Solved Should I install 32GB of ram?

schemula

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Atlanta, GA
I just rebuilt my computer (i7-3770k). When I built my last computer (i7-920), I thought 12GB (3x4GB) of triple channel was "crazy talk." 4GB was the norm and 64 bit was just starting to become normal. Turns out, it was a good amount over the lifespan of the computer.

Besides gaming, browsing, and other usual tasks, I also edit video in Premiere CS6, do some 3d in Cinema 4d, and use programs like After Effects which do ram previews.

My new computer has 16GB (2x8GB) and the price was reasonable $50. I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and stick two more in there (since I can get the same brand, model/series, etc).

I'm not trying to light a cigar with a $50 like a semi-baller, but it seems like now would be a good time to do it since it's a new build and I can see having this computer for ~3-4 years or so. My i7-920 was awesome and had another year or so left in it, but now it's my girlfriend's YouTube computer, lol.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64, OS X Mountain Lion, CentOS
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X UD3H
    Memory
    32GB Corsair XMS
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS HD6950 2GB + Intel HD4000
    Sound Card
    built-in Via
    Monitor(s) Displays
    two Samsung SyncMaster XL2370, Sony 46" TV
    Screen Resolution
    HD 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 830 256GB boot, 1GB Western Digital Black, 3TB Hitachi, a pile of 1.5 and 2TB Seagates in differing states of near or impending failure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750
    Case
    Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
    Cooling
    Cooler Master 212Evo + Artic Silver 5
    Keyboard
    Logitech Illuminated (wired)
    Mouse
    whatever wired 1000dpi I have laying around, a bag full of dead Logitech LS21
    Internet Speed
    Comcast Business whatever they give me for $60/mo
It would be really interesting if you need virtualization :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10.0.10122
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    My Build - Vorttex Ultimate
    CPU
    Core i7 @ 4500 MHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z87-Plus
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 @ 1822 MHz (OC)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon R9 280X 3GB @ 1180 / 6800 MHz
    Sound Card
    7.1 HDA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD LG 22" + CRT LG 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1760 x 1320 / 1280 x 960
    Hard Drives
    1 x 240 GB SSD (System)
    3 x 500 GB HDD (Data/Media)
    1 x 2000 GB e-HDD (Backup)
    PSU
    ThermalTake 1000W PSU
    Case
    Corsair Carbide R300
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 (Push-Pull)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    60 Mbps (Down) 5 Mbps (Up)
    Browser
    IE, FF, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    Some wired stuff

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64, OS X Mountain Lion, CentOS
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X UD3H
    Memory
    32GB Corsair XMS
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS HD6950 2GB + Intel HD4000
    Sound Card
    built-in Via
    Monitor(s) Displays
    two Samsung SyncMaster XL2370, Sony 46" TV
    Screen Resolution
    HD 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 830 256GB boot, 1GB Western Digital Black, 3TB Hitachi, a pile of 1.5 and 2TB Seagates in differing states of near or impending failure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750
    Case
    Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
    Cooling
    Cooler Master 212Evo + Artic Silver 5
    Keyboard
    Logitech Illuminated (wired)
    Mouse
    whatever wired 1000dpi I have laying around, a bag full of dead Logitech LS21
    Internet Speed
    Comcast Business whatever they give me for $60/mo
It sounds like you would make good use of it, so yeah.. load up with as much as you can afford.

Memory is crazy cheap right now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Indeed - the more memory, the better (for virtualization). Even the Windows caches will thank you, making some boot performance and disk accesses faster too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.5GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus Hero VII
    Memory
    32GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX970
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Hard Drives
    1x Samsung 250GB SSD
    4x WD RE 2TB (RAIDZ)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760i
    Case
    Fractal Design Define R4
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15
One thing to be aware of, the more memory you have, the larger your hiberfil.sys hibernation file will be. And the longer it will take to resume from hibernation.

