Whether your pc only uses 1gb RAM or whatever at any given time, I had bumped up my pc from 3gb RAM to 6gb RAM and it's MUCH FASTER. For trading, I would suggest getting more than 3.
Actually, nobody answered this. Where to buy without the loaded crap? But anyway, even if it comes with the crap, you can get ride of them in 20 minutes or ask someone for a small fee. So the short answer is, you can buy computers anywhere....
1. More RAM is beneficial only if it's used. Task Manager will tell. Check yours.. if you're not using >3 RAM at peak usage, their is no improvement. 2. Lots of people perceive improvement when they expect it.. whether it occurs or not.
Unless you have one built for you by a shop, there is going to be extra stuff loaded. Simple to correct... just do a fresh OS install as soon as you get it out of the box. Viola!
Hire a 12 year old to uninstall , disable, remove unwanted crapware. to the dude that says he never uses more than 1 gig of 4, I believe thats because you never turn the thing on.
re getting rid of crap, here's a link to revo uninstaller. if you don't want to download it you can use the portable version at the bottom of the page. if unwanted programs is the ONLY reason you'd spend more money i suggest you save money and use this program when you initially start up and/or do a fresh install like others have said. but buying from somewhere else b/c you think they have better reliability is a completely diff story. http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html
My network tech loaded a monitor on my workstation. It's absolutely used. And there is no doubt an improvement.
Well then, in your case adding RAM was a real benefit. Your inference to [generally] "get 6GB of RAM rather than 3GB as it will make your system faster" is fallacious. Adding more RAM improves performance ONLY in cases like yours... not most users.
If you know what components you want and like to mix and match, then pricewatch.com is a pretty good place to go. Lots of choices for just about anything computer-related.