You will probably notice no difference at all in performance increasing your RAM from 4096 megabytes, to 8192 megabytes.
I am running my computer with 2 gigabytes of RAM and video card that also gives me 1 gigabyte extra in video memory and it is plenty. For what you are using your computer for 4 gigabytes of memory is way more than you need. (A gigabyte is abbreviated as GB for future reference.)
If you want to speed up performance might I suggest the following:
Windows Operating Systems may get loaded down with malicious software and other programs slowing down system performance if they are not maintained properly. Some tools to improve system performance are as follows:
Run Disk Cleanup. Go to Start -> Programs ->Accessories-> System tools-> Disk Cleanup. This application will help you clean up old and unneeded files on a computer. Do not use the option compress old files that you do not use.
Open Start -> Programs ->Accessories-> Run, type "MSCONFIG" and press enter. Go into Startup and find programs that you do not use or do not want starting up when you boot your computer and un-check them. This will make your start up faster. Be wary unchecking everything, some things you actually do need for Windows to operate properly. Unselect programs you do not need to start when your computer starts up.
Also in MSCONFIG go to BOOT.INI and click on "Advanced Options..."
Check NUMPROC= ( entitled "Number of Processors" in Windows 7) and select in how many processors you have (if your system has more than one). Windows default is to use only one core.
Run a virus scan, DO NOT USE NORTON Anti-Virus. It really slows down a system. I recommend Avast! and if you do not want to pay money (other good free programs are Spybot - Search and Destroy, Malwarebytes or SuperAntiSpyware). Fix any viruses and malcious software you may find with your virus scanning programs.
Run Disk Defragmenter. Over time your hard drive will clutter up with fragmented files and be spread over the drive. Defragmenting will organize files on the hard drive and speed up access time. I would recommend using Disk Defragmenter at least once every two weeks. I recommend downloading a program called "Auslogics Disk Defragmenter". It works much more efficiently than the defragmenter that comes with Windows. The easy way to find this program is to go to the following link:
http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/download/
Install the program and run it. I would recommend using this Disk Defragmenter at least once a week. I use mine every day because it defragments my hard drive in about two minutes.
Your hard drive is the most important component in your computer. It is good to run an error check at least once every few months to make sure there are no bad sectors on your drive. Right-click on a hard drive via My computer -> Properties -> Tools and click on Error-Checking Check Now. A pop-up will come up with Scan for system Errors and Attempt to fix system errors. Check the second box (Scan for system Errors) because your HDD (hard disk drive) may not have errors. Let it run and fix errors if it finds them.
I might also add if you find bad sectors on a hard drive to get whatever data you value off the hard drive because the bad sectors spread eventually destroying whatever data you store on the drive.
The following can possibly give your system a small boost in speed. Do the following: Start -> Control Panel -> System. Go to the Advanced Tab and click Settings (In Windows 7 click the Settings tab under Performance). Click the Advanced tab. Under “Virtual memory” click “Change...” Change the "Initial size" and "Maximum size" to the same number. It can slow a system down if the operating system changes the virtual memory size. What number should be entered for virtual memory? I would recommend around 1000 because some applications will give out-of-memory errors when they don't have enough virtual memory. Also some Windows procedures expect to find some virtual memory to use. If you disable the paging file or set the initial size to less than 200 megabytes and a system error occurs, Windows also might not record details that could help identify the problem.
