# Is it the time for 32GB Ram?



## mclaren85 (Apr 2, 2021)

And the year is 2021. Do you think 32gb ram is overkill for game&rendering? Or should we wait for the prices to get lower?


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## Vayra86 (Apr 2, 2021)

Overkill, worst timing ever, and 8 > 16GB is just now going mainstream.

I think for DDR4 you can rest easy with 16GB until DDR5 is commonplace enough.


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## EzioAs (Apr 2, 2021)

Overkill? Certainly not. I already bought 32GB kit last year. Mostly because when I was working from home last year, I was hitting close to 16 GB RAM usage already.

For pure gaming, sure 16 GB is overkill at the moment. However, if you run a lot of applications and work that require a lot of memory, getting 32 GB is not an overkill at all.


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## RJARRRPCGP (Apr 2, 2021)

Lately, even now, not as hard to get as a video card, but the prices are higher than I like them to be. (at Newegg) 

32 GB, does look like "the new 16 GB". Like what 16 GB was in 2016.


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## Mussels (Apr 2, 2021)

I go over 16GB usage fairly often now that i can
16GB is enough, it's just that we cant say jump to 20GB easily - i suppose you could go 24GB if 32GB is too pricey

for high res gaming (textures) or any kind of heavy workload, 32GB is a good idea for new builds (at the bare mininum PLAN for 32GB - get sticks you can add more of later)

edit: with my browsers, streaming stuff, launchers, and nicehash open i'm idling at 14GB


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## xtreemchaos (Apr 2, 2021)

allways better to have it and not need it in my view. but for sure if you just gaming 16gb is just fine


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## PooPipeBoy (Apr 2, 2021)

Buy once, buy heaps of it and you'll never need to worry about running out of memory. I've learned that lesson.


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## xrror (Apr 2, 2021)

My general rule of thumb is try and have about 2GB per core. That's not absolute obviously cause the numbers don't line up that nice in reality. So a quad core 8GB, 12 virtual cores/threads 16GB (hey socket 1366 you could have 24GB [edit: just saw mussels suggestion above with mis-matched sets, that works too if in a pinch and more than 2 slots]). Anything more like 8/16virtual is try and get 32. I haven't had experience with machines higher than that, but if I did get say a 16/32virtual I'd definitly be looking at 64GB just on the thought that if you ever run anything that parallel (like distributed computing) you'll need the RAM for those cores to do anything w/o consuming 100%.

I mean sure you can run like Rosetta@Home on a 3800x with 16GB, but you fire up a web browser and your pushing tasks off waiting for memory. Seems kinda a waste to have cores but no place for them to work?

edit again: Another factor might be that unlike years ago, it's seems like modern Intel and AM4 are actually pretty darn good with running 4 sticks vs. 2 performance wise. You don't really take a timing/tuning penalty to run 4 sticks vs 2, so it's way easier to plop in an _additional_ 16GB instead of having to totally replace your old sticks with a new 32GB set. And 16GB sets that are actually good are so cheap right now - now's the time to load up on DDR4 if you're gonna I think - it's nuts you can get 16GB DDR4 4000 CAS 18 sets for like $90 right now.


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## Mussels (Apr 2, 2021)

PooPipeBoy said:


> Buy once, buy heaps of it and you'll never need to worry about running out of memory. I've learned that lesson.


i did that with my now-dads 4770k system and its 32GB of DDR3 2000
All its needed is GPU upgrades to remain relevant as a gaming system for a very long time


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## MIRTAZAPINE (Apr 2, 2021)

It is a yes for me. Chrome web browser and productivity app would have me touching 30GB. 16GB simply could not cut it which why I jump to 64GB. If you were to not multi task and have sane browser like microsoft edge you can survive with 16GB but it get tied if you multi task.


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## jboydgolfer (Apr 2, 2021)

8GB-16GB is sufficient for most situations.
Windows will use more RAM if you add more,  & screenshots showing 20GB's RAM usage after upgrading from 16GB to 32Gb's is not a surprise to anyone other than the person arguing they 'needed that new RAM' , & seeing windows use it is the proof.

8Gb's is enough to get by,  i didnt upgrade from 8Gb's until around December 2020. I ran 8Gb's while running Escape From Tarkov & it was never a problem at 2K Res & it was never a hindrance. 
I only upgraded because RAM prices went so far down, after being super inflated for a long time, & buying 16Gb's was the same cost as buying 8Gb's the year prior.

Switching to 16Gb's or 32Gb's changed nothing, other than the amount of system RAM used
anyone can argue 'look _*I *_need 128Gb's of RAM'  with  74Tabs open, running 13 benchmarks, while compressing video files all day.
 im speaking in regards to normal users & what they NEED


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## toilet pepper (Apr 2, 2021)

I had 16gig overprized-bottom-of-the-barrel 3000mhz Trident Z RGB bought for $200 in 2016 when I built my first Ryzen build. Prices way back then was horrendous. Its easy to fill the 16GB up with Oculus software, Steam VR, Steam, a couple of browsers, OBS, hardware monitoring tools, peripepheral crap and then a VR game. Every now and then I would the slowdwon but it is still manageable.


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## AsRock (Apr 2, 2021)

For a gamer hell no, 16GB will be perfectly fine.  All comes down to what you use the PC for.

I only have 32GB due to price at the time ($130) which was a steal in my eye's for the minor speed loss.  O yeah and shit was starting to go to shit.

Just checked it's $180 now lmao.


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## Calmmo (Apr 2, 2021)

You can buy 32gb kits 1800mhz ram for less than 200, been like that for a while now, buy set and forget any and all ram worries (unless it's pro usage where maybe 32gb is too low).
The cost hasnt been prohibitive for a while now.

Did the same with 16gb building a PC back in 2013 when everyone was preaching 8gb and the decision worked in my favor several times over the 6year use of that machine and *gasp* I wasn't forced into that inevitable 16 gb upgrade.
Unless you're on an extreme budget or the computer in question is going to have a 1-2 year lifespan before you ditch it for something bigger and better i don't see why not.


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## 64K (Apr 2, 2021)

I can only address gaming needs but 16 GB is plenty for that. People have been making the argument that the new consoles have 16 GB RAM so PC gamers better get more than 16 GB but part of that 16 GB RAM on consoles is used for graphics. On PC we have cards for that.


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## bug (Apr 2, 2021)

I got 32GB a couple of years ago because I could get them for like $150. Can't say I absolutely need that much, it's mostly for peace of mind.


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## silentbogo (Apr 2, 2021)

If there's such thing as "right time to buy", it was yesterday. RAM prices haven't gone up too much yet, and they'll only grow over the next year (or more).
With all the recent "expert forecasts" and past "accidents" at various manufacturing plants (contamination at Samsung, power outages at Micron etc.) I'm very pessimistic about future RAM pricing.
DDR5 still has a long road ahead before modules hit the shelves (and even more before it goes mainstream), so semiconductor manufacturers still have at least a year or two to dictate their prices.
Just a couple of weeks ago I've upgraded to 32GB cause it was cheap (got a used OEM kit for less than $150), and good thing I did. Prices from local retailers are going up on the daily basis, and in a pinch at least I can pull a couple of sticks from my main rig. 
Honestly, I don't need 32GB of RAM in my main rig. There is no way I can use even half of it. But I have that gut feeling (sphincter instinct?  ), which saved my wallet back in 2016. Got 4x8GB kit of HyperX DDR4-2400 right before the price of PC memory doubled. Not much, but it was enough to build a couple of relatively cheap rigs for my family.


