The more the better?

AgnJa

Honorable
Jun 8, 2013
1
0
10,510
Ok, so, I am looking to buy a new computer because this one is old and overworked, and I have a question about RAM.
Several of the computers I have looked at have customization options and my first instinct when I see 32GB RAM is to go 'yay RAM! the more the better', but I have no idea if that is true.
Is there some kind of law of diminishing returns that applies here? If the computer in question for example has an Intel Core i7-3630QM 2.4-3.4 GHz 6 MB, which according to them can use 32GB, is there a point where you'll only ever actually use half of that before the CPU gets too tired to cope?
I'm well aware that I don't need 32GB of RAM, but would it be better?
Thanks in advance
//Agnes
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Extra RAM is simply unused. It doesn't overtax the CPU or anything.
I have 16GB, but I run multiple VM's routinely. Each with their own dedicated RAM.

But unless you have a need, why spend the extra money? What is the use for this PC?
 

thasan1

Honorable
Mar 27, 2013
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11,660
are you using it for gaming? or any other stuff like video rendering etc. generally for gaming 8GB is more than enough. actually 4 GB is plenty and 8Gb is just to be futureproof. and 32GB seems like wayy too much overkill unless your gonna use it as a home server.
also you said that "Intel Core i7-3630QM 2.4-3.4 GHz 6 MB, which according to them can use 32GB" it says it can use so generally it has 4 GB but you can upgrade it to 32 GB memory.
and generally more ram DOES NOT mean better performance. it used to mean in old GPU's but now it isn't. but if you have low ram like 521 MB or even 1GB then adding another 1GB will give you better results in everything.
 

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
For most people 32GB is overkill, 8GB seems to be becoming the entry norm and 16GB is generally plenty for most everybody. If you do a lot of VMs, video editing, use large data sets, utilize a RAM disk, run multiple OSs at the same time, etc...then you might look to 32 or for some, even 64GB (bit those are few and far between)....As far as having more speeding things up, in part it's all in how you use your DRAM, which is a whole nother story