The Old How much ram for the processor question

[mikhail007]

I am fairly new to computre hardware, but I once was given an analogy for processor and memory. Its like Taxis and Taxi drivers, you must have corresponding amounts for the system to work optimally. If you have a better one, please share, but my question is this. I am looking to get a new desktop for a lot of graphics programs (Adobe Suite, Maya and so on..) If i were to get a 2.5-3Ghz processor, what would be the optimal amount of memory for it? and what video card would u reccomend? Thank you

 

[Ambushed]

It really depends what what type of manufacture/brand/type of processor and ram you are looking at getting.

 

[Motoxrdude]

There is no optimal amount. More the better, simple as that.

 

[reddevil6]

XP 2G or more.
Vista 4G or more

 

[hermeslyre]

There is a point when extra memory serves no purpose, I would think OP is asking for that amount so as not to arbitrarily go over it. 4gb or more sounds good anyway.

For the video card details are needed about the proc, and whether a workstation or gaming card is desired. Differences? A gaming card is great with it's namesake and pretty darn good at workstation tasks. A workstation card is good with it's namesake but not so great as a gaming card.

 

[mikhail007]

Some of you touched on another important subject. What brand is best/would you reccomend? Thanks guys

 

[lovely?]

intel processor, no doubt in anyones mind. except AMD fanboys, of course.

 

[porterjw]

As mentioned, there is no 'set ratio; the amount you need will be based primarily on what you use the system for. Probably 95% of home-users who use their systems for average tasks don't need more than 1 GB for XP, 2 - 2.5 GB for Vista. If you run several resource-intensive programs at once or perform very specific RAM-hungry tasks, then more would be necessary.

If XP needed 2 GB, it would recommend it on the Specs.