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## elghinnarisa (Apr 2, 2021)

16GB is generally more than enough for most people I would imagine, but it always depends on how you use your computer.
I went with 32GB, I rather not run out of RAM and I know I do all kinds of things with this computer, from photo/video editing to rendering to playing around with VMs and it's just nice to not be limited by RAM at that point.
But if I actually need it? No, not really. I could close the stuff I am currently not using and make do with 16GB without issue, except being VMs perhaps. But I am also the kind of person that has 18 things open at once and switch between different tasks very frequently. Like, waiting for a match in a game, eh might edit this photo a bit while a wait. 

For gaming, 16GB is fine. For rendering? Well, depends on what you exactly do when you say rendering. Maybe, maybe not. But if you have to ask, chances are 16GB is fine for that as well. Otherwise you would probably know you would need more memory.


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## freeagent (Apr 2, 2021)

I'm ok with 16GB, but I run 4x8 for the little bit of free performance.


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## dirtyferret (Apr 2, 2021)

Vayra86 said:


> Overkill, worst timing ever, and 8 > 16GB is just now going mainstream.
> 
> I think for DDR4 you can rest easy with 16GB until DDR5 is commonplace enough.


+1, 16GB is more than enough for the vast majority of people.  Obviously there is a niche of people who need 32GB (or more) but they know they need it and don't have to ask if they need it.


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## Zyll Goliat (Apr 2, 2021)

It's really depends what are you doing with that RIG....Personally I love to have hundreds tabs open in Opera/Chrome and I will keep them open for days while I am gaming and watching or listening something from youtube....Tho' with all of this my Max amount of used ram was bellow 30Gb and that was wile gaming Star Citizen that was known for for astronomical ram usage.....


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## bencrutz (Apr 2, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> And the year is 2021. Do you think 32gb ram is overkill for game&rendering? Or should we wait for the prices to get lower?


for rendering? i'd say go with 32GB


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## bug (Apr 2, 2021)

Zyll Goliath said:


> It's really depends what are you doing with that RIG....Personally I love to have hundreds tabs open in Opera/Chrome and I will keep them open for days while I am gaming and watching or listening something from youtube....Tho' with all of this my Max amount of used ram was bellow 30Gb and that was wile gaming Star Citizen that was known for for astronomical ram usage.....


Fwiw, I have noticed Chromium leaking when playing video and switching tabs. With 16GB RAM, I would often find myself looking at a non-responsive desktop, with 32GB this almost never happens (because I have time to reload tabs and mitigate the problem, not because 32GB is enough). But this is on Linux, Idk if Chromium on Windows does the same.


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## RealKGB (Apr 2, 2021)

I currently have 32GB, and I upgraded from 16GB three days ago.
I started hitting 15GB usage a lot after I started working on my Mario Bros. Wii hack, and I figured I'd get some at Micro Center since it was on sale.
It was 3200 C16 instead of C14, but I have it OC'd to 3333 MT/s C16-16-16-32 tRC 48, no errors under memtest86.


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## phanbuey (Apr 2, 2021)

32 GB is a nice size - lets you feel like for sure you won't run out even if you don't close everything in the background before popping into a game.  Also Ryzen 5000 and Intel chips perform well with 4 banks of dual rank populated, so it's pretty convenient to get 4x8 or just add to your current kit.


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## Splinterdog (Apr 2, 2021)

I had two spare ram slots, so when I was in the UK a couple of years ago, I found a bargain on Ebuyer for 2 x 8Gb, so I grabbed them   
Probably a fraction of what I'd pay down here.


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## GerKNG (Apr 2, 2021)

play warzone and have nothing else open.
you exceed 16GB with ease.

i use 32GB since years and it's totally worth it.


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## ixi (Apr 2, 2021)

32GB for peasants. 64GB for mainstream. 

16GB is plenty for upcoming few years.



GerKNG said:


> play warzone and have nothing else open.
> you exceed 16GB with ease.
> 
> i use 32GB since years and it's totally worth it.



In summer was playing from time to time warzone. With apps running in background and never exceeded 9/10GB of usage. No idea how you do you exceed 16GB of ram.


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## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Apr 2, 2021)

Bad timing, only upgrade to 32 Gb once DDR5 start to be mainstream, remember when 8gb DDR3 was the sweet spot for gaming, then 16Gb with DDR4, now with DDR5 coming soon, upgrade to larger capacity then


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## Vayra86 (Apr 2, 2021)

GerKNG said:


> play warzone and have nothing else open.
> you exceed 16GB with ease.
> 
> i use 32GB since years and it's totally worth it.



Lmao. Warzone. Code cesspit numero uno it seems. Fitting for CoD...



Solid State Soul ( SSS ) said:


> Bad timing, only upgrade to 32 Gb once DDR5 start to be mainstream, remember when 8gb DDR3 was the sweet spot for gaming, then 16Gb with DDR4, now with DDR5 coming soon, upgrade to larger capacity then


This.


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## Deleted member 178884 (Apr 2, 2021)

16GB is more than enough for 99% of people, waste of money to buy 32GB if you don't need it IMO.


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## freeagent (Apr 2, 2021)

Rank interleaving is a benefit to Zen 3 and does provide a measurable performance difference. Whether or not its worth the extra cash is entirely up to the user. I bought an extra set for my kids pc, but he wont be getting these ones lol, I will get him another pair.


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## Atomic77 (Apr 2, 2021)

My Costco Bought HP Laptop has 12gb  and my Costco bought Dell AIO has 16gb main memory. I always thought more is better from what I have heard but I have also heard too much can be over kill depending on what you do with it.


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## INSTG8R (Apr 2, 2021)

GerKNG said:


> play warzone and have nothing else open.
> you exceed 16GB with ease.
> 
> i use 32GB since years and it's totally worth it.


CoD will eat as much RAM as it can get. There’s a setting about Texture Caching for the last few versions. I just checked the MW/Warzone and now it's at least adjustable but mine was set to 16GB by default(all my RAM)


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## Mescalamba (Apr 2, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> And the year is 2021. Do you think 32gb ram is overkill for game&rendering? Or should we wait for the prices to get lower?



Not overkill if you run PhotoShop.  Could use easily 48GB or more. My Xeon would probably handle it, but kits are expensive.


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## RJARRRPCGP (Apr 2, 2021)

freeagent said:


> Rank interleaving is a benefit to Zen 3 and does provide a measurable performance difference. Whether or not its worth the extra cash is entirely up to the user. I bought an extra set for my kids pc, but he wont be getting these ones lol, I will get him another pair.


Sounds like it resembles X299 with Skylake X, even when it don't advertise quad-channel. :/


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## nguyen (Apr 2, 2021)

Started using 32GB since the launch of 8700K in 2017 because I like having all RAM slot occupied LOL, turned out 4x8GB actually provide tangible benefits, though the 4x8GB samsung b-die kit cost me 500usd back in 2017  , still fantastic RAM kit even now.


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## Metroid (Apr 2, 2021)

32GB gives you freedom to have a lot of tabs on your preferred browser and doing many other things as well in parallel. You can't go wrong with it.


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## Mats (Apr 2, 2021)

bencrutz said:


> for rendering? i'd say go with 32GB


This.

So many posts here totally ignoring the OP's specific question, replying with "average user", "in general", or even "in most situations", even tho you know EXACTLY which situation the OP was talking about.  

The average user doesn't do rendering, even tho it's probably much more common today than just ten years ago.


