To 8GB or Not to 8GB! That is the question!

[Emelth]

Alright too much bickering going on between the 4GB RAM and the 8GB RAM, we need to figure this out now!

"Random Access Memory (RAM) is the "working memory" in a computer. Additional RAM allows a computer to work with more information at the same time which can have a dramatic effect on total system performance." ( http://pcsupport.about.com/od/componentprofiles/p/p_ram.htm )

Dell says: "More memory (RAM) increases overall performance and enables your computer to run more applications at the same time."

With this being said we know that RAM does not have a direct impact on gaming. But we do know that the usual gamer isnt just gaming! That person is most likely listening to music, has a couple of web browsers up searching the net and downloading stuff.

For me personally I play WoW, I got music going, I'm downloading crap, watching shows online and surfing the net all at the same time (not watching shows and playing music at the same time though). I am a true gamer/multitasker, to be able to switch back and forth between all these we need the power of RAM!

So lets say you do get just 4GB of RAM, your gaming experience will be reduced if you are a multitasker like me. Thats a correct assumption to make right? 4GB RAM is screaming I got too much crap on my plate so I'm going to slow down, which will cause your whole system to slow down which as you know will mean gameplay is decreased.

8GB RAM is sitting back running all the multitaskers tasks while smoking a cigar and sippin on some gin n juice watching the 4GB struggling. 8GB gives a gamer the ability to multitask better and not have to worry about over working his RAM to the point that it slows his system down.

I also know that multitaskers require a lot more internet speed but we are not going to look at that this is strictly talking about RAM, I also know that this can be considered to be in the wrong section. But I believe if your in the homebuilt section looking for advice on everything so thats why I posted it in this section. Haze me if you want I can take it!

So what say you? I want to see who can debate me against my own theory and what other peoples theory is. The battle of the age old question RAM vs Gaming.

The gauntlet has been thrown ladies and gents, in the famous words of Celebrity Deathmatch, LETS GET IT ON!

 

[eddieroolz]

I personally work with a lot of RAM-consuming software i.e. Photoshop Lightroom 3.5 and Eclipse.

As such, I prefer having a lot more RAM than one can ever seemingly find use for. My current laptop has 6GB DDR3, and a build I'm hoping to do in March will have at least 8GB and possibly 16GB.

There's also the consideration that even regular software these days eat up a lot of RAM...like Firefox, with 1GB+ for ~10 tabs. This with only 5 addons enabled.

With 8GB kits going for ~$45CAD, RAM is cheap.

 

[Emelth]

I would say go for the 16GB you will need it. But this topic is more for 4GB vs 8GB for gaming purposes. Like i said over the past couple weeks I have seen a lot of members getting into debates wether to go for 4GB or 8GB.

I'm also no talking about the price of RAM we all know its dirt cheap right now 8GB can be bought for around $45 with G.Skill.

I wish I knew a way to see how much RAM my PC is currently using so I could have more info to show people for this debate but currently most of the people who debate over this issue (myself included) can go all out and see where it stands in the end.

 

[Emelth]

This Article was written in 2008 and I think it describes what I was talking about a little better I want to find some more recent reviews though...

How does the RAM affects the performance of your gaming computer?

The amount of RAM you have in your gaming computer affects the speed at which the game reacts. To process the huge amount of computation involve in a 3D game, there must be enough RAM to store all the information. For systems with a small amount of RAM, the memory space will be filled up easily and all overflow data is then written or page to the hard drive. When such situation arises, the CPU will have to travel a longer path to retrieve the data from the hard drive. This results in sluggish game performance and intermittently ‘hanging‘ of the game. To increase the performance of the game, the foolproof way is to increase the amount of RAM in the system. The more RAM you have, the better the game performance.

http://www.build-gaming-computer-guide.com/the-complete-guide-to-choose-a-gaming-memoryram.html

 

[Outlander_04]

Emelth check Task Manger while you are running a game . Look at the processes and see how much RAM your game [ and each other application is using ]

 

[Emelth]

Thanks Outlander forgot about that.

