RAM question for heavy Gamers with computer build knowledge.

[Win2000Fan]

Old gamer here from way in the past. Ninety eight percent of the games I play are old and do not require lots of RAM so I am out of this knowledge loop. However my grandson does game a lot, on line and off with these new powerful games like, Cyber Punk, Rust, etc. RAM size, now and in the future is important for him as he doses desire new releases when they come out now and in the future.

I am looking to buy and upgrade my grandson's computer with new and more RAM than he has now. Right now he has 16 gigs and he wants 32 gigs of RAM. I am more than willing to upgrade him to 64 gigs but I have been reading that, that is to much for most people. However the tech stories I have been reading uses statements like, "average gamer and computer user" and quotes, 32 gigs as being enough. Like I said my grandson is a "heavy" gamer who wants to upgrade to more demanding games well into the future.

Will the 32 Gigs of RAM give him the breathing room he needs for his future gaming or should I go with the 64 Gigs?

This is what he asked for: 32GB ddr4, 3200mhz. His motherboard is maybe three years old at the most and he will be calling me for more MB information. Thanks for your help.

[Cool hedgehog]

No need of 64

[✨Saint✨]

More Ram makes it possible to run more applications at the same time, games can store more data etc.
32 Gigs is enough, but I would say "the more the merrier".

[emoticorpse]

Even for heavy gamers 16 GB is enough. 32 is more than enough. 64 GB is laughable, unless you are doing some professional work on the PC.

[Win2000Fan]

Publicado originalmente por ✨Saint✨:

More Ram makes it possible to run more applications at the same time, games can store more data etc.
32 Gigs is enough, but I would say "the more the merrier".

:saint:

I worked on mainframe computers before I retired and we had this saying there that goes back many years in that business. "You can never have to much memory". Another one they liked using, "you can never have a big enough of a power supply".

[Bad 💀 Motha]

If it's a fairly modern build and you are multitasking while running demanding games, yes go with 32GB via 2x16GB. Avoid doing groups of 4x on AMD Ryzen boards if you can. Such as 4x 8GB for example as while they might work, might not work above 2666.

Windows is also not configured for Gaming and you will want to change the PageFile settings to avoid memory errors with many games.

[Win2000Fan]

Publicado originalmente por Bad 💀 Motha:

If it's a fairly modern build and you are multitasking while running demanding games, yes go with 32GB via 2x16GB. Avoid doing groups of 4x on AMD Ryzen boards if you can. Such as 4x 8GB for example as while they might work, might not work above 2666.

Windows is also not configured for Gaming and you will want to change the PageFile settings to avoid memory errors with many games.

But not the 64 gigs? 2x32?

[Zefar]

RAM upgrade will most likely not do much for your grandson computer.

16 GB is more than enough and this is me playing the latest games and still rendering a youtube video at 1080p without using all of it. Just because I want to listen to some podcast while playing.

What is your grandson expecting to happen with the computer when he puts in more RAM?
Because a CPU upgrade or GPU upgrade is bound to be far better.



There are only a few cases where I know that high RAM might be needed.

Heavily modded City Skyline. We're talking 100+ or maybe even 500+ mods.

This game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1649240/Returnal/
But it might just not be true.

Doing ridiculous stuff like filling an open world game like Astroneer with a million TNT.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

32 GB is plenty, only few games currently have 32 GB as recommended requirements so 32 GB trend has barely started and this will be fine for quite a while.

[UserNotFound]

My main rig was just upgraded to 2x 16GB RAM a few months back, now building a 2nd rig and it'll alao have 2x 16GB of system RAM as sell.

[Overseer]

64 would be absolute overkill and a waste of money. That much RAM is also much harder to get to run at fast speeds.
Keep an eye on the systems memory load. Use HWiNFO and check where the max peaked after gaming.

[Fluffy BUNNY]

My Computer was made Back in 2018. I had made it with 32GB, honestly Its enough. I play some of the newer games, and my main bottleneck is CPU and Videocard. So mabie use the money on a slightly better CPU and Videocard. Ram tends to sell well, and you can always change it out. Sell it, and use that money for higher GB ram.

[Apollo702]

Keep something else in mind:

This is highly subject to the individual game designs...

But many games should first use the poorly named video memory from the graphics card- much less from it's not as efficiently used system memory.

Why is video memory poorly named? The graphics card rarely is handling video! It is a graphics card. They need to name it "graphics memory" for crying out loud!

Having said all that, if someone is the rare person who is a true power user then they might have games open and a bunch of other things running in the background... OK, then load the system on up!!

[AmaiAmai]

I only use 16GB and have little issue, 32 GB I can see as a useful upgrade for compiling code, editing, or other tasks that aren't gaming. Running a server on your PC, Virtual Machines, or doing some type of research work are tasks you might care about 32 GB+ of RAM.

The last case is if you wanted to be sure of the type of memory you are getting; better binned chips are usually put on the larger memory kits because the people paying for those larger kits aren't playing when it comes to use.

But that's not worth the investment IMO.

Other than that, 64 GB is more for clout...

[Daggoth]

If they're going to have the computer for another year or so, 32gb will be fine for 95% of gamers. Many games will still run on 8gb, and 16gb is the normal base point these days, but some big games/sims like more ram. If they run DCS World for instance, 32gb is heavily recommended.
64GB isn't needed for games yet, unless you've loaded them up with mods and things that bloat it out.

If they're going to hold onto it for longer, and it's not an issue in regards to finances and whatnot, just get 64GB. Simply because DDR4 will be hard to get then (as new boards use DDR5) and undoubtedly there'll be something that'll make the computer want a bit more ram. They'll load up on mods, get into AI stuff, run Unreal Engine Editor into the ground, or something else beyond 'just gaming'.

Of course, it's just as likely they'll just dump the entire old kit and grab a new one at that point, in which case the 64gb will go without it's moment in the sun... but hey that's what happens when trying to prepare for the future.

There's no real need for 64gb at the moment, but there's no problem in having it if you want to give it to him.

[Illusion of Progress]

As someone with 64 GB, it's totally unnecessary for a PC that is just doing gaming as its heaviest task. It's like putting a 10 or 12+ core CPU in a gaming PC. Sure, people do it... but you don't NEED to. You do it if you're an enthusiast doing it JUST for the reason of "it's my money and I want it" (this is a valid reason by the way).

While there are certainly a number of circumstances where 64 GB can provide a use for some fringe gaming cases, it's mostly a handful of cases that only make the claim "64 GB can be beneficial for games" technically correct (Cities Skyline might be the one obvious example that comes to mind), but still wrong in reality because it's still not needed. Right now it's not needed and won't be for a long time. Even 32 GB is going to be more than fine for a while. 16 GB is falling out of favor with SOME situations, but even that will be enough for a while.

Get 32 GB and you'll have enough (probably more than a lot of the time) for the life of the system if all he is doing is gaming.