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## elghinnarisa (Apr 2, 2021)

Mats said:


> This.
> 
> So many posts here totally ignoring the OP's specific question, replying with "average user", "in general", or even "in most situations", even tho you know EXACTLY which situation the OP was talking about.
> 
> The average user doesn't do rendering, even tho it's probably much more common today than just ten years ago.


Probably because if someone asks if they need more memory for "rendering", then they have no idea how much memory it consumes for that which they work with, so chances are they have not been doing it all that much. Otherwise they would have ran in to the issue of running out of memory already and would know they need more. And without knowing more specifically what this "rendering" means, it could be anything from 2GB to 128GB.


If one is just starting out with CAD or 3d modelling of any type, its going to be a long long time before you start having issues with scenes being so large you need more than 16GB of memory. Unless you just throw things at it and hope it sticks but thats more user error than anything else.

But, I that do 3d modelling, please do tell how much memory it consumes for me. Since you seem to know exactly my situation just as you do OPs.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Apr 2, 2021)

With Ram I'm of the buy as much of it as you can When it's cheap, it's price is quite fluid.
Plus after messing with two sets with quite the gap between purchases, I am not into it, also fill your slot's see minor gains in some apps, so for Me it's time for 32GB though I'm fine with 16GB in my laptop anyway or having that much in my main rig if I had to.


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## A Computer Guy (Apr 2, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> And the year is 2021. Do you think 32gb ram is overkill for game&rendering? Or should we wait for the prices to get lower?


You can't go wrong with 32GB if your going to stick with your PC for awhile but it may not be worth it depending on what you are doing.
Potentially RAM prices may be on the rise.








						TrendForce: Consumer DRAM Pricing to Increase 20% in 2Q2021 Due to Increased Demand
					

According to TrendForce, we technology enthusiasts will have other rising prices to contend with throughout 2021, adding to the already ballooning discrete GPU and latest-gen CPUs from the leading manufacturer. The increased demand due to the COVID pandemic stretched the usual stocks to their...




					www.techpowerup.com


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## AusWolf (Apr 2, 2021)

As always: it depends...

Do you want to play games from 2020-21? For that, you don't need 32 GB, 16 is fine for now. For the future, who knows.
For rendering, I have no idea.
If you're on a budget, sticking to 16 GB for now is a no brainer. If you have a bit of extra cash, more RAM won't hurt.
If you upgrade your PC quite often, you're OK with 16 GB, and you can buy more later. If you like having your PC untouched for as long as possible, I'd always go with as much RAM as I can afford.
As for me, I have a Ryzen 9 5950X with 32 GB RAM even though I don't need it. PC is my hobby, and I'm very curious how current high-end parts will hold up in time. I suspect games will use more CPU cores and RAM in the future, though we will have faster CPU cores as well. I want to see what difference it will make. Also, I only upgrade every third or fourth generation (5-10% gap in performance is just not enough for me to justify the price), so I tend to buy as high-end parts as possible, even when I have no need for them.

I'd say, stick to 16 GB if your PC only serves a couple years (literally a couple), or you're on a budget. If you're thinking long-term, or just have some extra money to spend, buying 32 GB and not using it won't hurt.


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## jjnissanpatfan (Apr 2, 2021)

freeagent said:


> Rank interleaving is a benefit to Zen 3 and does provide a measurable performance difference. Whether or not its worth the extra cash is entirely up to the user. I bought an extra set for my kids pc, but he wont be getting these ones lol, I will get him another pair.


I saw that mentioned a few times and asked about it when trying to piece together a zen3 system. I might have to buy another set and test.  16 gigs is more than enough for normal user. Windows uses a set amount from what is installed. I think it will cache like 1/4 of whatever you have. And with DDR4 I think the minimum size is 8 gig sticks...so if you game or benchmark and care for optimal performance 32 gigs is the standard.


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## elghinnarisa (Apr 2, 2021)

jjnissanpatfan said:


> I saw that mentioned a few times and asked about it when trying to piece together a zen3 system. I might have to buy another set and test.  16 gigs is more than enough for normal user. Windows uses a set amount from what is installed. I think it will cache like 1/4 of whatever you have. And with DDR4 I think the minimum size is 8 gig sticks...so if you game or benchmark and care for optimal performance 32 gigs is the standard.


Windows, like any modern OS, will cache as much as humanly (or inhumanly?) possible. And it can and will, without a doubt, cache every piece of free memory you have. Always.

Unused RAM is wasted RAM and no modern OS is going to waste all that unused tasty memory!


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## jjnissanpatfan (Apr 2, 2021)

I was just saying in general from start up. It starts at 1/4 then then more you do the more it gets eaten.


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## Splinterdog (Apr 2, 2021)

If you can afford it, bang in as much as you want. I may not have noticed much of a difference between 16 and 32, but it's there if I need it.
This is me when fixing a customer PC with 4GB RAM and a spinner, which happens a lot.


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## Mats (Apr 2, 2021)

elghinnarisa said:


> But, I that do 3d modelling, please do tell how much memory it consumes for me.


Thank you for the sincere sarcasm, much appreciated.  You clearly have no idea what I'm talking about. (But, you will of course tell me now that you know perfectly well)


elghinnarisa said:


> Since you seem to know exactly my situation just as you do OPs.


As if I said that lol, read again. I was quoting someone who stayed on topic, but yeah, you can interpret it as if I KNOW that the OP needs exactly 32 GB, I can't really stop your thoughts there..

It doesn't matter how little the OP knows about this, he's asking a sincere question, no matter how difficult it is to answer.
My point is that broadening the scope of the question to a generic "how much RAM do I need" doesn't help anyone.


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## Gwenved (Apr 3, 2021)

In a complete rig around 2500€ ( excluding accessories like racing wheel, joystick etc) the 32GB memory represents actually 5%. 16 GB or 32GB doesn´t change the bill so why not?
Imho a system needs to be equilibrated so you can't spend your money  in a couple of elements top of the range and basics for the rest.
Memory gives the capacity to breathe to your computer and modern processors know how to use it, you don't need the full capacity all the time that's true but better more than less.


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## qubit (Apr 3, 2021)

I've had 16GB in my rig since I built it in 2011 and it's stood the test of time. Given that memory demands are going up, I don't think 32GB is overkill now if you can afford it. Heck, even work computers are beginning to standardise around 16GB now.


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## Mussels (Apr 3, 2021)

Heres a useful example - i got 64GB because its overkill

at idle (with nicehash, yes) i use 14GB of ram - but windows has cached an extra 43GB of data for faster loading times. That is gunna add up in reduced loading times, and reduced paging (to basically none) of the SSD's extending their lifespan

Yeah, you can use 16GB pretty well... but its not useless to go 32GB and above any longer


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## 64K (Apr 3, 2021)

I plan to go with 32 GB RAM on my next build and I exclusively use my gaming rig for games. I have a backup rig for other things and a laptop too. I keep my gaming rig for 4 to 5 years with only a GPU upgrade every few years. Normally I would be doing the new build this year but the hardware market is a little high-priced right now.


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## Aquinus (Apr 3, 2021)

When I'm working, I'll be anywhere between 30 and 46GB used. So, it depends on what you're using your machine for.


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## RJARRRPCGP (Apr 3, 2021)

qubit said:


> I've had 16GB in my rig since I built it in 2011 and it's stood the test of time. Given that memory demands are going up, I don't think 32GB is overkill now if you can afford it. Heck, even work computers are beginning to standardise around 16GB now.


