Question Too much RAM?

[Finnegan1616]

So I'm working on a PC which I should use for a while, and I'm trying to make it sort of future proof for what I do (I don't play AAA games), but I heard from my friend that having too much RAM can actually be bad bc it'll put too much load on the memory controller, but I want to make sure that it doesn't matter, if it does I can swap it out

note that I'm buying this around Q1 2022, so some of the parts will change (Ram will be ddr5, ssd will be gen 5, cpu will be 12900k etc)
but the question about if too much ram causes worse performance due to the memory controller being overwhelmed still remains

here's the PC plan: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kc9MRT
here's the specific RAM: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cg...-gb-ddr4-4000-cl18-memory-f4-4000c18q-128gtzr

budget: a what?

 

[kanewolf]

So I'm working on a PC which I should use for a while, and I'm trying to make it sort of future proof for what I do (I don't play AAA games), but I heard from my friend that having too much RAM can actually be bad bc it'll put too much load on the memory controller, but I want to make sure that it doesn't matter, if it does I can swap it out

note that I'm buying this around Q1 2022, so some of the parts will change (Ram will be ddr5, ssd will be gen 5, cpu will be 12900k etc)
but the question about if too much ram causes worse performance due to the memory controller being overwhelmed still remains

here's the PC plan: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kc9MRT
here's the specific RAM: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cg...-gb-ddr4-4000-cl18-memory-f4-4000c18q-128gtzr

budget: a what?

What benefit do you believe you will get with 128GB RAM? You don't provide any use cases for the PC for us to evaluate whether you will benefit from it. MOST (95%+) people won't benefit from greater than 32GB, IMO. Buying something to be "future proof" is a bad reason. You seem to have sufficient $$$ resources that if 32GB proved insufficient, you could purchase 64GB and swap.

 

[USAFRet]

Just like the cake, "future proof" is a lie.

If you and your applications only consume less than 32GB (which is usual), the other 90GB are just wasted.
It won't be "bad", just a waste of current money.

By the time your use and applications need more, you'll have moved on to a new platform and new RAM.

 

[sizzling]

As for the memory controller point, using 4 dimms instead of 2 can limit the maximum speed the RAM can run stable at. You are more likely to achieve 4000mhz with 2, with 4 there is greater chance you won’t achieve that.

 

[Finnegan1616]

What benefit do you believe you will get with 128GB RAM? You don't provide any use cases for the PC for us to evaluate whether you will benefit from it. MOST (95%+) people won't benefit from greater than 32GB, IMO. Buying something to be "future proof" is a bad reason. You seem to have sufficient $$$ resources that if 32GB proved insufficient, you could purchase 64GB and swap.

Just like the cake, "future proof" is a lie.

If you and your applications only consume less than 32GB (which is usual), the other 90GB are just wasted.
It won't be "bad", just a waste of current money.

By the time your use and applications need more, you'll have moved on to a new platform and new RAM.

the question was if the extra RAM would hurt performance
not if it would help performance

As for the memory controller point, using 4 dimms instead of 2 can limit the maximum speed the RAM can run stable at. You are more likely to achieve 4000mhz with 2, with 4 there is greater chance you won’t achieve that.

I was told it was better to run it in quad channel vs dual channel

or is 4 dimms something else

 

[COLGeek]

the question was if the extra RAM would hurt performance
not if it would help performance

I was told it was better to run it in quad channel vs dual channel

or is 4 dimms something else

This rig is only dual channel, not quad. Really just 2 pairs of memory, still dual channel.

 

[USAFRet]

the question was if the extra RAM would hurt performance
not if it would help performance

It can.
4x slots can give a negative impact.

I was told it was better to run it in quad channel vs dual channel

or is 4 dimms something else

4 slots does not equal "quad channel".
Dual vs quad is dictated by the motherboard specs.

 

[Finnegan1616]

It can.
4x slots can give a negative impact.


4 slots does not equal "quad channel".
Dual vs quad is dictated by the motherboard specs.

is there an easy reason to understand why it would negatively impact performance?

 

[Finnegan1616]

This rig is only dual channel, not quad. Really just 2 pairs of memory, still dual channel.

I was also told it was quad channel bc it's 1 set of 4, not 2 sets of 2, my bad ig

 

[COLGeek]

I was also told it was quad channel bc it's 1 set of 4, not 2 sets of 2, my bad ig

They would work as quad channel in a rig that supported it. In this case, nope. Just dual channel x 2.

 

[Finnegan1616]

They would work as quad channel in a rig that supported it. In this case, nope. Just dual channel x 2.

so that's up to my motherboard?

if the maximus XIII extreme doesn't support quad, what does support it?

 

[COLGeek]

so that's up to my motherboard?

if the maximus XIII extreme doesn't support quad, what does support it?

4 memory slots does not mean 4 channels.

https://rog.asus.com/us/motherboards/rog-maximus/rog-maximus-xiii-extreme-model/spec

This rig is dual channel, that has 4 slots. Still only dual channel.

