16gb of ram may be the new standard (IMO) :: Hardware and Operating Systems

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synario Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:00pm

16gb of ram may be the new standard (IMO)

There are no games out there that recommend more than 8gb of ram, as far as I know. However, I was extremely surprised after upgrading to 16gb of ram (from 8gb of ram) I discovered just how much a performance boost I saw in every game I owned, even those I still have on my old hard drive.

Used to constantly stutter in Ark Survival on High Settings. Now I get buttery smooth performance.

I used to get stuttering in GTAV when I maxed out population density. Now, it's buttery smooth.

To increase the strain on my computer, I tried playing GTAV on my steam machine, which is across the house from my computer. I used to stutter/lag, now, I get buttery smooth performance.

I feel like I've discovered some hidden truth, or something, lol...

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Showing 1-15 of 17 comments

Omega Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:06pm

A lot of games recommend 16gb: Ashes of the Singularity, Battlefield 1, COD infinate warfare, Mass Effect Andromeda etc.. basicly all AAA games and ambitious indies.

What motherboard do you have? It might support quad channel memory (asuming you used to have 2x4gb and now you have 4x4gb). Or did you only have 1x 8gb RAM? OR you just have a lot of garbage running in the background and your PC was running out of RAM because of that.

Last edited by Omega; Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:08pm

synario Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:11pm

i had 2x4 gb, now i have 4x4gb.

I tried to figure out if the improvement might be due to some other factor, but it seems to be exclusively the extra ram that is making a difference. I am still running the same background processes as always.

I have an asus z97 deluxe.

Off-topic, but I am debating whether to put my OS on my SSD or not. I don't care about boot speed. My computer already loads up fairly fast on my HDD.

Last edited by synario; Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:18pm

Omega Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:16pm

Originally posted by synario:
i had 2x4 gb, now i have 4x4gb.

I tried to figure out if the improvement might be due to some other factor, but it seems to be exclusively the extra ram that is making a difference.

I have an asus z97 deluxe.

ITs not running quad channel z97 doesn't support that. I think you just have a lot of garbage running in the background.

synario Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:21pm

Originally posted by Omega:
Originally posted by synario:
i had 2x4 gb, now i have 4x4gb.

I tried to figure out if the improvement might be due to some other factor, but it seems to be exclusively the extra ram that is making a difference.

I have an asus z97 deluxe.
ITs not running quad channel z97 doesn't support that. I think you just have a lot of garbage running in the background.

If my motherboard supports dual channel memory, did I screw up by getting 4x4gb ram then? Should I have gotten 2x8gb ram instead?

Is quad channel better or worse than dual channel..?

Last edited by synario; Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:21pm

Omega Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:22pm

Originally posted by synario:
Originally posted by Omega:
ITs not running quad channel z97 doesn't support that. I think you just have a lot of garbage running in the background.

If my motherboard supports dual channel memory, did I screw up by getting 4x4gb ram then? Should I have gotten 2x8gb ram instead?

No. They still run in dual.

Last edited by Omega; Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:22pm

synario Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:25pm

Originally posted by Omega:
Originally posted by synario:

If my motherboard supports dual channel memory, did I screw up by getting 4x4gb ram then? Should I have gotten 2x8gb ram instead?
No. They still run in dual.

I checked my process manager while running ark survival, with several firefox tabs open and all my normal background processes. I was using around 6gb of ram.

So why is there a performance difference with 2gb of unused ram, as compared to 10gb of unused ram?

Omega Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:41pm

Before you upgraded you used both gray colored slots for your RAM right?

synario Apr 11, 2017 @ 2:47pm

yes

Big Boom Boom Apr 11, 2017 @ 5:00pm

Try 128Gb RGB DDR4.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gskill-trident-z-rgb-ddr4-ram-kits,34094.html

Sure look pretty, for a lot of money, and nothing else.

Lord Flashheart Apr 11, 2017 @ 7:26pm

Usually, what is in memory is placed to and from a swapfile. This can be slow, especially if you use a hard drive for the OS. More memory means less need to do that. That would speed up the system.

I have an i7-3770k @ 4.4 Ghz and 32 GB 1600 Mhz DDR3 RAM. I use the machine for more than gaming. The swap space has been set to zero so unused. That helps with speed & responsivness a lot.
Also I allocate 8GB of main memory to cache the boot SSD. WIndows does something similar but not as well. I use something called primocache.

#10

synario Apr 11, 2017 @ 7:55pm

What is swap space?

#11

upcoast Apr 11, 2017 @ 7:56pm

I found that 24GB-32GB is the sweet spot for me FC3/4 and Dying Light instanty smoothed out with 24GB vs 16GB.

OS on an ssd is another really good idea.

#12

chiefputsilao Apr 11, 2017 @ 7:59pm

Originally posted by Big Boom Boom:
Try 128Gb RGB DDR4.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/gskill-trident-z-rgb-ddr4-ram-kits,34094.html

Sure look pretty, for a lot of money, and nothing else.

that is awesome! btw, what year is this, 2030? ;)

when people are asking for more eye candy and the developers are responding, the hardware must also evolve...

15+ years ago, i was still very happy with 128MB DDR1-266mhz, upgraded to 256MB DDR1-266mhz, upgraded to 512MB DDR1-333.
thru the years, upgraded to 1GB DDR2-800, upgraded to 2GB DDR2-800, then to 'newer' 4GB DDR3-1600, then 8GB DDR3-1600, then final upgrade 16GB DDR3-1600.

not upgrading to latest DDR4-based system in the immediate foreseeable future though i am extremely interested in ryzen..

#13