You got lucky there, in 2011, 16 GB would be like having 64 GB in 2021. (If not like 72 GB+)


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## elghinnarisa (Apr 3, 2021)

Mats said:


> Thank you for the sincere sarcasm, much appreciated.  You clearly have no idea what I'm talking about. (But, you will of course tell me now that you know perfectly well)
> 
> As if I said that lol, read again. I was quoting someone who stayed on topic, but yeah, you can interpret it as if I KNOW that the OP needs exactly 32 GB, I can't really stop your thoughts there..
> 
> ...


Well I am about 98% sarcasm by weight.

But I did also ask because I was curious if you actually had an idea of how much memory is needed for this "rendering". I have a feeling most people generally don't know all that well since they dont actually do that as work or hobby themselves.

In my own experience doing hobby 3d modelling the last few years, there is no exceedingly large requirement for RAM, not that most people seem to think at least. That is not to say it cannot require ridiculous amounts of it. But its generally speaking far in the future when you will work on scenes so large that 16GB of RAM will not be enough. And since OP does not specify workflow, scene complexity, work type etc. I'd wager he is new to this and maybe won't even continue with it in a month or two, who knows. In which case, throwing huge amounts of RAM as suggestions for almost no reason, isn't that helpful.
In my case, I would love to trade 16GB of my RAM for a processor thats twice as fast, because that would speed up my renders by a massive amount. The most complex scene I worked on needed no more than 9GB of RAM, and it took me almost 2 hours to render one 1080p frame. Pretty sure I could cut that down with better optimising of render settings and scene in general though. 

So the point is, if your new to it you can get very far on 16GB of memory before that becomes an issue worth spending money on trying to solve, since far before that most of the earlier hurdles can be solved by learning more about your software of choice and its settings than just throwing grunt at it and brute forcing your way through.
Now if money is not a large concern, just go 32GB or more and be happy.


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## fma67 (Apr 3, 2021)

16 for daily use


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## Night (Apr 3, 2021)

What about data compression? Especially when using big dictionary size for big files. You can basically use 100+ GB.


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## Mr Bill (Apr 3, 2021)

While we're on this subject, I have 16 GB of ram and a Samsung 850 Pro SSD with paging file off. I know there's been differences of opinions on the paging file, since Moby Dick was a minnow, should I just leave mine off?


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## freeagent (Apr 3, 2021)

I don't use a page file and have no problems. On the really off chance I don't have ram to spare the program I tried to open will just close.


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## mclaren85 (Apr 3, 2021)

Mr Bill said:


> While we're on this subject, I have 16 GB of ram and a Samsung 850 Pro SSD with paging file off. I know there's been differences of opinions on the paging file, since Moby Dick was a minnow, should I just leave mine off?


I also have 16 gb of ram disabled paging as well. no warning or performance issues so far.. 
I really don't think page file is an important feature anymore.



Mussels said:


> Heres a useful example - i got 64GB because its overkill
> 
> at idle (with nicehash, yes) i use 14GB of ram - but windows has cached an extra 43GB of data for faster loading times. That is gunna add up in reduced loading times, and reduced paging (to basically none) of the SSD's extending their lifespan
> 
> Yeah, you can use 16GB pretty well... but its not useless to go 32GB and above any longer


That caught my attention..  Do you claim that Windows tends to increase its cache pool (or whatever) as it gets more ram?


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## Aquinus (Apr 3, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> That caught my attention.. Do you claim that Windows tends to increase its cache pool (or whatever) as it gets more ram?


I don't know about Windows, but Linux and OS X will do disk caching if there is more available memory to be had that isn't being used. I suspect it does the same.


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## Kissamies (Apr 3, 2021)

For gaming, 16GB is still more than fine. Though I'll still go for 32GB when I upgrade from my old 4x4 2400 sticks, no need to get more RAM in few years.

But for work etc. "real computer usage" I'd go for 32GB without a doubt.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Apr 3, 2021)

Splinterdog said:


> If you can afford it, bang in as much as you want. I may not have noticed much of a difference between 16 and 32, but it's there if I need it.
> This is me when fixing a customer PC with 4GB RAM and a spinner, which happens a lot.
> View attachment 195020


You know how true that is obviously, and I have definitely complained about the use of spinner's personally , I still think they should be banned for Os, and 16Gb should be minimum now, I can't help but think my leet might have eaked out, but honestly I almost always face one or more such pc every weekend so it's genuinely thought through mental pain ,stress and limitless patience, I have beaten up only two PC's.
I do have a PSU with two total system kills to it's belt I'm going to enjoy ending soon.


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## CGi-Quality (Apr 3, 2021)

As an owner of 128GB/DDR4 (and who ran out of 32GB back in 2016 during intense renders), I always encourage going higher. But, for games, 16 should be fine for a few more years.


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## BlackSun59 (Apr 3, 2021)

When I built my rig in April 2020, $140 for 32GB of RAM was a no-brainer... after having a max of 4GB with 32-bit Windows editions for almost 20 years. Now I never even have to think about swapfile size or slowdowns.


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 3, 2021)

GerKNG said:


> play warzone and have nothing else open.
> you exceed 16GB with ease.
> 
> i use 32GB since years and it's totally worth it.


This is entirely untrue i play warzone with browsers discord and genral crap open and dont max out
i thouch 14 maybe if my browsers being mean to me


----------



## 68Olds (Apr 3, 2021)

I built my system specifically for MS Flight Sim 2020.  If that is a game on your list to play, it can easily use RAM into the low to mid-20GB range if you have 32GB of RAM.

Other than that, I don't know of any games that will benefit with more that 16GB of RAM.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 3, 2021)

BlackSun59 said:


> When I built my rig in April 2020, $140 for 32GB of RAM was a no-brainer... after having a max of 4GB with 32-bit Windows editions for almost 20 years. Now I never even have to think about swapfile size or slowdowns.


fun fact windows wont work good without the swap even if you are not using all your ram
i fully disabled swap and windows was dying everywhere even though their was plenty of ram free
it eventually stopped being able to open task manger when only 50 percent was being used

If your fine with pushing the limit a bit 16 g
but 32 seems to be necessary real soon


----------



## Mr Bill (Apr 4, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> fun fact windows wont work good without the swap even if you are not using all your ram
> i fully disabled swap and windows was dying everywhere even though their was plenty of ram free
> it eventually stopped being able to open task manger when only 50 percent was being used
> 
> ...


What is "swap"? Is this another name for paging file?


----------



## Mussels (Apr 4, 2021)

Mr Bill said:


> While we're on this subject, I have 16 GB of ram and a Samsung 850 Pro SSD with paging file off. I know there's been differences of opinions on the paging file, since Moby Dick was a minnow, should I just leave mine off?


you cant actually disable page files, windows creates them as needed these days - you're just increasing writes on your SSD by doing so


----------



## Mr Bill (Apr 4, 2021)

Mussels said:


> you cant actually disable page files, windows creates them as needed these days - you're just increasing writes on your SSD by doing so


I use LTSB does it do the same?


----------



## Mussels (Apr 4, 2021)

Mr Bill said:


> I use LTSB does it do the same?


to my knowledge yes
programs will either force its creation, or crash depending on how they're coded - been dozens of threads on it over the years showing evidence of both

you're always better off with a static sized page file and enough ram, windows knows how to minimise the usage of the page


----------



## Mr Bill (Apr 4, 2021)

Mussels said:


> been dozens of threads on it over the years showing evidence of both


Yes I know, I guess the jury will be out on this final decision forever, especially with the ssd's out now.


