“Is high disk usage a RAM problem or a PC problem?”

If a PC is running slow despite having reasonably current and otherwise-healthy hardware, then too-little RAM is for sure a prime suspect — especially if the PC was originally configured at the low end of the OS’s RAM recommendations.

Of course, if your PC is old, or has an underpowered CPU, or an old spinning-platter hard drive, then those or related components and issues could indeed be the bottlenecks, as well.

But too little RAM forces the OS to rely overmuch on its pagefile or swapfile; the CPU spends its time frantically moving in-use code and data to and from the hard drive because there’s not enough room to hold it in live memory (RAM). With the hard drive mostly being used just to service the pagefile, everything else bogs down.

Adding RAM gives your in-use data more elbow room, and lets the CPU spend more time doing useful work instead of just trying to move data out of its own way. Adding RAM is also relatively inexpensive, easy to do, and will almost always improve a PC’s performance, even if it wasn’t a primary problem. It’s almost never a bad upgrade!

How much RAM? Windows only requires 1 or 2 GB of RAM to run, but it — like all mainstream OSes (Windows, Mac, full desktop Linux…) — needs 4-8GB of RAM to perform well; with 8-12GB of RAM becoming pretty mainstream; and 12+ GB RAM not uncommon.

You can get by with less RAM if you’re running a compact Linux (see this) or a stripped-down or older OS, but for decent performance on a full, normal operating system, you’re gonna need at least 4-8GB of RAM; with more preferred.

If the PC’s still slow, even with sufficient RAM, converting from HDD to an SSD is usually the second most-effective upgrade for a PC.

But start by loading up on RAM: It’s usually the cheapest, fastest, easiest way to improve performance.

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