You have to get into workstation/server class rigs for quad channel systems, like with certain Xeon, Eypc, and Threadripper based systems.

 

[Finnegan1616]

4 memory slots does not mean 4 channels.

https://rog.asus.com/us/motherboards/rog-maximus/rog-maximus-xiii-extreme-model/spec

This rig is dual channel, that has 4 slots. Still only dual channel.

You have to get into workstation/server class rigs for quad channel systems, like with certain Xeon, Eypc, and Threadripper based systems.

I see

well, could I go back to the question and ask if having that extra RAM will hurt performance, or will it be too small to worry about

 

[Zerk2012]

I would ask what your going to be using the PC to do.

As for your parts list it just looks like another person picking the most expensive parts.

Edit. Future proof no such thing.

 

[USAFRet]

I see

well, could I go back to the question and ask if having that extra RAM will hurt performance, or will it be too small to worry about

It won't help
It may hurt, a tiny bit
It will be a LOT of wasted RAM and money

 

[COLGeek]

It won't help
It may hurt, a tiny bit
It will be a LOT of wasted RAM and money

+1. This is the answer.

More memory helps in some situations (like not using "swap space"/virtual memory, or making a RAM drive), but it also means more in terms of overall system management. That will have a small impact on an otherwise beast of a system. Not a lot, a few percentage/FPS impact, but an impact nonetheless.

 

[Finnegan1616]

I would ask what your going to be using the PC to do.

As for your parts list it just looks like another person picking the most expensive parts.

Edit. Future proof no such thing.

my father bought a PC 5 years ago, and it still does everything he wants to do just fine
so future proofing sort of is a thing

It won't help
It may hurt, a tiny bit
It will be a LOT of wasted RAM and money

how much is a tiny bit

+1. This is the answer.

+1? what

 

[COLGeek]

my father bought a PC 5 years ago, and it still does everything he wants to do just fine
so future proofing sort of is a thing

how much is a tiny bit

+1? what

See edited thread above for additional info. +1 to USAFRet's post (means I agree with).

 

[kanewolf]

how much is a tiny bit

It would help us A LOT, if you gave us some idea of what the use of this PC is.
Browsing the web, not noticeable difference. Benchmarking, small decrease. 10 VMs, big benefit, with the potential to be CPU limited. But we don't know what YOU want to do.

 

[Zerk2012]

my father bought a PC 5 years ago, and it still does everything he wants to do just fine
so future proofing sort of is a

my wife used one for 10 years till it died but had nothing to do with trying to future proof.

Your not going to change all the answers that are telling you the same thing and still not willing to even say what the PC will be used for.

 

[USAFRet]

how much is a tiny bit

Something above zero, but maybe only seen in artificial benchmarks.

What will this system be used for?

 

[USAFRet]

my father bought a PC 5 years ago, and it still does everything he wants to do just fine
so future proofing sort of is a thing

That's not what "future proofing" is.

FP may be buying a motherboard with more M.2 ports than you want to use right now, knowing that you will add new drives later.

Buying 128GB RAM now, when you are highly unlikely to ever use that much in the lifespan of the motherboard is simply a waste.
Now....if you are going to delve into very very large CAD files of video editing...then buying 64-128GB RAM now may be a good thing.

In your current use cases, how much RAM do you actually use?

 

[Finnegan1616]

It would help us A LOT, if you gave us some idea of what the use of this PC is.
Browsing the web, not noticeable difference. Benchmarking, small decrease. 10 VMs, big benefit, with the potential to be CPU limited. But we don't know what YOU want to do.

next 2 years? not much, but basically going to use so I can get over 60fps in minecraft (prob only need ~4gb for that)
my i7-8700 and gtx 1080 just can't seem to cut it, not matter what I try

in 2+ years? most likely Autocad, and whatever else I get thrown at me in Engineering (might need more like 10-20 for that)


still don't need the amount of RAM, but I don't really plan on upgrading unless something actually revolutionary comes out, and in that case, I can just update parts of it at a time

 

[COLGeek]

next 2 years? not much, but basically going to use so I can get over 60fps in minecraft (prob only need ~4gb for that)
my i7-8700 and gtx 1080 just can't seem to cut it, not matter what I try

in 2+ years? most likely Autocad, and whatever else I get thrown at me in Engineering (might need more like 10-20 for that)


still don't need the amount of RAM, but I don't really plan on upgrading unless something actually revolutionary comes out, and in that case, I can just update parts of it at a time

Personally, I would recommend 32GB (2x16GB) and call it a day.

 

[USAFRet]

still don't need the amount of RAM, but I don't really plan on upgrading unless something actually revolutionary comes out, and in that case, I can just update parts of it at a time

Mostly, you can''t.

CPU/RAM/motherboard all work together.

You can swap out the RAM for larger. Sell and change from DDR4 32GB to DDR4 64-128GB.
CPU...likely that will need a different motherboard. And if DDR5, RAM as well.

For your current stated use? 32GB.