CPU vs RAM for JAVA development

[vishalaestro]

I exactly don't know how the windows (especially the windows 7) memory management works but here is what i noticed from the existing systems and the specs of the existing systems are .

Processor: intel core i5(2nd gen to 4th gen with each processor clocked at 2.9 to 3.2ghz)
RAM 2x2GB RAM
OS:windows 7 x64 bit
GPU:Intel HD graphics
HDD:500GB HDD

The applications that will be running constantly are Eclipse IDE,java,MS word ,MS Excel ,Firefox(4-6 tabs) and google chrome (4 to 6 tabs),Team Viewer and a Linux VM using oracle VM box

I'm noticing very slow performance on all the core i5 powered machines and there is no problem of viruses.the RAM usage is almost nearing 3GB .I feel i have been using an old pentium 4 machine every time when i open a word or excel file or even import a project in eclipse.what should be the bottleneck?is it CPU or RAM.My take is the RAM bottleneck .

Also can u guys explain me how windows memory management works in laymans term? even though there is about 30% of total RAM remaining why my computer feels so slow?

 

[rgd1101]

sound like it running out of memory and using your hdd as virtual memory.

 

[vishalaestro]

sound like it running out of memory and using your hdd as virtual memory.

is there any solution to optimize the existing 4GB RAM.

 

[GhislainG]

There are 2 solutions:

- Increase the RAM to 8GB or more;
- Use a SSD as that makes swapping much faster.

 

[rgd1101]

There are 2 solutions:

- Increase the RAM to 8GB or more;
- Use a SSD as that makes swapping much faster.

or close some of the apps.

 

[vishalaestro]

There are 2 solutions:

- Increase the RAM to 8GB or more;
- Use a SSD as that makes swapping much faster.

i notice that firefox and chrome use almost 1.5Gb of RAM combined.is there any way to reduce the memory usage of chrome and firefox

 

[GhislainG]

Not really. Is your system hardware limited to 4GB?

 

[vishalaestro]

Not really. Is your system hardware limited to 4GB?

yes its only 4 GB

 

[GhislainG]

What system or motherboard that supports an i5 and is limited to only 4GB of memory? My older socket 775 systems support 16GB of memory.

 

[vishalaestro]

What system or motherboard that supports an i5 and is limited to only 4GB of memory? My older socket 775 systems support 16GB of memory.

sorry,i meant to say that the current RAM capacity is 4GB ,it's dell vostro slim tower pc .it should support atleast 16gb

 

[GhislainG]

Then just add more RAM and your problem will be resolved. I presume that a single 4GB module is included; add a second identical module in the free slot for a total of 8GB.