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17-Dec-2010

How to improve your edit computers performance?

ANSWER: RAM

When it comes to video editing performance and RAM, the bottom line is this: Would you rather travel on a race horse or on the back of a turtle?

The amount of RAM you have on your computer is probably the single biggest determinant in how fast your editing system runs. More, obviously, is better. (RAM stands for Random Access Memory. The more you have, the more capacity your computer has to run large amounts of files at the same time.)

How much RAM do you need?

512MB of RAM is considered the minimum requirement today. Granted, some programs say the minimum requirement is 128MB but honestly, that quantity will probably leave you a bit frustrated. It is actually best to have several GB of RAM space.

Next to the CPU, RAM is the most important element in your computer for determining speed. Even if you have a fast CPU, a lack of RAM will leave your edit computer performance sluggish.

Why is that? If you don't have enough RAM, you can't have a bunch of huge files open at once. And video files are of course some of the largest files of all.

When you open a file, the hard drive delivers that file and puts it into RAM where you can work on it. The next file you open will also be loaded into RAM. If there's not enough RAM to store both files, the first file will be taken out of RAM to make room for the second. This takes time and slows your computer down to a snail's pace. And of course, if you actually need both files at the same time then what?

FREEZE UP AND CRASH!!!

So, if your edit computer is too slow, or you experience a lot of crashes, probably the simplest and least expensive way to fix that is to put in more RAM!

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