If you don't use hibernation, you can turn it off.. but this can interfere with crash dumps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
How to use the DedicatedDumpFile registry value to overcome space limitations on the system drive when capturing a system memory dump - Ntdebugging Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Also note the hibernation file is actually only a percentage of available RAM - so you can still make the paging file 1GB in size, have a hiberfil (allowing hybrid boot and hybrid sleep) and still not use up a large percentage of disk space if you use the DedicatedDumpFile option. With 32GB of RAM, setting the hibernation file to a smaller percentage using powercfg -h size <percentage> might be a good idea too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.5GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus Hero VII
    Memory
    32GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX970
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Hard Drives
    1x Samsung 250GB SSD
    4x WD RE 2TB (RAIDZ)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760i
    Case
    Fractal Design Define R4
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15
as long as you know that 4 sticks draw more current than 2 and you may have to increase some voltage in the BIOS to compensate it, no problem, also on Asus ROG forum we have a lot of members with problems when using Corsair Vengeance, try to go with G-Skill. Get 9-9-9-24 timming, , RAM speed as not that important in performance and when you get fancy, problems occurs faster.


Don't forget something with VM, if you run 2 or 3 or more VM on the same Hard rive you seriously bottle neck your system, try to span the VM on different HD.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 enterprise x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pc-Quebec / Area 66
    CPU
    i7-3960X Extreme Edition
    Motherboard
    Rampage IV Extreme
    Memory
    Gskill 4x4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    4 x HD 7970
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    2560*1600
    Hard Drives
    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
    E:\ WD 2TB Black
    PSU
    Corsair AX 1200
    Case
    TT Mozart TX
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Logitech G-15
    Other Info
    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.
Indeed - SSDs for running VMs and mechanical disks for static (or less used) storage is always a good idea.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.5GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus Hero VII
    Memory
    32GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX970
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Hard Drives
    1x Samsung 250GB SSD
    4x WD RE 2TB (RAIDZ)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760i
    Case
    Fractal Design Define R4
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15
32GB installed.

29.4GB available, lol.

Prolly enough to render minutes in After Effects ram preview. Pretty nice.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64, OS X Mountain Lion, CentOS
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X UD3H
    Memory
    32GB Corsair XMS
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS HD6950 2GB + Intel HD4000
    Sound Card
    built-in Via
    Monitor(s) Displays
    two Samsung SyncMaster XL2370, Sony 46" TV
    Screen Resolution
    HD 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 830 256GB boot, 1GB Western Digital Black, 3TB Hitachi, a pile of 1.5 and 2TB Seagates in differing states of near or impending failure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750
    Case
    Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
    Cooling
    Cooler Master 212Evo + Artic Silver 5
    Keyboard
    Logitech Illuminated (wired)
    Mouse
    whatever wired 1000dpi I have laying around, a bag full of dead Logitech LS21
    Internet Speed
    Comcast Business whatever they give me for $60/mo
Nice! :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.5GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus Hero VII
    Memory
    32GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX970
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Hard Drives
    1x Samsung 250GB SSD
    4x WD RE 2TB (RAIDZ)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760i
    Case
    Fractal Design Define R4
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15
I have 64GB of corsair's premium platinum sticks (2.6GHZ), pc runs pretty fast whatever you're running.
I think 32GB in 5 years time will be the norm.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Sorry, I gotta say this for the majority of people who may read this.
Because there are a lot of people who may misconstrue this as what they will need in theirs.

That is an extremely excessive amount of ram in a PC that would be highly under utilized, even for VM's or Rendering basic Video
unless you are creating full blown Movies, then maybe. But that is specialty circumstance that the majority of people coming here will never use, ever.

To give you an idea on VM's.
I can run on my laptop with 4G's of RAM at the same time,,
2 Servers
2 OS's
and Linux

Yes, it's a bit sluggish, but it works with that much. I would add more if I could to it.
But I would not exceed probably 8G for just that. And that is the only reason I would install that much RAM.

So, while the idea here was to max it out for Video Rendering and 3D stuff, yes, having this much is a good idea. If, you are doing large movies and large 3D graphics.

Only Servers doing mass data transfers or Virtualization for small to Large companies will ever require that amount of RAM.

Even 6G in a gaming system is more than will ever be needed for the next few years. maybe even longer.
Games are all in the Video Card anyway.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I7-3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77
    Memory
    CORSAIR 8GB 2X4 D3 1866
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX680 4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS 24" LED VG248QE
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG E 256GB SSD 840 PRO -
    SAMSUNG E 120GB SSD840 -
    SEAGATE 1TB PIPELINE
    PSU
    CORSAIR GS800
    Case
    CORSAIR 600T
    Cooling
    CORSAIR HYDRO H100I LIQUID COOLER
    Keyboard
    THERMALTA CHALLENGER ULT GAME-KYBRD
    Mouse
    RAZER DEATHADDER GAME MS BLK-ED
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    APC 1000VA -
    LGELECOEM LG 14X SATA BD BURNER -
    CORSAIR SP120 Fans x 3 -
    NZXT 5.25 USB3 BAY CARD READER -
    HAUPPAUGE COLOSSUS
When RAM costs $40 for 16GB, 32GB is a drop in the bucket. You forget that a lot of people have multiple apps open. They might be rending video and running photoshop with 20 large images open while rendering a 3D scene and doing it all to a RAM disk.

