8gb of ram worth it?

[Noir Angel]

Absolutely. Memory is so cheap these days, you get a lot of benefit from having extra. It never hurts to futureproof yourself.

[Jaybonaut]

Sorry, but when you are hitting 90+% physical usage (even 80% I consider high), you notice big time the entire system slowing down/lagging, especially when running demanding applications e.g. bf 3

I was referencing those that complain about program ram usage - those that got involved with 'freeing ram' programs or 'ram cleaners' and all that garbage. Yes, the idea is to always use most of your ram so that you don't touch virtual ram as much, which causes the slowdown.

[Jaybonaut]

Nyet on that last comment - I upgraded to 7 *from* Vista (x64 at that), and dual-boot with the WDP on top of that. However, I also multitask constantly (and have since the days of Windows 2000 Professional - my first NT-based OS I ran instead of DOS/9x).

Running multiple applications (large to small) at once, and multicore processors means you are more likely to do exactly that (not less), along with the growing appetite of games and small applications for RAM (amusingly, at the same time, large applications and general OS *housekeeping* tasks are putting themselves on a diet), combined with DDR3 pricing that is FAR cheaper than DDR2 ever was at its cheapest (currently about $5 per gigabyte for general-purpose CL9 DDR3-1333 - even high-grade performance DDR3 is no worse than $7/GB, which is $3 less than general-purpose DDR2-800).

There are two - and only two - reasons NOT to go above 4 GB of RAM today - your motherboard takes DDR2 (price reasons) or your OS is not x64 (because your CPU is not x64 capable). If either (let alone both) are true, upgrade, upgrade, upgrade (at least your motherboard and CPU) - your applications WILL thank you.

Yes this is correct.

[Bulldozer]

I do video editing and for doing multi-tasking media work it's worth it. You won't need that much for gaming surely.

[libertas83]

It really depends. It is very easy to use up all 4GB just from the system itself, a few background programs, and browsing multlple web sites at the same time. 8GB then gives you the headroom in case your multi-tasking needs increase and future proofs the system a bit. 16GB of RAM for heavy usage.

Also, a System SSD drive is huge and most important. If you have limited budget, go with SSD first. My system with 16GB of RAM and SSD is amazing. Everything launches fast and no waiting on disk to do something.

[jasondefaoite]

Forget the RAM upgrade. The priority for an upgrade should be an SSD. You'll see a much larger improvement in the system versus going from 4GB to 8GB of RAM.

[Arceles]

Forget the RAM upgrade. The priority for an upgrade should be an SSD. You'll see a much larger improvement in the system versus going from 4GB to 8GB of RAM.

Went from 6 gb 1333 cl9 to 8 gb 1600 cl9, now guilty gear accent core plus is playable with 60 constant fps on PCSX2 emulator, SSDs just can't do that.

[azspeedbullet]

on a unrelated note, i have 6gb of ram, is it worh the 30 bucks or so to get 8gb or higher?

[Elliot B.]

on a unrelated note, i have 6gb of ram, is it worh the 30 bucks or so to get 8gb or higher?

Depends what you use your PC for, but in general, no - not at the moment.

[migo]

If you have DDR3 RAM, definitely worth going to 8, it's pretty cheap. If you have DDR2 RAM, it's way more expensive, better off just waiting to upgrade.

[migo]

on a unrelated note, i have 6gb of ram, is it worh the 30 bucks or so to get 8gb or higher?

If you're having to replace your current sticks, I wouldn't bother, but if you have a desktop and have open RAM slots, might as well buy some more.

[air-]

currently i have 4gb. specs:

mobo: M4A785T-M

cpu: Phenom II 3.1ghz x4

ram: 4gb ddr3 1333mhz

vid: nvidia gtx560ti

would going up to 8gb be a noticeable difference? i mostly do gaming, with some minor/amateur video editing from my gopro, mostly with windows movie maker.

Yes, I also upgraded from 4gb to 8gb.

Its also great when browsing (having many tabs open,more smooth,etc)...

also vmware now is a blast... all good now.

etc..

It may also depend on what would you spend with an avg of $80 bucks instead of ram.

Like, if your enjoying using your computer then go for it.

if I had your specs I would do my cpu first, then the 4gb ram.

[air-]

Also, a System SSD drive is huge and most important. If you have limited budget, go with SSD first. My system with 16GB of RAM and SSD is amazing. Everything launches fast and no waiting on disk to do something.

Yeah same, on my 2nd SSD now, amazing!

[metro2012]

sadly im on a 32 bit operating system and i am waiting for microsoft to release a windows compatible with only 64 bits to make the jump (lets hope it is windows 9). afterwards ill problably max out my ram

[cork1958]

Personally,

I say no, not worth it at all, for what you're doing.

Memory has always been a fanboy thing discussed for the pure satisfaction of people being able to brag about how much they have.

As far as that one googy question some one above asked about if you have a 64bit OS, I would that was obvious?!

[psionicinversion]

you do realise the original post was from january so kinda pointless posting on this topic now :D

[Jaybonaut]

sadly im on a 32 bit operating system and i am waiting for microsoft to release a windows compatible with only 64 bits to make the jump (lets hope it is windows 9). afterwards ill problably max out my ram

Why? I haven't found a reason to need 32 bit for anything since Vista. I haven't had one compatibility issue at all, and naturally went 64 bit on Win 7 on launch day also.

[tsupersonic]

sadly im on a 32 bit operating system and i am waiting for microsoft to release a windows compatible with only 64 bits to make the jump (lets hope it is windows 9). afterwards ill problably max out my ram

Windows 7 x64 and Windows Vista x64 have been pretty solid for me, and I have yet to find one of my devices incompatible. You're just living in the stone age, if this is why you're sticking to a 32-bit OS, and you're going to continue to be there for a while. People like yourself (and people who don't need powerful hardware) are the reason why we still have 32-bit Windows.

[Guest nicconics]

In this new system I built (i7-3770k, AsRock MB, xfx 7970 gfx card) I went on and maxed the memory in it and it only cost me 160$ I now have 32gb of useable ram. Way overkill, but who knows.