Windows7How

How much RAM does Windows 7 use

October 4, 2009

Since Windows 7 have this gadgets that shows both CPU & RAM usage in real time, I thought some of our readers might be interested in knowing how much RAM does Windows 7 use. As you may know, Microsoft official site stated 1 GB RAM to be the recommended minimum to run Windows 7. Is that true? Technically, yes.

The test was conducted on a 1GB RAM Netbook (Asus eeepc 1000HE) with clean Windows 7. That means there’s no program running on the background or other third-party software install in it. With Aero Glass themes, Windows 7 uses around 40% of the RAM or 400 MB RAM out of the 1 GB available RAM. With the Basic Themes, Windows 7 uses around 35%, that’s 5% less RAM compared to the Aero Glass Themes. Thus, with 1 GB of RAM you still left with 600-650 MB RAM available to use for other programs.

What if you are running on a 512 RAM computer/notebook? As you can see from the figures, it’s enough to run Windows 7. But remember the figures above doesn’t calculate the usage of others activity. After installing firewall, antivirus and some others software, plus running browser and maybe music/video at the same time, you might need an extra 200MB or more RAM to run everything together smoothly. Then, 512 RAM will not be enough. Does that mean you’ll not be able to open more programs if there’s no available RAM left? That’s not the case, as when all RAM is in use, Windows will try to create virtual memory by using the available hard drive space, but due to the hard drive activity it requires, you might experience temporary lag because virtual memory access is much slower. Therefore, if you receive “low virtual memory” very frequently you know your computer is at its maximum, and it’s time to upgrade your RAM. Or, Windows might help you by restarting or shut down your computer.

So how does it compared to Windows XP? I couldn’t bother do a reinstall just for the test, but with clean install, Windows XP should be using around 35% or less RAM. That’s about the same as using Windows 7 basic themes. If you are currently running XP with 512 RAM and you think there’s no problem, then Windows 7 should probably be running fine too. But 1 GB RAM is still the best bet.

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Tags: asus eeepc 1000he, netbook, ram usage, win 7 and xp comparison, windows 7 requirements