Alright I'm currently using my laptop specs are:

Toshiba Satellite A660
Windows 7 64 bit
i5 @ 2.67 GHz
NVIDIA GT 330M
6GB RAM

Currently running Mozilla as my browser with 5 tabs open
Itunes music playing
VLC running playing District 9
External HDD attached
ALFA Wifi booster attached
TuneUp Disk Doctor checking my computer for errors

CPU Usage @ 17%
Memory @ 2.73 GB (47%)
101 Processes

I'm not even gaming and I am using almost 50% of my RAM now imagine if I was gaming ontop of that do you think that if I had 4GB system would it be able to handle it...

 

[Emelth]

My work Laptop:

Intel Core 2 Duo
T9600 @ 2.80 GHz
2.96 GB RAM

Using Internet Explorer with 6 windows/tabs open
Card Reader connected
Microsoft Word opened
Microsoft Outlook opened

CPU usage: jumping between 1% & 24%
Memory: 1.40GB

Again using almost half of my RAM and not gaming.

I would like for others to post how much RAM they are using when gaming. As most know already I'm deployed and cant really game online.

 

[Outlander_04]

You are not using that amount of RAM . Windows has just pre-fetched a lot of data from the hard drive because you might need it .
But its still a good idea to use MSCONFIG and its start up tab to stop programs automatically loading when you boot . Many start with windows and occupy RAM . For the most part you can turn off anything thats not windows, your AV and firewall. It will mean a fraction of a second delay when you do want to open ,say, Office but it will mean that Office isnt hogging system RAM even when you dont use it

Run you game and then see what the game is actually using .

 

[Emelth]

I've done that already after my 1st time turning my laptop on when i first got it

 

[Outlander_04]

Anyway.......

the 4 or 8 gig issue .
When you are building a gaming rig and you have a budget dont worry about having "only" 4 gig . Its more than enough , and adding more makes a difference thats so small you wouldnt even notice it .
If you have the option to have 8 gig then consider where else you could spend the money . Maybe it could go towards a better graphics card , or higher spec processor . Those would be a better way to spend money .

A general use house hold email pc will run fine on 2 gigs of RAM

If you edit or encode dvd's ,or use photoshop, then 8 gigs or more can pay off

 

[leandrodafontoura]

8Gb period. If you cant afford, 4GB is fine

 

[rb420]

I went from 6gb (3x2gb) to 12 gb (3x4gb) over the summer. Very little impact on gaming.

However, similarly to the OP, I am a multitasker/heavy user. I could use up a lot more than the 12gb if I had it available when not gaming.

I think that, with regards to 4gb vs 8gb you should really only go for 4gb if you only plan on using the machine for gaming, and have no plans on using it for productivity.


"A general use house hold email pc will run fine on 2 gigs of RAM"

I could say the same thing about 1gb, 512mb even. Doesn't take much ram to check email....Hell it won't be long before most PHONES have 2gb of memory in them.

 

[WR2]

When building on a tight budget there will be things that can be easily upgraded later (RAM) and things that can't (CPU & MB for example). When it comes to making tough choices I'm with Outlander_04.

I'm not even gaming and I am using almost 50% of my RAM now imagine if I was gaming ontop of that do you think that if I had 4GB system would it be able to handle it...

Of course it could handle it easily with 4GB of RAM. You aren't 'using 50%' of your RAM, you only think you are based on what you see in Task Manager.

Since you have 8GB you can easily test yourself to confirm your system will run fine on 4GB. Test with 4GB and 8GB.
You're going to be surprised at how well Win7 manages RAM usage.

Windows 7 memory usage: What's the best way to measure? "Windows memory management is rocket science."

 

[bucknutty]

I have 8gigs of ram with win7 ultimate. I play alot of fps like cod and bf. I run dual monitors so the second screen always has core temp, task manager, and afterburner on it. It also might have ie, vent, or even an avi playing in vlc. I dont think i have ever seen my ram usage go over 3.5 gigs or so.

I guess i could get it up to 5 or 6gig if i edited a photo with photoshop and worked in an access database while gameing, but i am not corrdinated enough to do all 3 tasks.

In my experience 4 gigs is enough.

 

[jitpublisher]

If you are running a 32 bit OS, 4 gig is enough to game with..
If you have a 64 bit OS, 4 gig is still enough, and you get to use all 4 gig, instead of just around 3~3-1/2 gig you have with a 32 bit OS, depending on your hardware.

