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I am using Dell Inspiron 15 R:

  • 4GB RAM
  • 500GB hard drive
  • i5 processor

While using Android studio I generally use these three programs

  • Firefox browser
  • Genymotion emulator
  • Android studio

While doing this I end up using ~3.7 gb of my physical memory. Will adding more RAM make the system faster?

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RAM adds capacity, not performance. That means that the answer to your question depends entirely on whether you are already running low on RAM, and that additional capacity, if added, will be used.

Adding additional RAM will have a huge impact on a system that's already using most of its memory, but will have essentially no impact on a system that is only using half its existing capacity.

it sounds like in your case, that some more ram will help you when your system is under a non-negligible load, so it will reduce system slow-down as more load is introduced, until the new capacity is expended. It won't improve performance when the system is idle though.

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  • So I should buy one right? since I end up using 3.75 gb of my physical memory, and it becomes damn slow.
    – user3315188
    Commented Nov 7, 2015 at 4:51
  • yes, your system will try to keep some ram open, so once you are at 85-99% consumption, you system is already making choices about what to keep in ram and what to page out to disk, and is reducing the size of the IO cache it has built up. Adding ram sounds like a good choice, based on what you have described.
    – Frank Thomas
    Commented Nov 7, 2015 at 4:53
  • The technical answer is to look at the Total Commit % in a tool like process explorer, to find out how much you are actually using under non-negligible load, and add 50% or so for additional IO cache. Commit is physical ram + page file usage. However I would recommend an additional 4GB, because I am old, and still stick to channel pairing rules, perfering even numbers, and because these days ram is so cheap that unless you are looking at large numbers of systems, the delta in price between a 2GB kit and a 4GB kit is kinda negligible.
    – Frank Thomas
    Commented Nov 7, 2015 at 5:10

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