When is 16GB RAM not enough?

Franksi · 19 Sep 2019 at 23:15

interesting debate with one of the guys at work today - we were both talking about our new builds and our components are very similar. The major difference is that my mate thinks 32GB is essential for a 3rd gen Ryzen build - I argued 16GB was more than enough and it was better to have two slots empty.

Who is right? What would drive the need for 32GB RAM?

tamzzy · 19 Sep 2019 at 23:21

When you play city skylines with >800k pop and >300 mods.
(I've got 32gb ram)

Twinz · 19 Sep 2019 at 23:29

Four single-rank sticks can perform better than two. I have verified this with my build. I have read that interleaving(?) is the reason. I'm sure there's a trade-off between maximum memory speed/timings (better with two sticks) vs interleaving (4-ranks), but I just run XMP profile and my MB can do XMP on my RAM with all slots filled.

UberTiger · 19 Sep 2019 at 23:42

When is 16GB RAM not enough?

When my phone doesn't have 16GB yet and my photos app still crashes! :mad:

It's 2019 for crying out loud, all new phones should have at least double digits of RAM! :mad:

In fact, for every year for the rest of the 21st century, all devices (phone, PC, fridge etc) should ship with at LEAST the same amount of ram as the year it is.

So no more devices with less than 19GB of RAM.

In the new year that will increase to 20GB.

We can call it UberTigers Law. Like Moore's law, but a bit more **** and far less scientifically based.

Grafter67 · 20 Sep 2019 at 04:17

"It depends"

Games, rendering, solitaire?

For most people 8 is enough and going up the percentiles, 16 is easily enough for the vast majority.

I have 32 purely because the price came down and/or I was drunk and double clicked when ordering.

Drumroll · 20 Sep 2019 at 04:49

Was using 16gb for a while, no problems whatsoever. Only went for 32gb as I was worried that at some point the prices would increase or be unable to order similar kit to my first one. But never seen, under my use, go over 16gb though.

NovaKill4 · 20 Sep 2019 at 09:09

I'm still running 8GB and never hit any ram issues while playing a variety of different games, my GPU has more memory than my PC.

subbytna · 20 Sep 2019 at 10:26

Grafter67 said:
"It depends"

Games, rendering, solitaire?

For most people 8 is enough and going up the percentiles, 16 is easily enough for the vast majority.

I have 32 purely because the price came down and/or I was drunk and double clicked when ordering.

HA

Greboth · 20 Sep 2019 at 10:46

It really comes down to what are you going to be doing with your PC and what is your friend going to be doing with theirs. If (mostly) gaming then 8Gb minimum though I'd say go for 16Gb as it gives some future proofing and no need to upgrade in the future. Conversely if you're going to be doing 3D modelling, rendering, CFD (or other intensive processes) then I'd consider upping to 32Gb. Though the sky is limit when it comes to these sort of tasks and you could go up to Tb's of RAM if you really wanted.

Freddie1980 · 20 Sep 2019 at 13:34

It's not so much of 'not enough' it's a case of balancing the amount of ram with you overall budget and usage requirements. Take @NoaKill4 above, 8Gb of ram is still good for most gamers out there and if you looking to build a new budget PC (<£500) 8Gb is enough to get you up and running and into PC gaming. At the other end you would reasonably expect to see >£3000 PC with at least 32Gb (or maybe 64gb if it's workstation/project focused with a lesser GPU).

Just for the record my PC which is in urgent need of an upgrade currently only has 4Gb's of ram (as it crashes with both sticks installed) and I get major stuttering in open world titles like Space Engineers so it's safe to say that 4Gb's in now dead in the water (unless you play exclusively older titles).

Cooper · 20 Sep 2019 at 13:50

When it comes to memory and its volatile commodoties based pricing, always buy as much as you can afford. Its why I went for 32GB of the stuff for £150, knowing I may not need all of it now but it could easily double in price over the lifetime of my PC and its only a matter of time before 32GB becomes the recommended amount for gaming.

Deleted member 77746 · 20 Sep 2019 at 15:05

Monitor your ram usage and if you are using 13GB I would say then it's time to decide.

adidan · 20 Sep 2019 at 16:21

Grafter67 said:
I have 32 purely because the price came down and/or I was drunk and double clicked when ordering.

^ pretty much this

NovaKill4 · 20 Sep 2019 at 16:30

Cooper said:
When it comes to memory and its volatile commodoties based pricing, always buy as much as you can afford. Its why I went for 32GB of the stuff for £150, knowing I may not need all of it now but it could easily double in price over the lifetime of my PC and its only a matter of time before 32GB becomes the recommended amount for gaming.

This.

When i built my PC, 8GB was all you needed, 16 GB was considerd overkill and unnecessary, now though 16GB is the standard for any mid to high performance gaming pc and 32GB is considered unnecessary.
16GB is all you need but in 5+ years time 32GB will likely be a more popular option, 16GB will probbaly still be fine like 8GB is today.

Robzere31 · 20 Sep 2019 at 17:12

I don't "need" 32gb of ram, but why not

Prices seem to have dropped quite a bit recently, my 16gb of 3600mhz 8 pack cost me £220 last year, just purchased a 2nd 16gb 2nd hand for £90.

varkanoid · 20 Sep 2019 at 17:16

Price of RAM is a big factor. 8gb is still okay for a gaming PC. I had 16gb but changed to 32gb and it only cost me £117 for 2 x 16gb. Although I do a bit of video work so its handy.

4K8KW10 · 20 Sep 2019 at 17:47

varkanoid said:
Price of RAM is a big factor. 8gb is still okay for a gaming PC. I had 16gb but changed to 32gb and it only cost me £117 for 2 x 16gb. Although I do a bit of video work so its handy.

I have noticed that Google Chrome eats memory like for breakfast. One-two tabs with video and loaded >5GB easily.
If the user leaves GC open and starts a game with only 8GB of RAM total, I guess not good gameplay would follow.

4K8KW10 · 20 Sep 2019 at 17:50

Franksi said:
interesting debate with one of the guys at work today - we were both talking about our new builds and our components are very similar. The major difference is that my mate thinks 32GB is essential for a 3rd gen Ryzen build - I argued 16GB was more than enough and it was better to have two slots empty.

Who is right? What would drive the need for 32GB RAM?

Well, I think you are right - 16GB is enough for the vast majority of users.

Freddie1980 · 20 Sep 2019 at 20:26

Video is a year old now but still gives some insight into modern day ram requirements.

- 8Gb is enough for gaming just make sure you close your browser tabs
- For workstation uses (video projects etc) the skys the limit the more complicated the project the more you will need.

233 · 20 Sep 2019 at 20:45

interestingly enough we noticed a big difference on the mac minis we use at work changing from 8 to 16gig and thats only for web based stuff and office 365 apps