Should I max out the memory!

DMan28 · Apr 29, 2013

I am looking at a Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 and I want to know should I max out the 16GB memory capacity.
Also, what looks better G.SKILL Ripjaws/Ares series or Corsair Dominator/Vengeance series.

ksham · Apr 29, 2013

Short answer: why not?

But if you don't need 16GB of RAM, why waste money on it? Both G.SKILL and Corsair are excellent manufacturers for RAM. Corsair Dominator series is a load of cash for nothing. You can't go wrong with either the G.SKILL Ripjaws or Corsair Vengeance RAM.

USAFRet · Apr 29, 2013

I have 16gb, but I use it. Various VMs, 1-4gb each, running at the same time.

If all you're doing is gaming, 8 is enough.

bryonhowley · Apr 30, 2013

I have 16gig of ram in my i5 3570K rig but only because it was on sale for the price of 8gig when I got it. As for performance I see no difference at all between 8gig and 16gig.

DMan28 · Apr 30, 2013

Here's my wishlist so far:

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100311-3L Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card

AMD FX-6200 Zambezi 3.8GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6200FRGUBOX

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

Not sure about this series of memory; it's listed in the memory finder as compatible with my motherboard but I want opinions on it.

I made an error: The capacity is not 16GB it's 32GB.

Also what are VM's?

ksham · Apr 30, 2013

Not sure where you live, but here in the USA, FX-6300 is cheaper and better than the FX-6200. So I'd recommend at least that fix.

The G.SKILL Sniper RAM are great RAM. They're compatible with your motherboard.

VM = Virtual Machine. Read about it on Wikipedia.

DMan28 · Apr 30, 2013

ksham :

On Newegg the 6300 Vishera is cheaper than the 6200 Zambezi. Only diffs. I see are:

1. The 6200 has Hyper-Transport support

2. Thermal Design Power 6300: 95W 6200: 125W

3. Operating Frequency 6300:3.5 6200:3.8

Also, what are VM's used for?

USAFRet · Apr 30, 2013

Also, what are VM's used for?

They operate almost exactly, but not quite, as another complete hardware box. I can have 4 different PC's, with 4 different operating systems running all at once, on one physical box. You save on hardware, power, heat.

WinXP, Linux, and Server 2012 all running at the same time. The host system, in my case, is Windows 8 Pro.
Testing, software development, a myriad of uses. Also, they can easily be rolled back to a previous state.

ksham · Apr 30, 2013

VMs can be used for a lot of things. For one, it creates a virtual space on your computer. This space exists only in RAM and HDD. When loaded, it uses as much RAM as you allocate to it. In the case with USAFRet, who runs multiple OS in VMs, each VM will be given some amount of RAM. Similar to how your Windows 7 will use at least 4GB of RAM.

Now, the benefit of VM is that it is isolated within its space. If something breaks or dies or say it froze, it is isolated within its virtual process. It will not affect the host process. This allows you to manage various VM, start, stop, and restart them as you please without shutting down your host. This also brings another benefit to VMs. Whereas some programs can just hog up all your RAM or CPU, VMs can only use the space (HDD space) and RAM that is was allocated. If you gave a VM 4GB, it will not and cannot use more than 4GB unless you allocate more to it.

VMs also allow you to keep things separate from one another, similar to how USAFRet set up.

Do note that VMs need not be used to run an OS, nor must a VM need an OS installation.

DMan28 · Apr 30, 2013

Ok, but see the specs in my last post and tell me which one is better 6300 @ $140 or 6200 @ $135?

Also, should I use 32GB or RAM because I plan on using Steam again and playing games like C.O.D and Skyrim?

ksham · Apr 30, 2013

FX-6300.

And no. 8GB will suffice for gaming alone. You can up it to 16GB if you wish to keep other programs opened while gaming.

DMan28 · Apr 30, 2013

Which one?

http://

ksham · Apr 30, 2013

None of the above. 2x 8GB > 4x 4GB.

Crucial Ballistix 16GB (2x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3

DMan28 · May 1, 2013

@ ksham

First, why is 2 x 8GB > 4 x 4GB?

Second you were my first reply to o.p. and said g. skill and corsair were great although they may not be for gaming.

ksham · May 1, 2013

First of all, I never said that. Quote me where I said "they may not be for gaming".

As for your question: less heat, easier to higher clocks, easier on your CPU memory controller, and leaves two empty slots in case of future upgrades.

DMan28 · May 1, 2013

ksham :

I meant they may not be for gaming. Also, I live in Texas.

kermdawg · May 1, 2013

Just so you know-I kept a close eye when I was swapping back and forth between playing Rift and streaming the NFL draft last weekend..I got 16 gigs of memory and I was using 13gbs of it.

To be fair, I'm running a 1gb page file because I got 16gigs of memory, i had to up that to 4 gbs to get the memory to drop back down to 9 gigs.

What I'm saying is, if your gonna do some hard core gaming, you really can't be doing a whole lot else in the background. You can keep a few tabs on your browser open but not much else.

The whole reason I went with 16 gigs is because I used to run out of memory on 8gbs. Never had that problem with 16, last weekend was as high as I've ever seen it(first time I saw it over 8 gigs actually). So if you can get 16 gbs for the price of 8gbs on sale (like I did) I say jump on it and never have to worry about it again.

edit-I play 90% of my games on steam and I never came close to having problems...32gbs of ram is way overkill

DMan28 · May 2, 2013

kermdawg :

Just so you know-I kept a close eye when I was swapping back and forth between playing Rift and streaming the NFL draft last weekend..I got 16 gigs of memory and I was using 13gbs of it.

To be fair, I'm running a 1gb page file because I got 16gigs of memory, i had to up that to 4 gbs to get the memory to drop back down to 9 gigs.

What I'm saying is, if your gonna do some hard core gaming, you really can't be doing a whole lot else in the background. You can keep a few tabs on your browser open but not much else.

The whole reason I went with 16 gigs is because I used to run out of memory on 8gbs. Never had that problem with 16, last weekend was as high as I've ever seen it(first time I saw it over 8 gigs actually). So if you can get 16 gbs for the price of 8gbs on sale (like I did) I say jump on it and never have to worry about it again.

edit-I play 90% of my games on steam and I never came close to having problems...32gbs of ram is way overkill

You had to increase page file to get memory to go back down? Sorry, this will be my first build but I'm an avid gamer.

GodforSaken · Sep 22, 2013

I got a new rig with 16gb Kingston 1600mhz and im thinking to max out my motherboard add another 16gb, i just wanna be on the safe side for the future in case i will need to upgrade my ram and i wont find the same ram in the market..

and today memory is not as expensive as it used to be, i say if you can afford it then just MAX out your motherboard memory. im going for it.

GodforSaken · Sep 22, 2013

DMan28 :

I got a new rig with 16gb Kingston 1600mhz and im thinking to max out my motherboard add another 16gb, i just wanna be on the safe side for the future in case i will need to upgrade my ram and i wont find the same ram in the market..

and today memory is not as expensive as it used to be, i say if you can afford it then just MAX out your motherboard memory. im going for it.

Should I max out the memory!

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