Performance gains from 16gb ram

[mas7873]

So right now I'm running 8gb of 1866mhz DDR3 G.Skill Ripjaws X Series (2x4gb), and I recently found another (2x4gb) kit on sale and am considering picking it up. When choosing processors I chose the 4690k over the 4790k because I will be mostly gaming. However, I do multitask and do work on my PC in coding/programming. Would adding an extra 8GB of ram benefit me in these tasks? And bring the system closer to the speeds of the 4790k with 8gb ram? Also it will be futureproofed in terms of RAM for future games.

 

[tiny voices]

In games, you will see absolutely no gains at all. Future games are not likely to need more RAM. This is a programming/coding aid only.

Unless when programming/coding you are locked at 8gb RAM use, it will not make any difference. Adding RAM does nothing unless your current amount is being fully maxed in certain apps.

 

[gilbadon]

From everything I have read, 8GB -> 16GB you will not notice much of a difference in much of anything a normal coder or gamer sees. However, if you currently have a standard mechanical hard drive, a better upgrade may be to get an SSD.

 

[mas7873]

In games, you will see absolutely no gains at all. Future games are not likely to need more RAM. This is a programming/coding aid only.

Unless when programming/coding you are locked at 8gb RAM use, it will not make any difference. Adding RAM does nothing unless your current amount is being fully maxed in certain apps.

Yeah I know in current gaming it offers no performance gains, I just was wondering if I gain performance in multitasking as when I chose my CPU I sacrificed the multitasking performance for price when choosing the 4690k over the 4790k.

From everything I have read, 8GB -> 16GB you will not notice much of a difference in much of anything a normal coder or gamer sees. However, if you currently have a standard mechanical hard drive, a better upgrade may be to get an SSD.

And I already have a 256GB SSD that I have my OS and my frequently played games installed on.

 

[tiny voices]

Like I said, unless your 8gb RAM is sitting MAXED OUT when you are doing things, no you will gain nothing at all. Adding RAM does nothing if you aren't even using all the RAM you have now.

 

[TofuLion]

he currently has an ssd and i believe i saw the same one on sale on newegg today (i could be wrong). adding a second ssd for raid 0 would be a bigger performance gain than adding more RAM.

 

[tiny voices]

No raiding SSDs is not a good idea. It generally offers nothing but problems. I DO NOT recommend this.

 

[Justin Millard]

It won't improve speeds, but it will allow you to heavily multi-task EG: Editing two videos at once. A task that would be able to use up 16GB of RAM. Or running photoshop, while gaming and having skype and a web browser open. Something like that.

Basically it just expands your muti-tasking options if you are a regular video editor.

 

[Justin Millard]

tiny voices, I was considering a SSD raid setup for my next PC build for that instant loading feeling. What problems have you discovered?

 

[TofuLion]

shows quite a performance gain

 

[gilbadon]

tiny voices, I was considering a SSD raid setup for my next PC build for that instant loading feeling. What problems have you discovered?

I have raid 0 SSD's. You do not see much of a speed increase but it is cool to say you have it. It is like 32GB of ram. For most things it has no purpose, but come on... you have 32GB of ram lol.

The risks:
If one breaks, your PC is dead
SSD's are more prone to corrupt when they are in raid for some reason (shorter life)
Harder to set up/deal with
Cost's more money/power
Takes up more room

 

[USAFRet]

SSD + RAID:
Read this all the way through - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html

Great for benchmarks, not so much in real world use

 

[tiny voices]

^ Exactly what I am talking about.

 

[TofuLion]

well it's much like the RAM upgrade. the results arent going to be noticed if you arent actually able to utilize the hardware. you could easily fill 8 GB of ram if you were trying just not with games. much like read/write speeds, games arent going to see much of an increase, but programming often requires reading and writing large complex files which is where youll see increased performance

if you're worried about failure, it's pretty easy to set up another partition you can boot from on your hard drive