----------



## Mussels (Apr 4, 2021)

Mr Bill said:


> Yes I know, I guess the jury will be out on this final decision forever, especially with the ssd's out now.


with SSD's the idea is to minimise writes - would you rather one big write or a dozen small ones?

big enough RAM and page lets windows do its thing and minimise the activity


----------



## evernessince (Apr 4, 2021)

Vayra86 said:


> Overkill, worst timing ever, and 8 > 16GB is just now going mainstream.
> 
> I think for DDR4 you can rest easy with 16GB until DDR5 is commonplace enough.



I'd disagree based on the facts.  I see more than 10GB of main system memory usage (not allocation) on average when gaming.  If you have a GPU with less VRAM than the game requires, that amount will go up as well.  It's more common now that VRAM has remained stagnant.


----------



## Vendor (Apr 4, 2021)

i think even with gaming, 32gb ram might not be overkill because despite having a lite version of windows 10 with all crap removed, when i am multitasking with browser and 3-4 other apps open in background i sometimes easily cross 90% ram usage so if you're a heavy multitasker with normal windows then it might be helpful.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 4, 2021)

a


Mussels said:


> you cant actually disable page files, windows creates them as needed these days - you're just increasing writes on your SSD by doing so


nd if you force it off it really suffers



Mr Bill said:


> What is "swap"? Is this another name for paging file?


yeah i call it swap as the data is swaped out of ram 
idk where i picked that up if thats not standard


----------



## freeagent (Apr 4, 2021)

I force mine off, no suffering, no crashing. Have been for years.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 4, 2021)

freeagent said:


> I force mine off, no suffering, no crashing. Have been for years.


odd mins always had problems
maybe you dident click the button hard enough?


----------



## freeagent (Apr 4, 2021)

No one has ever asked me that before 

Maybe..


----------



## Flyordie (Apr 4, 2021)

Because I went Threadripper, I went 4x8GB for 32GB to run quad channel memory.  I can honestly say you do feel the difference going from 8 to 32GB.


----------



## Vayra86 (Apr 4, 2021)

evernessince said:


> I'd disagree based on the facts.  I see more than 10GB of main system memory usage (not allocation) on average when gaming.  If you have a GPU with less VRAM than the game requires, that amount will go up as well.  It's more common now that VRAM has remained stagnant.


10 > 16 > 32GB

Quite a leap there dont you think? Even with more system ram in use through gaming... which is not at all common, that is if you buy a new high end GPU that isnt stuck at 6-8 GB when it should in fact have quite a bit more. But even then... 10 != 32

On my 8GB GPU at 3440x1440 Ive never seen RAM go past 10-11GB while gaming.


----------



## Palladium (Apr 4, 2021)

I bought 32GB E-Die for $140 in late 2019, which is not even really that expensive in the grand scheme of things.


----------



## evernessince (Apr 4, 2021)

Vayra86 said:


> 10 > 16 > 32GB
> 
> Quite a leap there dont you think? Even with more system ram in use through gaming... which is not at all common, that is if you buy a new high end GPU that isnt stuck at 6-8 GB when it should in fact have quite a bit more. But even then... 10 != 32
> 
> On my 8GB GPU at 3440x1440 Ive never seen RAM go past 10-11GB while gaming.



The same was said when going from 2GB to 4GB and 4GB to 8GB.  It's not that you need 32GB, it's that memory is always a multiple of 2.  Not unless you are doing a odd setup like 3 sticks, which isn't advisable.  There are 16GB memory modules and there are 8GB memory modules and nothing in between.


----------



## kapone32 (Apr 5, 2021)

I have run 48GB on a MSI X570 Pro. It was 2 16GB kits and 2 8 GB kits of Adata D60. It ran the XMP 3600 Mhz no problem. For modern Games (circa late 2020 to now) it would seem that having 32GB of RAM to be advantageous; if you game at 1440P or above and have the accoutrements turned on like Depth of Field and such. If you game at 1080P 16GB is more than enough for your purposes. I find that if you have AM4 with a 6000 series GPU that running your GPU memory at 2000 MHz (latest driver, or above your Memory clock) is the sweet spot for latency as most of the data seems to be loaded to the GPU memory, but I was playing Outriders today and HWinfo64 showed 26705 MB of Memory used so the GPU buffer was fully utilized and we were using 10GB of system memory. If you have 16 GB that leaves 6 GB for everything else (including streaming).


----------



## Mussels (Apr 5, 2021)

As an update for y'all, its time for 24GB of ram since one of my 8GB sticks died in my second PC
we can all go home now


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 5, 2021)

Mussels said:


> As an update for y'all, its time for 24GB of ram since one of my 8GB sticks died in my second PC
> we can all go home now


its fine ive realised in my sever pc a stick of ram fell out and its been running on 4 
thats why its been gabrage

APPARENTLY their is a reason you dont use boards with broken ram clips


----------



## freeagent (Apr 5, 2021)

Yup, chip creep is still real and relevant. At the shop I worked at until current events took over had to push ram down every 8-12 months. Crazy.

HP..


----------



## biffzinker (Apr 5, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> yeah i call it swap as the data is swaped out of ram
> idk where i picked that up if thats not standard


Actually a later build of Windows 10 started doing compression in memory before paging out too the page file.


----------



## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 5, 2021)

Mr Bill said:


> While we're on this subject, I have 16 GB of ram and a Samsung 850 Pro SSD with paging file off. I know there's been differences of opinions on the paging file, since Moby Dick was a minnow, should I just leave mine off?


I used to have paging disabled until Adobe Premiere decided to throw hissy fits while rendering, apparently due to virtual memory not existing. Allocated 16 GB to the paging file off of a secondary SSD and it works just fine now. I have 32 GB and only rendering at 1080p so, that's weird ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


----------



## oobymach (Apr 5, 2021)

There is no difference between a slow 32gb kit and a fast 16gb kit when run at the same speed. AIDA64 does show a difference in the kits read speeds and latency, but as a human you cannot tell the difference.

Superposition bench run with 16gb samsung b-die kit and 32gb hynix kit both at 3666mhz with vastly different timings, results were identical.




zen timings for both kits


----------



## Vayra86 (Apr 5, 2021)

evernessince said:


> The same was said when going from 2GB to 4GB and 4GB to 8GB.  It's not that you need 32GB, it's that memory is always a multiple of 2.  Not unless you are doing a odd setup like 3 sticks, which isn't advisable.  There are 16GB memory modules and there are 8GB memory modules and nothing in between.


Guess I didnt consider the RAMifications there  True that.


----------



## Mussels (Apr 5, 2021)

I did testing today with my VR system as one of the 4 RAM sticks died, and theres like a 2% performance loss throwing a 3rd stick in there for hybrid dual channel, as long as the speeds match 

Even 3x8 + 1x4 gave the same benches, so i suppose we can totally run 24GB as an in between


----------



## Jetster (Apr 5, 2021)

freeagent said:


> I force mine off, no suffering, no crashing. Have been for years.


Without a page file there is no memory dump. And nothing to gain.

A *memory dump* is a process in which the contents of *memory* are displayed and stored in case of an application or system crash. *Memory dump* helps software developers and system administrators to diagnose, identify and resolve the problem that led to application or system failure.

As far as 32 Gb, well its cheap and it can't hurt. but if you don't need it fine. 16 is enough for most
I think the question should be, if your on a tight budget, is 8Gb enough?


