Question Is 32GB Really Needed?

[Oasis Curator]

Hello

I have 8GB in my system at the moment, but found Task Manager was saying 7.9GB of that was being used already.
Some programs are a little slow loading (they're already on an SSD) and even though I plan to at minimum have 16GB, I'd rather not have to think about upgrading in the future.
Problem is, 32GB obviously cost twice as much, £100 or so.
I don't plan on overclocking but the Corsair Vengeance RAM I was looking at is "built for overclocking".

Is there much difference between Class 16 and Class 18? The latter is £20 more expensive.

 

[Colif]

16gb is enough for most people, only need more if you do graphic design or use Virtual Machines.

cl16 = cas latency, not class

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAS_latency

You actually want less, so cl16 is better. Smaller the latency amount, the faster the ram responds.

 

[The Paladin]

if the task manager indicates you are reaching the upper range of your total 8GB of RAM, then 16GB would be suggested. 32 isn't needed unless you're running like mentioned earlier: adobe suite, virtual desktops, etc.

 

[Inthrutheoutdoor]

@op...

Just an FYI, but there have been many, many reports over the years of Vengeance ram causing stability issues with all but the very latest AMD-based systems....

So perhaps another brand would be a better choice

And I agree, for the average everyday user, 16GB is the preferred amount nowadays, and 32 or more for the previously mentioned scenarios....

 

[kristoffe]

Get 32gb and call it a day. You talk about not wanting to upgrade, and you're at 8gb slogging away, so why not just get 16*2 32gb 2666 or 3200. You really don't have to worry too much about cas latency but there are ram calculators out there to help you learn about the fastest... which would be weird if you don't already do much but hey, why not learn?

https://www.lifewire.com/check-ram-and-motherboard-compatibility-5186297

 

[Colif]

Just an FYI, but there have been many, many reports over the years of Vengeance ram causing stability issues with all but the very latest AMD-based systems....

i suspect you mean Vengeance LPX as the other varieties aren't so bad.

 

[palladin9479]

These days 16GB is the minimum for running stuff. 32GB would be recommended if you were running a bunch of tabs while doing multiple things at once. On my own desktop I can reach 15~16GB of actively used memory due to Chrome based browsers sucking memory for each tab, discord and various programs I have running in background before loading anything big. 24GB would ideal but 12GB sticks aren't very common.

 

[SkyNetRising]

24GB would ideal but 12GB sticks aren't very common.

Because they don't exist.

 

[palladin9479]

Because they don't exist.

I've seen some very weird stuff out there, and nothing is stopping some manufacture from making a lopsided DIMM for some random product we've never heard of.

 

[Tac 25]

just buy what you can afford, 16 should be enough. But if you can spend a little more, then go for 32.

 

[alizer07]

go for 32, you'll never know when you'll need it I am at 48GB and I never even know I needed it for generating AI art, stuff is fun

 

[Nighthawk117]

Hello

I have 8GB in my system at the moment, but found Task Manager was saying 7.9GB of that was being used already.
Some programs are a little slow loading (they're already on an SSD) and even though I plan to at minimum have 16GB, I'd rather not have to think about upgrading in the future.
Problem is, 32GB obviously cost twice as much, £100 or so.
I don't plan on overclocking but the Corsair Vengeance RAM I was looking at is "built for overclocking".

Is there much difference between Class 16 and Class 18? The latter is £20 more expensive.

I'm not sure if they mean genuine overclocking or just XMP, as XMP is technically an overclock. As for do you need 32GB or not it really depends on what you are doing. Is your current system 1 x 8GB or 2 x 4GB DDR4?
I would generally suggest 32GB, but if you intend to upgrade the rest of your system at anytime in the near future I would probably just stick with 16GB. If your buying for your AMD system then I wouldn't go above 3200Mhz.

 

[hotaru.hino]

How many slots in your computer do you have? If you have 4, just add 2x8GB of RAM and call it a day.

 

[TheFlash1300]

These days 16GB is the minimum for running stuff

I have 4GB and I can run Windows 10 + Windows 7 in a VM smoothly. While I'm doing this, I have Hotspot, Bluetooth, and Find My Device enabled. With 4GB of RAM, I can run my game server, too.

For good experience in doing basic tasks, you need 4 or 8GB. If you are running many VMs, while programming, and VMs for debugging, and you are doing graphic design where you need a lot of rendering, while having multiple apps running, you will need 128 RAM. I know a person who has 128 GB RAM, and it's still not enough.

For doing basic stuff, you don't need more RAM than the RAM built-in budget laptops and computers. Budget editions are already designed in a way to meet minimum requirements of apps for basic stuff.

 

[Oasis Curator]

Is your current system 1 x 8GB or 2 x 4GB DDR4?

Good points.
The RAM reading was when I was probably encoding a video or playing a game maybe. Now it reports I am using 4.4GB out of the 8GB.

Currently 2 x 4GB although AIDA64 reports they're in DIMM3 and DIMM4...
Kingston HyperX 2400 DDR4. I guess as I'll be upgrading to 3200 then I'll feel bit spritelier anyway?

It's likely they'll come from Amazon so I can always send back the 16GB and get 32GB as a kit (or add 16GB more) I guess.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Good points.
The RAM reading was when I was probably encoding a video or playing a game maybe. Now it reports I am using 4.4GB out of the 8GB.

