8GB Memory has any use?

ArCElM

Hi,

I just decided to replace my 4GB 2000Mhz PC3 with Crucial 8GB 1866Mhz PC3

Qute frankly I never really ran my Ripjaw above 1800-1900mhz anyway so, question is this, is there really any need for the extra RAM in gaming? or is 4GB enough still.

Also, what about the speed, am I making a mistake? is somebody going to tell me for gaming, I need at least 2000mhz ram speed?

Help me out! as I can still cancel the order.

the 8GB was cheap enough, just is there any point?

deltatux · 05-08-2012, 08:21 | posts: 18,766 | Location: Toronto, Canada

8 GB is recommended but is not required for gaming as most games don't use more than 4 GB of RAM since they're 32-bit applications. That's all they can address up to.

What you'll see in the future are 64-bit applications that can take advantage of more RAM. However, since the adoption of 64-bit native apps is very slow, you probably won't see it until 5 years from now maybe.

I have 16 GB which is not necessary but like you, RAM's cheap these days and who knows, I might be able to run more virtual machines and my CPU would be the bottleneck and not because I'm low on RAM.

deltatux

ArCElM · 05-08-2012, 08:32 | posts: 1,434 | Location: The Octagon

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltatux

8 GB is recommended
deltatux

IS IT? I DID NOT KNOW THAT i HAVE BEEN OUT OF THE PC SCENE A WHILE.

WhiteLightning · 05-08-2012, 08:35 | posts: 20,397 | Location: Netherlands

i cant turn my pagefile off when i play skyrim with loads of mods. 8gb fully used lol

(wish i had 16gb)

deltatux · 05-08-2012, 08:43 | posts: 18,766 | Location: Toronto, Canada

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArCElM

IS IT? I DID NOT KNOW THAT i HAVE BEEN OUT OF THE PC SCENE A WHILE.

it is, and please refrain from posting in all caps.

deltatux

ArCElM · 05-08-2012, 09:17 | posts: 1,434 | Location: The Octagon

So are you guys saying getting 8GB it a decent move? my concern is I just wasted 45 quid instead of sticking with my 4GB and running it that bit faster.

k1net1cs · 05-08-2012, 10:49 | posts: 3,318

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArCElM

So are you guys saying getting 8GB it a decent move? my concern is I just wasted 45 quid instead of sticking with my 4GB and running it that bit faster.

Depending on your usage, really.

If you plan on keeping other applications open while you're gaming (e.g. the browser so you can Alt+Tab to GameFAQs), then it's more sensible to have more RAM.
While it's true that 32-bit applications (as in most games right now) can't use more than 4GB of RAM, they do stack up if you run many apps at once, and that excludes the portion that Windows reserves for its own usage.

If anything, having more RAM gives your OS and applications more breathing room.
Having 4GB for Windows 7 is like having 1GB for Windows XP; it's enough for most cases, but having more never hurts.
Yes, it's a lousy comparison, but that's the general idea.

alanm · 05-08-2012, 11:23 | posts: 4,960

I have 24gb of spare DIMMs but only use 8. Bough the excess ram for future builds or in case some floods drown out the manufacturing plants, lol. With 8gb, even with virtual machines with 4gb allocated to, still have plenty free ram left.

Hangry · 05-08-2012, 15:25 | posts: 110

8 gb is not necessary but its cheap and you never know if one day you want to watch youtube while listening to music having facebook, steam, origin, fraps and xsplit open while playing skyrim with mods. 8gb is totally worth the money.
About speed, you dont need 2000MHz for gaming, 1600 is already fast enough but i think 1866 is the best.

Anarion · 05-08-2012, 15:33 | posts: 9,146 | Location: Finland

In games like SW:TOR it does make difference, especially if you have stuff open background. In my case 4GB would not be enough.

Hangry · 05-08-2012, 15:40 | posts: 110

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anarion

In games like SW:TOR it does make difference, especially if you have stuff open background. In my case 4GB would not be enough.

+1 mmos need a lot of ram, several of my friends complain about their ram when they play wow.
Btw I usually play sc2 with chrome open (pandora, facebook, guru3d) with 6gb.

Xtreme1979 · 05-08-2012, 16:17 | posts: 1,224 | Location: Bay City, MI

The price difference between 2x2gb and 2x4gb is fairly negligible so purchasing 8gb for a new build is the smartest way to go. Now if your happy with your current 4gb no need to upgrade. For me 8gb wasn't even enough. I feel much better with 16gb in my rig.

tweakpower · 05-08-2012, 21:41 | posts: 932 | Location: Serbia

Yeah, more RAM can't do any harm

.

Side note, i discovered something very interesting, first on mine PC, then tested on few of them. RAM is cheap, so if you buy it, get a good brand, i can't say what brand is good, but I'm sure here are people who know it. Mine tests:

Mine RAM (don't have a clue what brand is, and I'm too lazy to open the case now

)
1333Mhz (max freq.) = unstable, 1066Mhz = unstable, 800Mhz = stable.

Kingston on another PC (didn't remembered type)
1333Mhz (max freq.) = unstable, 1066Mhz = unstable (close to stable say 40% more), 800Mhz = perfect stable.

Another don't know brand name RAM, unstable at all speeds.

Didn't tested with different latency then default. One note, all RAM modules tested here are prime/mem test stable, no errors.

Way to test if it's really stable, is to use poorly optimized software (game). Best game for testing in mine opinion is old Need For Speed Most Wanted. On stable settings, gameplay is perfect without stutters (no mater how tiny is).

So, no matter how cheap is RAM, if you are hard core gamer and you like perfect gameplay (most of users here are), then, always buy better RAM, even if it cost more.

Corrupt^ · 05-08-2012, 22:16 | posts: 4,803 | Location: Belgium

4GB of DDR --> BF3 took ages to load levels
8GB of DDR --> First game of the day still quite long but after that load times are alot smaller

nomunk · 05-09-2012, 18:08 | posts: 219 | Location: St. Louis

I only have 6 gigs of Ram so im hoping I have enough

MM10X · 05-09-2012, 18:37 | posts: 4,051 | Location: Oakland, CA, US

6-8GB IMO is better for windows 7, I like having a lot of apps in the background open (xfire, steam, ventrilo, mumble, chrome, hwmonitor, anit virus, ect) with 8GB of ram I never notice a speed difference with them open.

It depends on how you use your computer. For most on windows 7 4GB is fine, but with RAM prices so cheap now it was only $50 for 8GB of 1866Mhz DDR3.

automaticman · 05-10-2012, 01:58 | posts: 661 | Location: Orange County, CA

16GB is the new 8GB

Darren Hodgson · 05-10-2012, 08:51 | posts: 9,661 | Location: England

I'd say that 6-8 GB is the ideal amount of RAM to have for 64-bit Windows as it means applications and games will run smoother and there'll be less swapping to the pagefile. 4 GB is the minimum IMO.

Windows likes lots of memory which is why I upped mine from 6 to 12 GB a few weeks back. Surprisingly, I've noticed that Windows works even better than before and applications launch even quicker, noticeable over long sessions, likely because it doesn't have to shuffle stuff around anymore. For example, I can play two or three games but when I return to the first or second, it appears to load quicker, possibly because it is cached? Whatever, more memory is always nice.