb of RAM is fully adequate for
all but the most demanding applications, and you would be aware if you
were going to be using software in that category. The 500 gb of disk
space is almost certainly more than the average home user would ever
need, unless you want to have a large library of full length movies
stored on your hard drive.
2. The disk space requirements for application programs are included
on the specifications for that application. With Microsoft Office
there are many different versions of it, each with differing lists of
components, and therefore the disk space required will also vary
depending on the version.
3. The RAM requirements are an indication of how much of a load the
program puts onto the RAM of the computer. With less than the stated
amount of RAM the performance would be severely impacted because of
the constant memory paging activity that would be required. The disk
space requirements are generally the amount of disk space needed to
store the installed program files for that application, plus the
additional temporary working space required during the installation.
4. This question does not really make sense as it is worded, because
a computer that does not have RAM will not even start up. If you were
asking about what happens if the computer does not have *enough* RAM
then generally what happens is that the computer slows down because it
is using the paging file on the hard disk drive to compensate for the
lack of RAM, and the hard disk is about 1,000 times slower than RAM.
Hope this is then information you were looking for.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm
.
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