Vista works best with 4GB RAM according to IBM consultant

Windows Vista and its system requirements have been a debate running for the last few years and the discussions hasn’t cooled down even though the new operating system has been launched. Early o it was pointed out that the amount of RAM in a Vista machine is very important and now the question has once again surfaced now that ComputerWorld has had a chat with David Short, consultant from IBM’s Global Services Division. David Short thinks, just like Dell, that the recommended system requirements of 1GB RAM is a bit low, but also that the 2GB Dell recommends is still a bit short. David Short claims that he needed 4GB RAM to make his Windows Vista machine perform as good as possible and that it was mainly because of the SuperFetch function.

“That’s due in part to Windows SuperFetch, which takes data from the hard drive, stores it in the available RAM and makes it readily accessible to the processor. SuperFetch depends a great deal on user predictability and takes snapshots of user activity. If SuperFetch determines that an application is launched at a particular time, it will have it loaded into the available RAM. With more RAM, there’s more caching and better software response, said Short.”

It’s starting to look like users with high demands should not settle for anything less than 2GB RAM, but that there will be even further improvements when moving to 4GB. But do remember that system builders have tendencies of being a bit biased when it comes to these things.