Council on Computing Power Recommends 128MB of RAM for PCs and Workstations Running Windows 2000; ZD Labs Study Provides Basis for Group's Conclusions.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2000

The Council on Computing Power, a non-profit industry group, recommends that IT professionals, business managers and others upgrading to Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system install 128 MB of random access memory (RAM) to insure optimal performance.

The Council's recommendation is based on independent benchmark studies recently conducted by ZD Labs. The complete findings can be accessed and downloaded from the Council's website at http://www.rammatters.com/proof.

ZD Labs, an independent testing and benchmark development lab arm of Ziff-Davis, conducted various studies on behalf of the Council.

After increasing the amount of RAM on a wide range of Windows 2000 PCs, ZD Labs analyzed the performance gains using the following Ziff-Davis benchmarks: Business Winstone 99, for business productivity applications; Content Creation Winstone 2000, for multimedia content creation applications; and i-Bench 1.1, for testing Internet client performance.

The tests measured system performance for machines running Windows 2000 with various levels of installed RAM up to 256 MB. This study was the third in a series that began testing systems using Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0.

Highlights of findings

Some of the study's findings were dramatic. For instance:

-- Performance on Business Winstone increased an average of 17

percent when moving from 64 MB to 128 MB of RAM;

-- Performance on Content Creation Winstone increased an average

of 38 percent when moving from 64 MB of RAM to 128 MB of RAM;

-- When loading memory-intensive complex Web pages, performance

on i-Bench 1.1 increased by 14 percent when moving from 64 MB

of RAM to 96 MB of RAM.

Study Summary

The minimum requirement of 64 MB of RAM currently recommended by Microsoft will run these types of business applications; however, the program may function at a slower pace. Business users may find themselves wasting valuable productivity and time waiting for the program to respond.

The levels of RAM suggested by the Council on Computer Power will ensure that business software running with Windows 2000 is efficient, responsive and expedient. Based on the ZD Labs findings, the Council recommends the following optimal levels of RAM for systems running Windows 2000 using these types of programs:

BENCHMARK                                     COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Winstone                             128 MB(a) for optimal
Targeted for typical business                 performance
applications, such as Microsoft,
Corel and Lotus suites.

CC Winstone                                   256 MB for optimal
Targeted to multi-media content               performance
creators such as Adobe Photoshop
5.0, Adobe Premiere 5.1, Macromedia
Director 7.0, Macromedia DreamWeaver
2.0, Netscape Navigator 4.6, and
Sonic Foundry Sound Forge 4.5

i-Bench                                       128 MB(a) for optimal
Targeted for Internet browsing and            performance
Web-based client computing using
Netscape and Microsoft browsers.

(a) In the case of business productivity applications and Internet
performance, the study actually recommends 96 MB of RAM for optimal
performance. However, because new computer systems are frequently not
available with 96 MB, the study suggests that choosing one with 128
MB, as opposed to 64 MB, will improve performance significantly.

"Our mission as the Council on Computing Power is to educate all types of PC users on the benefits of adding RAM to increase computer performance," said Council President Paul Dlugosch. "We believe it is important to take a leadership role in providing memory guidelines for those considering an upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional, and hope these findings will help consumers make better-educated choices as they move to this new operating system."

Dlugosch said for those moving to the new system, an upgrade to at least 128 MB is not only smart, but cost effective. "For less than $100, many computers can be upgraded to 128 MB, which will result in a positive experience with Windows 2000 from the beginning."

An executive summary as well as a full report of the ZD Labs study can be accessed on the Council's Web site at http://www.rammatters.com/proof.

About ZD Labs:

ZD Labs (www.zdlabs.com) leads the industry in Internet and technology testing. Building on Ziff-Davis Publishing's history of leadership in product reviews and benchmark development, ZD Labs brings independent testing, research, development, and analysis directly to publications, Web sites, vendors, and large IT organizations everywhere. For more information visit www.zdlabs.com.

About the Council:

The Council on Computing Power was created by charter members Hyundai Micro Electronics America, Infineon Technologies Corp., Micron Technology Inc. and Samsung Electronics. The Council on Computing Power is a non-profit industry group dedicated to helping consumers maximize their personal computing experience by increasing awareness about the importance of RAM.

For more information, visit the Council Web site at http://www.computingpower.org.

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