Does RAM matter for query processing speed

[bilojax]

Do data manipulation-type queries run faster with more RAM, all other things being equal? I thought I read somewhere that RAM matters but I need to PROVE it. My boss just bought me a new 2 gh computer with 512 ram. I can get another 512 ram (or whatever) if it will make a significant difference in query speed. Anybody know?

I did speed tests versus my old 500 mh computer - pure math calcs are about 4.5 times faster (filling an excel sheet with complex formulas) but my access queries are only 2.75 times faster. Why the difference if RAM isn't the answer?

 

[dodge20]

More RAM will probably increase your query performance some, but I don't think by a significant amount. 512 MB is suitable for most people. Unless you are dealing with millions and millions of records, I don't think it would be worth spending the money.

If you are using SQL queries, there are many things you can do (such as indexing, writing more efficient queriers, eliminating sorts, proper schemas and tablespaces etc.)that will improve performance and will be much more noticable than adding more ram.

 

[bilojax]

Thanks for the info. I’m not dealing with millions of records but usually several hundred thousand, up to one million. So more ram wouldn’t help much?

The stuff I’m doing is on-the-fly custom programming for financial analysis purposes. The programs I’m writing are designed to be run maybe 20-30 times, with lots of user requested changes along the way, so they’re not really stable, long-running applications where it pays to tweak everything. But there’s still pressure for execution speed because frequently everybody stands around my desk waiting for the answers.

I’m sure there’s more I can to do to improve the query design, but I’m already spending a lot of time doing extra programming and processing to speed things up (such as using make table queries and running subsequent queries off the tables, instead of just chaining queries as I normally do with smaller datasets). I index my tables and don’t use sorts where I don’t need them and those kinds of basic things, although I’m sure I could learn more.

So what could I do to speed things up? Any suggestions would be welcome, either hardware or programming.

Also, just from a general info viewpoint, why does my pure math speed go up 4.5x but query processing only goes up 2.75x? I moved everything to the local drive for the speed tests so it’s not communications issues. I know in a general way that not everything is related to processor speed, but what specific things is Access doing that doesn’t benefit from a faster processor?

TIA.