----------



## ixi (Apr 5, 2021)

Mussels said:


> As an update for y'all, its time for 24GB of ram since one of my 8GB sticks died in my second PC
> we can all go home now



Lifetime warranty! Use your rights!


----------



## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 5, 2021)

oobymach said:


> There is no difference between a slow 32gb kit and a fast 16gb kit when run at the same speed. AIDA64 does show a difference in the kits read speeds and latency, but as a human you cannot tell the difference.
> 
> Superposition bench run with 16gb samsung b-die kit and 32gb hynix kit both at 3666mhz with vastly different timings, results were identical.
> 
> ...


I basically only halved tRFC and didn't bother with anything else, just left the rest on XMP. Got a nice 7ns latency reduction while being stable.


----------



## Mussels (Apr 5, 2021)

ixi said:


> Lifetime warranty! Use your rights!


oh i snapped in half and threw it in the bin, it was old, slow, and third hand when i got it years ago
it also triggered a migraine with crashes in VR so it deserved what it got


----------



## freeagent (Apr 5, 2021)

Jetster said:


> Without a page file there is no memory dump. And nothing to gain.
> 
> A *memory dump* is a process in which the contents of *memory* are displayed and stored in case of an application or system crash. *Memory dump* helps software developers and system administrators to diagnose, identify and resolve the problem that led to application or system failure.
> 
> ...


That’s exactly what I want and why I do it. I know why it crashed, because of something I did.. those dumps can be large, and after a few times it adds up.


----------



## oobymach (Apr 5, 2021)

freeagent said:


> I force mine off, no suffering, no crashing. Have been for years.


Some systems run fine without it, it's recommended you use a minimum of your ram size divided by 8, so 4gb for 32gb ram. I set mine manually to the recommended setting and 8gb max. Games will crash if I turn it off completely, though I did run it at 16mb for a while until that caused an issue with a game.


----------



## hat (Apr 5, 2021)

I just upgraded to 16gb very recently because somebody was selling a kit for a price I simply couldn't pass up. Used to run with 8. I don't play the most modern games, but I did have problems with 7 Days to Die lagging hard and sometimes straight up crashing with only 8GB in older versions. It ran much better after Alpha 15 somethingorother hit, but having 16GB would have likely avoided the issue altogether. Going forward, for gaming anyway, I think 16GB will be just fine for a good few years. If I were building a new rig eventually when new platforms are out with DDR5 support today with the intention of keeping it for a while, I would consider 32. Too much RAM is never a bad thing and only contributes to the longevity of your rig, unless you go completely overboard thinking you need 128GB for gaming.


----------



## qubit (Apr 5, 2021)

evernessince said:


> The same was said when going from 2GB to 4GB and 4GB to 8GB.  It's not that you need 32GB, *it's that memory is always a multiple of 2*.  Not unless you are doing a odd setup like 3 sticks, which isn't advisable.  There are 16GB memory modules and there are 8GB memory modules and nothing in between.


It's actually a _*power*_ of 2, which goes up exponentially! This is why we have odd-sized GPUs and memory buses rather than following the power of 2, otherwise they'd be impractical to make. Shame really, as a power of 2 design is optimal.


----------



## Terminal (Apr 5, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> And the year is 2021. Do you think 32gb ram is overkill for game&rendering? Or should we wait for the prices to get lower?



I think the value to have in 2021 is somewhere between 16 and 32, but because other values are a bit unusual, I would go for 32 GB.
I'm running 16 GB for years now, and it would have been a bad choice, if I was running 8 GB today.
Unless you buy a cheap computer, 32 GB is the future-proof way to go.



Isaac` said:


> nd if you force it off it really suffers
> 
> 
> yeah i call it swap as the data is swaped out of ram
> idk where i picked that up if thats not standard



Running it for years, without swap space, also on my 8GB laptops, WIndows 7, Windows 10
No problem at all

Swap space was a bad solution, for systems without enough memory. I know why MS keeps using it, because it allows cheap devices to run (instead of crashing), but if your system needs swap space, it means your device doesn't comply with technical standards already. It's a hint to say: device needs more memory, let me go into limp mode.



Jetster said:


> Without a page file there is no memory dump. And nothing to gain.
> 
> A *memory dump* is a process in which the contents of *memory* are displayed and stored in case of an application or system crash. *Memory dump* helps software developers and system administrators to diagnose, identify and resolve the problem that led to application or system failure.



Oh yes, if your PC dumps, Bill will drop whatever he has in his hands, and come to your house and fix your problem.


----------



## Komshija (Apr 5, 2021)

For gaming overkill, except if you have or want to built a proper 4K system. For video editing 32 GB might be better, but you will not notice any major improvements.


----------



## rtwjunkie (Apr 5, 2021)

Terminal said:


> Oh yes, if your PC dumps, Bill will drop whatever he has in his hands, and come to your house and fix your problem.


You realize you are your System Adminstrator? There are programs you can use as well as sites like TPU that can help you decipher exactly what went wrong. No need for sarcasm just because someone advised why dump files are useful.

As to the topic of the thread, buy what you can afford.  8 GB days are mostly passed, even in office settings. 16 is mostly enough for anything you need. My better half has used 32 GB for several years because she makes use of it with photoshop. I was able to go 32 about 15 months ago since it was affordable and I planned to keep this new system for at least 3 to 4 years.


----------



## freeagent (Apr 5, 2021)

If you have a problem its not much trouble to enable it again to get a good log. But if you normally don't have problems running it disabled, then there is no problem.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 5, 2021)

Terminal said:


> Swap space was a bad solution, for systems without enough memory. I know why MS keeps using it, because it allows cheap devices to run (instead of crashing), but if your system needs swap space, it means your device doesn't comply with technical standards already. It's a hint to say: device needs more memory, let me go into limp mode.


actually i can tell you now from being drilled into my thick head
You need swap swap is not the overflow
for example i found out forza is using the swap as a spot to put up to 16gs of uncompressed files to load them into ram rather then having to compress it on the fly
if their is no swap froza simply will not work


----------



## abactuon (Apr 5, 2021)

Creating RAM disks (OSFMount or ImDisk) size 8-16GB for temporary files, chromium cache, small torrents, compilation of programs ...


----------



## A Computer Guy (Apr 5, 2021)

SWAP can also be used for caching applications locally especially if your working in Citrix farm environments.  Windows applications may not be entirely loaded in to memory running across a network so loading the exe into SWAP can help alleviate interesting issues in that scenario.


----------



## Shrek (Apr 5, 2021)

Speccy says I have

Total Physical    16 GB
Available Physical    12 GB
Total Virtual    18 GB
Available Virtual    12 GB

and am at 24% usage.

Would this be 24% of 12GB, 16GB or 18GB?


----------



## Fluffmeister (Apr 5, 2021)

Short answer: No.


----------



## Shrek (Apr 5, 2021)

Could be I need the long answer...


----------



## A Computer Guy (Apr 5, 2021)

Andy Shiekh said:


> Could be I need the long answer...


You have insufficient memory installed for the long answer.      Sorry I couldn't resist.


----------



## Shrek (Apr 5, 2021)

Ah ha! I found it under Task Manager

Memory 4.0/15.9 (25%)

So I guess it was 24% of the full 16GB of total physical RAM


----------



## freeagent (Apr 6, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> actually i can tell you now from being drilled into my thick head
> You need swap swap is not the overflow
> for example i found out forza is using the swap as a spot to put up to 16gs of uncompressed files to load them into ram rather then having to compress it on the fly
> if their is no swap froza simply will not work


I think Forza was one of the programs I needed a swap for come to think of it. I only tried for about 10 minutes.