I agree this is far more ram that someone that is surfing the web or writing an email will ever use, but it's pretty silly to call it "excessive" when the person asking the question mentioned several heavy memory intensive apps.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Here's an example of what I do, I also have more than 1 monitor heck have 4 27" running at 2560X1440 and with Nvidia's Xinerama enabled so giving me a pretty large resolution.

I run at least 5 instances of Photoshop CS6
Unity 3D
I usually have 10 instances of Visual C++ and C# running
VMware for Linux stuff
a movie running at all times
3Ds max
maya
zbrush
cinema4D

Plus I always have reference images open as well and this is all running and open, nothing is minimized.

I also will have Lightworks running as well for rending and cleaning up video.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Sorry, I gotta say this for the majority of people who may read this.

I don't disagree with you. I bought 16GB originally - that is closer to my needs today.

Like I mentioned in my original post, my last computer build (i7-920) had 12GB of ram in it at a time when 4GB was pretty much the norm. I thought it was a bit much but with triple channel, it was kinda 3x2GB or 3x4GB and I kinda thought 6GB was a little low. Over the course of using that computer, I did have a few times when I was maxing out the ram. Photoshop and Illustrator open and I dynamic link an After Effects comp into Premiere and I was using all of the ram. After Effects also caches RAM pretty well and allows you to do RAM preview renders based on however much ram you have. A few years ago I was lucky to get several seconds, now I can probably RAM preview whole clips I'm working on. HD is of course pretty much the normal now.

So I just built this computer a day or two ago, and I was like, dang, I did not even consider going 4x8GB and I remembered back to when I thought 12GB was insane and then there were days when I filled it all up. If I go back to the store now, I can get the same make and model of ram and just fill all four slots and maybe, I don't know when, but maybe one day I will end up dipping into it.

I think it was several things:

1. 32GB was... $100. I remember when RAM delivery trucks used to get held up - ram cost more than gold. My first computer had 96MB of ram. Half of the cost was the computer. The other half was the RAM. $100 is pretty reasonable.

2. I got the matched sticks now and don't have to worry about finding them 1-2 years later if need be.

3. I though 12GB was insane once and it wasn't at some point. I think 32GB is pretty insane now, but, the day I need it, I'm going to be glad it's there.

You are right though, 9x% of the time, I'm not going to come close to using it. My VMs are dev servers for my VPS machines so I tend to keep them as 512MB or 1GB affairs. Sometimes I install a Linux distro with a GUI and give it 4GB, but who knows, maybe I'll end up doing some weird stuff one day and have a bunch of VMs going or... ?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64, OS X Mountain Lion, CentOS
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X UD3H
    Memory
    32GB Corsair XMS
    Graphics Card(s)
    HIS HD6950 2GB + Intel HD4000
    Sound Card
    built-in Via
    Monitor(s) Displays
    two Samsung SyncMaster XL2370, Sony 46" TV
    Screen Resolution
    HD 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 830 256GB boot, 1GB Western Digital Black, 3TB Hitachi, a pile of 1.5 and 2TB Seagates in differing states of near or impending failure
    PSU
    Corsair TX750
    Case
    Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced
    Cooling
    Cooler Master 212Evo + Artic Silver 5
    Keyboard
    Logitech Illuminated (wired)
    Mouse
    whatever wired 1000dpi I have laying around, a bag full of dead Logitech LS21
    Internet Speed
    Comcast Business whatever they give me for $60/mo
To give you an idea on VM's.
I can run on my laptop with 4G's of RAM at the same time,,
2 Servers
2 OS's
and Linux
While that is your experience, try running Exchange 2013 or SCCM 2012 in a lab with a server running 512MB of RAM (or even 2GB). For example, the minimum requirements for Ex2013s CAS role is 8GB (yes, you read that right). If you want to actually test a production scenario out (not just your code, but the whole 3 tier app layer and the network that will sit around it and interact) will require more than 4GB of RAM ;).

