Processor speed or ram, which is more important?

As technologies scale processor speeds there has been an observation made. The processors can computer faster than before. However the bus speeds and memory access speeds are the bottlenecks which keep the processor waiting. On the other hand, lots of memory is also not useful always unless you would be using your computer at its 100% capacity all the time (unlikely).

I would suggest. - processor speeds are important. But after a while they become “not very useful”. So, go for a faster processor but if you are getting a good deal for a processor with a slightly lower speed (frequency), go for it. Similar is the case with RAMs. Choose a RAM like 1-2 GB which is sufficient for most office/home needs these days. The investment you make on higher amounts of RAM may only be useful if you use your pc as explained earlier.

As an addendum., a more important thing to worry about may be the processor cache. This is local memory to the processor. An optimum cache is essential for smooth working. A very low/ high amount of memory here would not be very suitable. I would suggest 1-2MB of cache which is pretty common these days. It helps a lot.