Currently 2 x 4GB although AIDA64 reports they're in DIMM3 and DIMM4...
Kingston HyperX 2400 DDR4. I guess as I'll be upgrading to 3200 then I'll feel bit spritelier anyway?

It's likely they'll come from Amazon so I can always send back the 16GB and get 32GB as a kit (or add 16GB more) I guess.

If you've already got 2 x 4GB DIMM's then just add another 2 x 8GB DIMM's giving you 24GB.

Normally you should populate slots 2 and 4 first and then 1 and 3. So you should put one kit in 2 and 4 and then the second kit in 1 and 3. You don't want to mix kits in the same channel.

 

[domjam]

it depends what you want to use the pc for. if you want to be streaming. playing games having browser open all at once.. or using lots of mods in games like skyrim/fallout 4 etc where such things like enb can take advantage of more system ram then i would say 16GB is not really going to cut it. and 32 gb would be the better option.

 

[--SID--]

Currently 2 x 4GB although AIDA64 reports they're in DIMM3 and DIMM4...
Kingston HyperX 2400 DDR4. I guess as I'll be upgrading to 3200 then I'll feel bit spritelier anyway?

What's rhe brand and model of the CPU and motherboard?

 

[USAFRet]

I have 4GB and I can run Windows 10 + Windows 7 in a VM smoothly. While I'm doing this, I have Hotspot, Bluetooth, and Find My Device enabled. With 4GB of RAM, I can run my game server, too.

I'd have to see that in operation.

 

[Colif]

I have 4GB and I can run Windows 10 + Windows 7 in a VM smoothly. While I'm doing this, I have Hotspot, Bluetooth, and Find My Device enabled. With 4GB of RAM, I can run my game server, too.

For good experience in doing basic tasks, you need 4 or 8GB. If you are running many VMs, while programming, and VMs for debugging, and you are doing graphic design where you need a lot of rendering, while having multiple apps running, you will need 128 RAM. I know a person who has 128 GB RAM, and it's still not enough.

smoothly? I wonder how much runs off page file.

So 4gb is enough but 128gb isn't enough? that is an unusual scale. More you add the less chance it will work.
128gb is max a lot of boards can use. Just as well as the more you add the worse it gets... Surely that can't be wrong. Servers with multi TB of ram must really suck

 

[Oasis Curator]

What's rhe brand and model of the CPU and motherboard?

CPU Type: HexaCore AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 3842 MHz (38.5 x 100)
Motherboard Name: Gigabyte B450M DS3H (1 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI-E x16, 1 M.2, 4 DDR4 DIMM, Audio, Video, Gigabit LAN)

 

[Tac 25]

I'd have to see that in operation.

as someone who has an ancient machine still running. Just adding own experience to this..

4GB is enough for Windows 10, but it takes some "mental conditioning" on what to do and what not to do. lol

for example, 3 or 4 firefox browsers open at the same is fine.. and one of them can even have a youtube video running.

playing a 2d fighting game like DNF Duel is also fine, even if graphics are on highest at Ultra settings. Btw, my ancient pc can handle this game, because it has a GTX 1650

however, trying to play and have browsers + youtube open all at the same time will cause DNF Duel to crash. So I don't do this.

4GB of ram with Windows 10 pretty much allows to do only one thing at a time, if it's web browsing then just web browsing = no game must be open. If it's playing a game that's moderately demanding on resources (DNF Duel for example), then only game should be open, web browser must be closed. Really old games can be handled just fine though (Eternal Fighter Zero for example), I chat on discord while playing online with friends.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I have 4GB and I can run Windows 10 + Windows 7 in a VM smoothly. While I'm doing this, I have Hotspot, Bluetooth, and Find My Device enabled. With 4GB of RAM, I can run my game server, too.

For good experience in doing basic tasks, you need 4 or 8GB. If you are running many VMs, while programming, and VMs for debugging, and you are doing graphic design where you need a lot of rendering, while having multiple apps running, you will need 128 RAM. I know a person who has 128 GB RAM, and it's still not enough.

For doing basic stuff, you don't need more RAM than the RAM built-in budget laptops and computers. Budget editions are already designed in a way to meet minimum requirements of apps for basic stuff.

Sorry, but I find it hard, as have others, to believe any of this is accurate. I too would need to see it in action to believe it. Even with 16GB I've had some VMs act slightly glitchy and laggy at times, but also mostly run fine, so I also think the idea that 128GB is necessary in any VM that would normally do fine with 16-32GB regardless of what applications you are running so long as those applications could normally run in Windows with a similar or slightly less amount of memory is equally not accurate. And also, the ability to run, or not run, a VM regardless of what applications are in use is probably greatly affected both to the bad and to the good by the other hardware involved as well. It's not "simply" a matter of RAM, even though that is highly relevant for VMs.

 

[Colif]

4GB is enough for Windows 10, but it takes some "mental conditioning" on what to do and what not to do. lol

win 10 can run in 1gb, but not well. We weren't disputing the 4gb part, it was the running the vm on top and having it run smoothly which made us question it.
My 8gb win 10 vm can struggle but it is probably the hdd its on more than anything, and fact i only gave it 4 cores. PC doesn't even notice its running but I have 32gb of ram

 

[Nighthawk117]

Human eye can't see more than 4G of RAM