I would agree that I'm not going to tell the average Joe to buy a machine with more than 8GB of RAM, having a box with 64GB of RAM does come in handy for some of us.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.5GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Maximus Hero VII
    Memory
    32GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX970
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Hard Drives
    1x Samsung 250GB SSD
    4x WD RE 2TB (RAIDZ)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760i
    Case
    Fractal Design Define R4
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15
Windows 8 Pro happens to be on my laptop. Unfortunately, the max memory there is 8gb. On the other hand, my desktop runs Windows 7 64-bit. I have 6GB of RAM right now, but I might replace it with 12gb of a faster RAM by G.Skill. I would get 24GB (my mobo supports it), but since my Windows 7 is Home Premium, there's a software limit of 16GB (for some dumb reason, seriously MS ??). So 12GB it shall be, if I decide to order it.

That, or spend another $40 and turn my desktop into a Windows 8 machine, but I'm not sure I'm ready to do that, given my hatred towards the look of the desktop UI (removal of Aero) and a few other things that still annoy me about Windows 8. I'm hoping that Stardock or someone will come out with a solution to that before January hits and the deal is off.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit, Ubuntu 13.04 64-Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 950 @ 3ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus Sabertooth X58
    Memory
    Crucial 6GB DDR3 1066mhz Triple Channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    1GB EVGA GTX 460 SE (Nvidia)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual LG Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080, 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    80GB Intel 320 Series SSD
    640GB WD Caviar Blue
    320GB WD MyBook (converted to Internal SATA)
    1TB Seagate Barracuda
    PSU
    Corsair 650TX 650w
    Case
    CoolerMaster HAF 922
    Keyboard
    Logitech G110
    Mouse
    Logitech G500
    Internet Speed
    20mbps Down, 2mbps Up
Sorry, I gotta say this for the majority of people who may read this.

I don't disagree with you. I bought 16GB originally - that is closer to my needs today.

Like I mentioned in my original post, my last computer build (i7-920) had 12GB of ram in it at a time when 4GB was pretty much the norm. I thought it was a bit much but with triple channel, it was kinda 3x2GB or 3x4GB and I kinda thought 6GB was a little low. Over the course of using that computer, I did have a few times when I was maxing out the ram. Photoshop and Illustrator open and I dynamic link an After Effects comp into Premiere and I was using all of the ram. After Effects also caches RAM pretty well and allows you to do RAM preview renders based on however much ram you have. A few years ago I was lucky to get several seconds, now I can probably RAM preview whole clips I'm working on. HD is of course pretty much the normal now.

So I just built this computer a day or two ago, and I was like, dang, I did not even consider going 4x8GB and I remembered back to when I thought 12GB was insane and then there were days when I filled it all up. If I go back to the store now, I can get the same make and model of ram and just fill all four slots and maybe, I don't know when, but maybe one day I will end up dipping into it.

I think it was several things:

1. 32GB was... $100. I remember when RAM delivery trucks used to get held up - ram cost more than gold. My first computer had 96MB of ram. Half of the cost was the computer. The other half was the RAM. $100 is pretty reasonable.

2. I got the matched sticks now and don't have to worry about finding them 1-2 years later if need be.

3. I though 12GB was insane once and it wasn't at some point. I think 32GB is pretty insane now, but, the day I need it, I'm going to be glad it's there.

You are right though, 9x% of the time, I'm not going to come close to using it. My VMs are dev servers for my VPS machines so I tend to keep them as 512MB or 1GB affairs. Sometimes I install a Linux distro with a GUI and give it 4GB, but who knows, maybe I'll end up doing some weird stuff one day and have a bunch of VMs going or... ?
Lower quality ram won't perform as well as high performing ram, I spent $800 on 64GB of ram as I don't want compromise, 64GB of well crap ram will cost you around $400 but it's just low quality sticks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Lower quality ram won't perform as well as high performing ram, I spent $800 on 64GB of ram as I don't want compromise, 64GB of well crap ram will cost you around $400 but it's just low quality sticks.

Even high end RAM is now super cheap. Newegg just had a deal yesterday with 16GB of PC1866 Corsair high end memory for $64. So that means $275 or so for 64GB. Of course that would mean having a lot of slots. Most desktop PC's don't have 8 DIMM sockets.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
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