 

[dalmvern]

From my experience, also being a gamer and heavy multitasker, I would say absolutely go with 8GB. While playing games such as WoW, Dragon Age 2, Battlefield 3 and listening to music, recording videos of gameplay, running a VOIP program and having a browser or two open, I easily utilize between 4GB and 6GB of RAM.

 

[WR2]

This Article was written in 2008 and I think it describes what I was talking about a little better I want to find some more recent reviews though...
A]http://www.build-gaming-computer-guide.com/the-complete-guide-to-choose-a-gaming-memoryram.html

A bad example. It say more about 2008 when 1GB of RAM was 'standard' in budget builds.
It was still common to find owners with 256-512MB RAM systems stopping by here looking for upgrade advice.
It wasn't all that long ago that RAM was running $100 per Gigabyte. By 2008 I think it was running 2GB for $50.

 

[bucknutty]

Above I said in my experience 4 gigs is enough how ever i just saw that newegg has 1600mhz ddr3 16 gig kits for 90 bucks. If I were to get a new board or a new computer I would just get the 16 gig kit. Chances are you will never need it but for that little bit of extra expense its nice to know that its there if it is ever needed.

 

[Outlander_04]

Above I said in my experience 4 gigs is enough how ever i just saw that newegg has 1600mhz ddr3 16 gig kits for 90 bucks. If I were to get a new board or a new computer I would just get the 16 gig kit. Chances are you will never need it but for that little bit of extra expense its nice to know that its there if it is ever needed.

There would be no performance gain
You'd throw away $45 that you could have spent on a better graphics card, mb or processor?
Really?

 

[jsc]

With this being said we know that RAM does not have a direct impact on gaming. But we do know that the usual gamer isnt just gaming! That person is most likely listening to music, has a couple of web browsers up searching the net and downloading stuff.

For me personally I play WoW, I got music going, I'm downloading crap, watching shows online and surfing the net all at the same time (not watching shows and playing music at the same time though). I am a true gamer/multitasker, to be able to switch back and forth between all these we need the power of RAM!

So lets say you do get just 4GB of RAM, your gaming experience will be reduced if you are a multitasker like me. Thats a correct assumption to make right? 4GB RAM is screaming I got too much crap on my plate so I'm going to slow down, which will cause your whole system to slow down which as you know will mean gameplay is decreased.

I really hate to be rude, but :lol: :lol: :lol:

If you are playing something really challenging, trying to multitask is a good way of getting killed.

 

[WR2]

@ JSC;
What I liked most was someone saying "we need to figure this out now!"

 

[bucknutty]

It's only 45... I'm a high roller

 

[WR2]

No one is going to suggest you not contribute to improving profitability at the reseller and MFGR. But no one would want you to think you'll be getting $45's worth of performance improvement either.

You'll get better performance raising your memory bandwidth and adding an extra .1Ghz CPU overclock which cost you nothing.

 

[Outlander_04]

It's only 45... I'm a high roller

Im very pleased for you .


But for the most part people ask questions on this forum because they have a budget .
They are trying to get the best performance out of a fixed amount of money , and when they are building a pure gaming pc that means using enough RAM , but not too much .
IMO that happens at 2 x2 gig . The benchmarks done by the Toms staff a couple of years back show tiny increases in performance by upping that to 2 x4 gig of RAM . Depending on the game and resolution those increases often amount to less than 1 fps .
It just doesnt work out to be good value .
And some posters claiming you "need" 8 gig of RAM for gaming are wrong .

The situation is different for a heavy multitasker or someone running productivity apps . More RAM can definitely be useful in minimizing swap file usage and eliminating the latency that will introduce.

 

[Emelth]

I really hate to be rude, but :lol: :lol: :lol:

If you are playing something really challenging, trying to multitask is a good way of getting killed.

Wow, really? Well lets just say this if you think WoW is a challenge now of days then I feel sorry for you, up your gaming abilities 'kid'. I've been playing this game since Vanilla, unforutnatly since being deployed I havent touch much of Cata since it came out but I can still going in there and roflstomp any raid while multitasking. WoW a challenge lol that makes me giggle... :lol: