Does 4GB or 8GB make a big difference on a laptop?
Do you mean RAM or a mini Mongo hard drive?
So both are noticeable.
There are noticeable differences when it comes to memory - but only if you need computing power.
e.g. If you only surf and check e-mails you won't notice.
If you have Photoshop or a game running, you will already notice it.
It all depends. Roughly simplified: The more RAM you have (which is the point), the more / more demanding things you can do at a reasonable pace (in parallel).
This is where the data comes in that a program needs to run. When you open a program, the memory becomes a little full, when you close one, it becomes empty. More RAM → More programs at the same time (or more demanding ones that have more data). Quite roughly
There are differences. With 8GB you can e.g. Use the PC a little more than 4GB! For example, open several programs at the same time without the PC being able to unpack.
My laptop has 8 GB. This is fully sufficient for most jobs. It only becomes problematic when I use a lot of RAM (for example, several browsers and other work-intensive programs are open at the same time). In that case, my PC gets quite slow.
However, my PC also uses an HDD hard drive. If I had an SSD hard drive, the effect would probably not be as strong.
I would not be satisfied with 4 GB. My PC is already occupying 4GB of RAM without doing much. In other words, even with normal use, this would ultimately be incredibly slow.
Only 4GB RAM is actually no longer sufficient with today's PCs.
It would be interesting to know why you are idling at over 4GB.
I have with Win10-64 idle around the 3.5GB load at 8GB.
Incidentally, so far that 4GB is simply not enough these days, but one should not forget that Windows uses more RAM if there's more. Win10 runs on a 4GB computer with about 2GB RAM consumption (which, by the way, corresponds to the minimum RAM size according to Microsoft). On my 8GB, as I said, about 3.5 and on my 16GB company computer, there are also good times 5.5-6Gb, which claws Windows. Just to have mentioned it.
I still use Win7. It is also not really idle. Firefox is running (that's probably about a gig) and other stuff.
however, one should not forget that Windows uses more RAM
I'm sure that it might be possible to configure the corresponding one.
This RAM will probably not really be used by Windows itself, but rather it is more likely a kind of swap memory. At least I couldn't think of a reason why the OS itself should need more RAM.
In addition, I could imagine that the storage space might also be distributed elsewhere if so many processes actually need RAm at the same time.
You're right, the operating system itself doesn't get bigger just because there's more memory. But it "takes" more memory in order to "preload" all possible applications in order to be faster in operation because there are some things that you don't have to wait (so long) for.
If the RAM on my 8GB becomes scarce and I open other programs, you can also see that the RAM initially fluctuates constantly at 7.8 for a while because the OS releases some of this "reserved" memory with each open program, to avoid having to outsource to the hard drive / SSD. Although it also costs time, it costs less than outsourcing and makes the system more stable in normal operation.
Preload. Exactly, that's, for example, one of the things I meant. Possibly also to keep allocated memory areas longer and not to swap them out directly.
That too, of course. If you open a program a short time after it has closed, it will be quick and much faster with modern systems than when you first start it
