How much RAM will be in your next PC?

[Rob Williams]

So, I'm curious. With memory prices rather low, for the most part, and motherboards so capable of handling copious amounts of it, if you were to build a new PC today, or are planning to in the near-future, how much memory are you going to toss in there?

Personally, I've been using 8GB in my machine for I'd say about a year, or just over, and I have been very pleased with it. Part of that is because I use Linux, though, because it actually uses almost 100% of it all the time, for pre-fetch purposes. In Windows, I never see near that much being used, but I'm sure I'd get somewhat close once in a while if I used it for more than just gaming.

I'd love to upgrade to a Core i7, but I'm not sure when that will happen. But when it does, I'll be installing 12GB of RAM, even though I know it's going to be a little "overkill". Since I can take advantage of 8GB under Linux as it is, I don't want to back down to 6GB, and because Core i7 is triple-channel, the other option is 12GB of RAM. Plus, since I run virtual machines often, that extra RAM would be much appreciated.

Because memory is so cheap, do you find the urge to put in more than you have to? Or do you still put the bare minimum to save every possible penny on your build? Or do you just not find the need for 4GB+ currently?

 

[Tharic-Nar]

I tend to go for as much as possible with any new build. Next Build will be 12GB. I would love to put 24GB in, but the price of 4GB DDR3 dimms are still outrageous for unbuffered ($1000+ for 12GB kit 3x4GB). ECC DDR3 4GB dimms are cheaper than their unbuffered brethren, even as low as 1/3 the price. But it's all low speed at 1033Mhz. By going with 12GB, it makes upgrading to 24GB expensive since 6 new Dimms are required, rather than buy 3 now and 3 later, due to the cost of the 4GB dims. But by the time i get round to upgrading, i'll probably get a whole new computer (and 4GB dimms would have dropped a fair amount).

I get as much as possible because i deal with graphics, so the more RAM the better. If and when i move into 3D, again, the extra memory will help. But it's not always about getting it for now, but about (as much as i hate the word) future-proofing. Even though you can never future proof a computer, it's important to consider upgrade paths and your general turnover. I don't upgrade or buy computers very often, so i tend to go all out when i can - since quite often, upgrades are always limiting due to a change in architecture. So by the time i get round to upgrading, most of the compatible hardware is no longer available or overpriced. GPU's are different since their limiting factor is usually power, but that's another matter.

Games are still very much 32bit as they are dual or quad threaded. So they're largely going to restrict their behaviour to the 1.8GB application limit, anything consumed over that in a 64bit system will probably be junk or unoptimised caching (just guessing). This probably won't change much for a couple years either, so extra ram is more of a multi-task luxury or restricted to graphics, multimedia, 3D and servers. Don't know that many people that use massive excel spreadsheets, so i can't comment on that.

Ram is one of those things where by you will always find a way to use it. Having multiple browser windows open, each with multiple tabs, multiple documents and pdf's open, listening to music, spreadsheets open and some graphics editing - capped off with an over intrusive anti-virus/spyware/firewall and the OS itself, i'm finding myself more and more in this situation (largely because i upgraded to a 24" screen).

 

[Kougar]

I wouldn't consider memory prices that low, after freefalling through the summer they have begun climbing over the last couple months which is why DDR3 is already roughly at price parity with DDR2. Yet a 2GB DDR2 kit went from $15 is now back up to $45. 4GB kits went from $25 to $65... incredible.

6GB DDR3 kits have gone up, I don't see any kits below $100 anymore, cheapest one on Newegg is now $120. I bought mine for $75, so that should tell you something.

But to answer the question...

I'm sticking with my current 6GB kit for a very long time. Even if I had a hex-core CPU I wouldn't run enough programs to run out of RAM, LinX runs aside. I run a single virtual machine and give it a full 1GB, but even playing games that suck up 2GB of RAM along with background programs aplenty at the same time I've still not observed the system running out of RAM and having to start paging/caching active programs. Throw in 600MB for Opera and 1.4GB for the OS and I still have a full 1GB left the OS tends to fill with cache. If I ever ran out of RAM I'd just start closing down the browser + other programs before launching a game...

I do reserve the right to change my opinion when Windows 8 launches, it's going to be a major release... the last major release went by the name Vista. But by then RAM prices will have plummeted as the manufacturers finish converting factories to DDR3....

 

[Doomsday]

i still use 2GB!! lolZ!

but as for a new PC if i get, if Core i7 then 3GB(still expensive here!) and if Core i5 then 4GB.
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[2Tired2Tango]

One of the biggest myths I love busting is that more ram makes your computer run faster... It does not. What it does is reduce or eliminate the need for swap files on your hard disk, which is what kills your speed.

In AMD, Windows XP machines, which I still build routinely, 2gb is plenty of ram. The systems usually run fine without swap files and with a stripped down version of the os --all that "just in case" crap stripped out-- the machines are far faster than you might expect.

The couple of machines I've built for Windows 7 have been 4gb machines and again the swap file is disabled. Turn off a few services, tweak the Session Manager and you get pretty respectable performance.

Now I should qualify this...

I don't, as a rule, build gaming machines. What I build tends to be mid-range boxes who's primary uses are basic home computing and the odd movie or DVD. My passion is home theatre systems and these can be quite "high end" although the HTPC of choice is usually an ASRock ION 330 in one of it's better incarnations (the new 330 pro is really nice... esata and dual disk drives, 2gb standard expandable to 4gb ram, in the same tiny-shiny box).

Within this constellation most of the machines load up in less than 100mb ram... General applications can bring that up to about 300mb if the machine is kept busy. The extra is mostly needed for occasional big files and ripping CDs or DVDs...

 

[killem2]

I am happy with my 4 gigs, however next upgrade I will probably jump to 6, and get an above average speed.

 

[Kougar]

I've begun folding -bigadv work units, and boy my opinion has changed. Just a single bigadv work unit will balloon into 5GB of RAM.... given than I fold inside a VM, I need about 1GB of RAM for the host OS so suddenly I'm using all 6GB of RAM!

Hypothetically if I upgraded to Gulftown, -bigadv would require an additional 2-4GB, which means I'd need 8GB minimum of RAM just to run Folding@home at full speed. I guess I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for any specials on an extra kit after all.

 

[Psi*]

At least 12 GB