of the Biggest PC Hardware Myths That Just Won't Die

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From PC to Windows and smartphones, the technology we use every day is surrounded by myths that never seem to disappear. These myths are so credible because everyone has a grain of truth to them, maybe they were even true in the past.

Don't buy all the myths out there. They could lead you astray when you buy a new PC, create one or simply update the hardware you have now.
More RAM definitely doesn't hurt, but it doesn't always help.Adding more RAM, or getting a computer with more RAM, will really only help if your computer doesn't have RAM. Yes, modern operating systems will use backup RAM for caching, but that cache is very useful. If your computer gets along with 8 GB of RAM, you don't really need another 8 GB of RAM for additional cache space.

 

Before deciding to update your PC with more RAM, be sure to verify that your computer really needs it by monitoring how much RAM is being used. Going from 8 GB to 16 GB will only really help if you are running heavy virtual machines, demanding PC games and something else that needs more memory than those 8 GB offer. More RAM is not always better, and it is often better to look at other specifications when buying a computer; Do not focus only on the amount of RAM.
A CPU with more cores is always faster
When it comes to the CPU of your computer, or the CPU of any device, such as a smartphone, the number of cores is not the only important thing. Dual-core CPUs were a revelation when they became the mainstream in home PCs, and companies have continued with quad-core, octa-core CPUs and CPUs with even more cores.

Each core is a separate execution unit, and more cores allow your computer to run multiple different programs at the same time.

But it's not just about the number of cores. If you have a single thread application, it can only run on one core at a time, so a faster quad-core CPU will run it faster than a slower eight-core CPU. Many applications still have a single thread and cannot take advantage of all those additional cores to speed up their execution.

Of course, given a quad-core CPU with speeds identical to an eight-core CPU, the eight-core CPU will be better. But sometimes you will see an eight-core CPU with slower speeds than a quad-core CPU, or even a quad-core CPU with slower speeds than a dual-core CPU. Cores are not the only thing that matters: CPU speed is also very important, and there is a good chance that you are better off with a faster CPU with fewer cores.

Modern CPUs are 64-bit, and modern operating systems have become 64-bit, too. But much of the software you’ll run on a modern operating system like Windows is still 32-bit.

That’s not as bad as it sounds, because 64-bit software isn't always faster than 32-bit software. 64-bit software does offer a number of benefits, from allowing applications to use more RAM to improved security. But that doesn’t mean 64-bit software is necessarily faster. Computing-intensive applications may see more significant improvements, but not all programs will.

The move from a 32-bit application to a 64-bit application won’t necessarily give you a free performance boost.