----------



## Vayra86 (Apr 6, 2021)

freeagent said:


> I think Forza was one of the programs I needed a swap for come to think of it. I only tried for about 10 minutes.



I'm still puzzled why you think disabling page file is gaining you anything.

Its not - I could add the idea of disabling it under this message in my sig as part of the PSA. The scheduler in Windows from 7 onwards is way more advanced than it used to be.

I remember back in the Win 95- XP days some uber geeks I used to play UT99 with made a habit of renaming all their folders and file names as briefly as possible. Dudes had disks full of folders saying 'A, B, C'... etc.  No idea how they could ever find anything back, but they claimed it gained them performance...


----------



## lemoncarbonate (Apr 6, 2021)

I'm on 16GB 2800MHz, the only time I saw my RAM usage reached 15GB was when I had a Celsys Clip Studio project opened (with lots of layers), Photoshop CS5, Opera browser with dozens of tabs, music player, explorers, and lots of image references opened, while installing game from Steam and playing game at the same time. 

I was tempted to get 32GB kit at that time, but apparently installing game from Steam requires LOTS of RAM, outside that scenario (installing game from Steam) I hardly ever reach 14GB even with all my project opened and game running. Instead of 32GB upgrade, maybe an additional 1TB SSD or peripheral upgrade is a better choice for me. Or maybe I'll just wait for DDR5 later alongside with new CPU.

IMO, it really depends on what kind of productivity you're doing and what you use your PC for.


----------



## GamerGuy (Apr 6, 2021)

My main rig is purely for gaming, so 16GB is enough for what I need it to do presently. I had gotten 4x 8GB DDR4 3200CL16 RAM back when I was planning to build my rig in late 2019, though I'm using a pair of 8GB 3600CL17 RAM now. I have 32GB at the ready line, but don't feel the need to use it yet...


----------



## Shrek (Apr 6, 2021)

Way I see it, it is better to wait till one needs RAM as prices drop; unless it is a machine where upgrade is not possible, then get a lot of RAM at the start.


----------



## EsaT (Apr 6, 2021)

Andy Shiekh said:


> Way I see it, it is better to wait till one needs RAM as prices drop; unless it is a machine where upgrade is not possible, then get a lot of RAM at the start.


Doubt DDR4 prices will go down much with DRAM chip manufacturing starting to soon move toward DDR5.

Unless there's some disturbance, memory prices tend to recycle same old plot and basically reach that low plateau toward end of memory types use.
Once manufacturers start moving into mass production of new memory type, price development of older type stagnates.
Sometimes even becoming more expensive when production is dropped too much.




Fluffmeister said:


> Short answer: No.


Equally shortly I could say no one needs more than two cores, because that's enough for Windows and web browser with couple tabs.


----------



## Vayra86 (Apr 6, 2021)

Andy Shiekh said:


> Way I see it, it is better to wait till one needs RAM as prices drop; unless it is a machine where upgrade is not possible, then get a lot of RAM at the start.


Depends what your use case is.

Consider DDR4 and overclocked gaming PCs. Populating 4/4 banks isn't the best idea for your CPU OC. So what do you do? Start with 2x4? Or start with 2x8? 1x16? If you want 32GB, the wrong choice might kill a few 100 mhz off your initial OC. Net gain? Probably negative across the board...

I think a much better idea is to scale your system in a balanced way towards your use case. And then, the required capacity is pretty stagnant within a single build. Having to upgrade RAM within a single build is a sign you didn't do your homework right, IMO.

Put differently, by the time a current day / last 1-2 gen created gaming rig would need more than 16GB, you'd probably want a CPU upgrade as the IPC has already improved quite a bit and DDR5 is around the corner too... so... probably best to wait it out and sync it with your system upgrade. The alternative is upgrading more often for marginal gains - and this would have you postpone an overall system upgrade. That is how people end up with systems they get way too attached to and invested in, and then can't wave them goodbye. Parts start dying and you get to search for that rare motherboard that still has what you need. If that's the hobby, power to you, but more often than not, it wasn't the initial plan  Its a bit like cars that way.


----------



## BlackSun59 (Apr 19, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> fun fact windows wont work good without the swap even if you are not using all your ram
> i fully disabled swap and windows was dying everywhere even though their was plenty of ram free
> it eventually stopped being able to open task manger when only 50 percent was being used
> 
> ...


I should have  been clearer. I still have my swapfile/paging file. I just let Windows automatically adjust and use it as needed. When I had XP and 7 - both 32-bit versions - my pagefile size never seemed to be big enough. Now with Win 10 64-bit, it's stayed at around 5GB for over the past year.


----------



## mclaren85 (Apr 29, 2021)

Thanks everyone, considering ram prices are going up rather going low, I decided to buy yet another 16 gb of ram. I think it is much more future proof now.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 29, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> Thanks everyone, considering ram prices are going up rather going low, I decided to buy yet another 16 gb of ram. I think it is much more future proof now.


That's fair  I still believe 8g is fine though


----------



## Hemmingstamp (Apr 29, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> Thanks everyone, considering ram prices are going up rather going low, I decided to buy yet another 16 gb of ram. I think it is much more future proof now.


I've watched apps in Task Manager chew 12GB+ on many occasions, that's why 32GB is the sweet spot these days IMO.


----------



## mclaren85 (Apr 29, 2021)

Hemmingstamp said:


> I've watched apps in Task Manager chew 12GB+ on many occasions, that's why 32GB is the sweet spot these days IMO.


While gaming?


----------



## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 29, 2021)

I have 10 gb usage on idle. Can't live without 32 gb.

Also, I never fail to laugh whenever I hear "future proof".


----------



## Hemmingstamp (Apr 29, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> While gaming?


Yep, And I'm using paid for AV which also takes a chunk. It all depends if you want a smooth flow if multi tasking which I do a lot.
16GB became too little to handle modern tasks. Fine in 2016, not now.


----------



## erocker (Apr 29, 2021)

Zero difference for me between 16 and 32gb for mostly gaming/multitasking. But, since I got 32 might as well use it.


----------



## mclaren85 (Apr 29, 2021)

Vanny said:


> I have 10 gb usage on idle. Can't live without 32 gb.
> 
> Also, I never fail to laugh whenever I hear "future proof".


Future proof is a real fact. You can't say 16gb vs 32gb will be the same after 4 years.


----------



## Hemmingstamp (Apr 29, 2021)

mclaren85 said:


> Future proof is a real fact. You can't say 16gb vs 32gb will be the same after 4 years.


Just go with 32GB while the prices are affordable. Your circumstances might change and you might end up photo / video editing etc at some point.
Then breathe a sigh of relief that you got that extra RAM.


----------



## Kissamies (Apr 29, 2021)

erocker said:


> Zero difference for me between 16 and 32gb for mostly gaming/multitasking. But, since I got 32 might as well use it.


I remember seeing RAM consumption going over 16GB once when I had 32GB and that was while playing Final Fantasy XV, peaked about ~18GB. I'll still go for 32GB when I buy RAM next time as I'm not gonna get a DDR5 platform instantly, so some futureproofing is fine, I guess.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 29, 2021)

Hemmingstamp said:


> I've watched apps in Task Manager chew 12GB+ on many occasions, that's why 32GB is the sweet spot these days IMO.


thats like tons of apps
if your reasonble with usage 16gs is fine


----------



## Hemmingstamp (Apr 29, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> thats like tons of apps
> if your reasonble with usage 16gs is fine


Wrong. It depends on the software you are using. Fire up 3DS Max, do some stuff, and see how far 16GB of RAM gets you.
I always find a mixture of a workstation and gaming rig is the way to go, just in case you need the extra...
Why stop at 10, when you can go to 11....


