How much RAM is too much?

[dahfizz]

I am in the midst of an LGA 2011 build and I figured it would be a waste to not capitalize on the quad channel memory. My question is this: how much RAM is simply a waste of money? I will be using my rig primarily for gaming (1440p) and hope to get into some picture and video editing in the future. Would a 4x8 kit be enough/too much? If I did get an 8x8 kit would it be a waste or would i actually see an increase in performance/help to "futureproof" my system? thank you all.

 

[Deemo13]

I consider 64GB to be waaay too much RAM. 32GB is a little excessive as well. I have 16GB and I never see myself exceed 45%.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

Well, 8x8 is overkill, at least in my opinion. A lot of people would say that 4x8 is as well, but I could argue for that much memory - if you're looking to get into video editing, especially with something like Adobe CS, it really isn't hard to completely fill up a system's memory.
I have 16GB myself, which really isn't a lot these days, but I've ran myself out of memory on several occasions between both Blender and Adobe CS5. Actually, I do it quite often... Blender physics baking will completely devour a system's EVERYTHING, and Adobe CS will happily eat up whatever you give it access to. You'll have to be the judge of just how much video editing you plan on doing.

If you have the money for it, I'd say go for 4x8, but don't let it take away from your budget elsewhere. It's easier to add more RAM than other components. If you find yourself running out of memory - I can't believe you will - go ahead and pick up some more, but I highly doubt you'll ever see the need for it. At least, that's my opinion.

3D rendering with Blender is a poor example, as I've seen dedicated Tesla compute systems brought to their knees by the damned thing, but if you're interested in video and/or photo editing, take a look at it! Blender's a rewarding and powerful program to learn, and is capable of some really amazing things!