INDUSTRY VIEWPOINT - Take a trip down memory lane

Adrian Elms, senior sales manager at Samsung Semiconductor, advises us not to scrimp on memory.

Although the personal computer drives our industry and continues to make great strides in improving system performance while maintaining or even decreasing system costs, lack of memory is becoming all too common a problem.

An industry myth states that CPU speed defines PC performance. If you believe this, you'll be under the impression that you don't need cache in a PC. The facts are somewhat different.

Cache, DRam memory and the hard drive can actually contribute more speed than the CPU. Cache runs approximately three to five times faster than system DRam, and the more information the CPU can access directly from cache, the faster your PC can run.

With PCs being overloaded with memory-hungry applications such as office-productivity software and must-have multimedia functions, memory stress is starting to take its toll on older computers. The market's anticipation of an increased move towards corporate intranets and video conferencing further emphasises the issue of a potential lack of memory to run these business applications.

Recent research by Laitron Computer Systems shows that PCs can run up to 63 per cent faster with increased memory and organisations no longer have to upgrade the CPU to achieve this.

The implications here for cost saving are tremendous, as an additional memory source can be used to effectively extend the life of older PCs.

Previously, the high price of DRam forced systems to be dependent on the CPU for performance. The reductions in the price of DRam over the past few years have reversed this situation.

Memory prices historically decline at a rate of 20 per cent per year.

This price curve can be traced back through every past generation of memory products. These cost reductions are the result of manufacturing improvements and the economics of high-volume production, resulting in prices now being 80 per cent lower than in 1996.

It isn't pragmatic to buy a fast CPU and then starve its performance by not allowing it the memory it needs to function effectively. You wouldn't buy a powerful sports car and install a one-gallon petrol tank. Although it is best to install enough memory in your PC when you purchase it new, it isn't always possible to foresee long-term developments in technology.

It seems that the sensible approach for the industry to adopt would be to move towards increasing the memory capabilities of a PC, rather than incurring the costs of expensive CPU upgrades, especially when IT budgets are being so carefully safeguarded in the countdown to the millennium.

With memory modules now available from manufacturers and resellers direct to users, it makes implementation a simple process, be it for one PC or across an entire business organisation.