----------



## Mussels (Apr 29, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> That's fair  I still believe 8g is fine though


for linux maybe

In windows its just a good way to make your C: drive chug away harder, killing your SSD if you have one



mclaren85 said:


> Future proof is a real fact. You can't say 16gb vs 32gb will be the same after 4 years.


My old 4770k had 32GB of DDR3 2000
My dad still uses it today without running out of RAM
FUTURE PROOOOOOF!


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 29, 2021)

Mussels said:


> In windows its just a good way to make your C: drive chug away harder, killing your SSD if you have one


thats why you set swap to a hd


----------



## Mussels (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> thats why you set swap to a hd


but... why? Why would you want your system to lag and stutter?


----------



## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> thats why you set swap to a hd


What is a hard drive?







I have my swap set to my old boot drive and not my NVMe.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

Mussels said:


> but... why? Why would you want your system to lag and stutter?


i mean it only stutters if you use more then 8g ram
*which is really rare*



Vanny said:


> What is a hard drive?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i would love to do that
but im not rich


----------



## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

I'm not rich either lol


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

im


Vanny said:


> I'm not rich either lol


but ssds are ExPeNsIVe sTiLl


----------



## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

They aren't here.


----------



## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

Vanny said:


> They aren't here.


dam where i live in they real expenesive


----------



## RealKGB (Apr 30, 2021)

Vanny said:


> They aren't here.


I bought an MX500 500GB for $52 because Newegg had it on sale. I also nabbed a PCIe 1x-1x riser so I can use a part I 3D printed.
In total was $65 USD.
Expect pictures around May 6th, because that's when they should arrive.

Also I do think that 32GB RAM will become the norm soon. I got a second 2x8GB kit because I was routinely maxing it out while working on my Mario Wii hack (Dolphin + Reggie ate up about 7GB total, and Cemu running in the background while I waited for things to process ate up another 6GB) and now my half Samsung B-die and half Nanya Tech something RAM set is running at 3333 C16-16-16-32 tRC 48, RAM voltage 1.375, IMC voltage 1.1, has no errors in memtest86 and I have no stability problems.
I wanted to try for C15 but geardown mode said no, and disabling it resulted in no POST every single time.


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

RealKGB said:


> Also I do think that 32GB RAM will become the norm soon. I got a second 2x8GB kit because I was routinely maxing it out while working on my Mario Wii hack (Dolphin + Reggie ate up about 7GB total, and Cemu running in the background while I waited for things to process ate up another 6GB) and now my half Samsung B-die and half Nanya Tech something RAM set is running at 3333 C16-16-16-32 tRC 48, RAM voltage 1.375, IMC voltage 1.1, has no errors in memtest86 and I have no stability problems.
> I wanted to try for C15 but geardown mode said no, and disabling it resulted in no POST every single time.


Given 8g only recently became the laptop standard i doubt that


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## Mussels (Apr 30, 2021)

An extra 8GB (or even 4GB for 12GB total) of RAM is cheaper than any SSD, no matter your platform

8GB is the netbook standard for the cheapest models only


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## lexluthermiester (Apr 30, 2021)

I'm going to chime in with some experience. I currently have 32GB of RAM and I have tried loading up but the most I can get to is about 23GB load with video editing but that is only 1080p. 1440p or 2160p will push that amount skyward. I know that Adobe Premier can really load up RAM. There are some Youtubers who buy systems with 128GB and they still have problems running out of RAM on some occasions. 

Gaming? Right now 16GB is a sweet spot for 1080p and 1440p. 24GB will provide a solid buffer for future large games and for 2160p. 32GB is the upper limit of what a gamer will need for now, even at 2160p. However, progress marches on and some very large games are in the works(GTA6 anyone?). 32GB might become the norm very soon and 48 to 64GB will become the upper limit.

I think the general rule of thumb people need to keep in mind is to gauge what you need in RAM against what you're going to do with your system. I bought 32GB because it was there and at great price but it's more than I need. Should I start doing more editing in 2160p, I might need to upgrade again.


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

I bought 32 GB because all my RAM purchases are free. Won't go into details why.


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

i think 8 gig is minimum and 16 gigs is extra for gaming


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## lexluthermiester (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> i think 8 gig is minimum and 16 gigs is extra for gaming


For 1080p, sure..


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

lexluthermiester said:


> For 1080p, sure..


tbh if you have the power for 1440p or above you can probs get 32g


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition used about 23 GB of RAM on release, because the game is still based on an engine that doesn't know what VRAM is.


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

Vanny said:


> Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition used about 23 GB of RAM on release, because the game is still based on an engine that doesn't know what VRAM is.


ive run that game on 8g of ram with 0 problems
so thats clearly a launch bug and doesnt indicate a need for more ram


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> ive run that game on 8g of ram with 0 problems
> so thats clearly a launch bug and doesnt indicate a need for more ram


Yeah it is, mentioned it for fun.


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

Vanny said:


> Yeah it is, mentioned it for fun.


i mean just cuause 3 has a memory leak which means if you play the game for 5 hours it ends up using 42 gigs of ram 
this problem cant be fixed with more ram really


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> i mean just cuause 3 has a memory leak which means if you play the game for 5 hours it ends up using 42 gigs of ram
> this problem cant be fixed with more ram really


2 tb ram or go home


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

Vanny said:


> 2 tb ram or go home


then you can only play it for like 5 days 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


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## MrAMD (Apr 30, 2021)

Windows does some weird (cool) stuff when you have lots of RAM. Like caching everything it can and chrome goes wild. Even with *128GB*, between adobe after effects, photoshop and premiere pro, chrome, gaming, etc Win 10 will use every bit of it for efficiency. Not used RAM is useless RAM.


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

t


MrAMD said:


> Windows does some weird (cool) stuff when you have lots of RAM. Like caching everything it can and Chrome goes wild. Even with 128GB; between adobe after effects, photoshop and premiere pro, chrome, gaming. Win 10 will use every bit of it for efficiency. Not used RAM is useless RAM.


his is useless you did not show us what was running


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## MrAMD (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> t
> 
> his is useless you did not show us what was running



Wasn't showing an demonstration? Was just showing 128GB installed. Idle is around 17GB without really loading anything up besides chrome. Windows will cache ~ 70GB within a few hours in my use-case.


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

Windows cached a bit here too.


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## Hachi_Roku256563 (Apr 30, 2021)

again not shwoing the amount of chaced ram


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## Deleted member 205776 (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> again not shwoing the amount of chaced ram


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## freeagent (Apr 30, 2021)

Its nice to have.. memtest takes a little longer though


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## Toothless (Apr 30, 2021)

Y'know what time it is?

6x4GB X58 time. Can't go wrong with middle ground 24GB and that sweet, sweet overclocked Xeon.


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## TheEndIsNear (Apr 30, 2021)

I like 32 gigs.  I play mostly borderlands 3 and it takes over 20 with the system.  It takes about 10 gig max on the videocard.


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## Hemmingstamp (Apr 30, 2021)

Isaac` said:


> tbh if you have the power for 1440p or above you can probs get 32g


You're missing the point completely.


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