Computer optimization for Voice Recognition

Some suggestions:

1. Specify a  Pentium-III or Pentium-4 CPU (Central Processing Unit), the faster the better. The Pentium-III CPU has advanced capabilities that enhance speech recognition. P4 even goes a step further. The Celeron CPU is adequate but not optimal. A 300 MHz Pentium-II machine with 128MB RAM will work, but would be the absolute minimum system (it will be very  sluggish).
   

2. Make sure your CPU has the latest and fastest bus speed, and that your motherboard supports it. Install the latest Flash BIOS for your motherboard.
   

3. 256K of CPU cache may be faster than 512K cache because sometimes the 256K is Level 1, and the 512K is Level 2.
   

4. 512 Megabytes (MB) of RAM (Random Access Memory) is suggested, but you cannot have too much RAM.  If your machine will take more, and you can afford it, more RAM is your best investment for performance improvement.  64MB is substandard: do not even try it. 133 MHz SDRAM (Synchronous  Dynamic Random Access Memory) DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) is the current standard. RAMBUS RDRAM and DDR are the newest things out there, and are becoming more mainstream. 
   

5. Use an Enhanced IDE Ultra-DMA hard drive ATA-100. Use a  SCSI hard drive if you have the bucks (note: the first portion of an ATA-100 hard drive can actually be faster than SCSI). SCSI will run hotter and noisier, so our preference is IDE.
   

6. All SoundBlasters perform equally well, even the lowly SoundBlaster 16.  It has been reported by some techies that the SoundBlaster Live! performs slightly better.  Make your SoundBlaster the furthest card away from your Power Supply, and put your other cards as far away from your SoundBlaster as possible. We have had some issues with the Audigy card. It loses its settings sometimes on some systems.
   

7. Let Windows95 or Windows98 manage your Virtual Memory, but before changing this setting, be sure to run a Thorough Scandisk and Defrag. To set Virtual Memory in Windows 95 or Windows 98, click on Start button, then Settings, then Control Panel, then double-click System, Performance tab, Virtual Memory.
   

8. Windows XP has proven to be a stable platform for NaturallySpeaking. Its many advanced features make it the ideal Operating System for voice recognition software.