computer specs for working with Excel (2002 SP3)

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Hi,

Management is going to buy me a new computer and I need to tell them what I need. I work with large Excel files containing multiple pivot tables (run off the same cache) and my current PC regularly crashes when I have 2 or more of these files open at the same time.

I currently have:
Pentium® 4 CPU 3.00 GHZ
2.99 HHz
1.99 GB of RAM
running Windows XP and Excel 2002

Can anyone recommend what they use, that could handle large files without crashing?

Thanks
capri

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Excel cannot handle all available memory, but the limit depends on the version of Excel. See Excel Memory Limits. I’d recommend upgrading to Excel 2003 on your current PC or on a new PC. The new PC should have at least 2 GB of memory if it has Windows XP, or 4 GB if it has Windows Vista.
I recommend getting a dual-core processor because your PC won’t crawl to a standstill if it is performing a processor-intensive task such as recalculating a large workbook.

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Thanks Hans.

That answers why Excel on my home PC runs much quicker than at work. I thought it was because I had a faster processor, but it’s because I have Excel 2003.My big problem will be trying to get the upgrade as I work in government and they have standard software which it won’t be easy to convince them to allow just me to have an upgrade.

capri

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