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Do I need to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB of RAM?

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FreedomEclipse said:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/power_user


Also. forcing your PC to the point where using pagefile is critical when it comes to an SSD can really have a detrimental effect on the SSD as all the writes that pagefile makes from file swapping will eat away at the NAND.

Why do you run 16GB on Delta when you can run 4GB and just make use of page/swap file? Its a silly question is it not?
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worrying about writes on modern ssd? Move on... no issue there.
 
EarthDog said:
worrying about writes on modern ssd? Move on... no issue there.
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I'm not sure. Toothless got an SSD not too long ago and he's already written terabytes to it in a month. It depends on how hard you hit the SSD. Also swapping out from an SSD does stills impact performance, just not as bad as if it were a spinning disk. There is no proper replacement for more memory than getting more memory. :p
 
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We can all search and find exceptions if you want to split hairs/be pedantic about it, but come on... modern SSD's are good for well over 100TBW, and most are rated for 10's of GB /day writes. With that in mind, seems like even toothless is good through the drive's likely 3 year warranty. ;)

+1 on the PF still being slow on an SSD. Let's think about it... while it will be better, you are still in the area of, 500MB/s (for large files). Ram is 19/20K MB/s... not even close. So while it is better than 150MB/s from a spinner, the SSD still isn't close
 
Thanks for all of the replies!

This is what I have now:
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)

I am looking at this:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Here is my mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H LGA 1155 Intel Z77

Would the G.SKILL be okay? Is it compatible with my mobo? If I decide to bump it up to 16 GB, should I go for 1600 or higher?

EDIT: I forgot to add that I have 2x4GB now and only 2 RAM slots.
 
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Why not just get another 2x4GB sticks of the same kind you have now? It is bound to be cheaper than going 2x8GB and if you ever really needed 32GB, I bet you would already be considering upgrading the platform at that point. Also memory above 1600 doesn't tend to have any tangible benefits on modern X86 cores unless you're feeding a ton of them. Honestly, I don't even think my tower has the XMP profile loaded for 2133Mhz and is running JEDEC 1600Mhz timings and I honestly notice zero difference in usability.
 
Aquinus said:
Why not just get another 2x4GB sticks of the same kind you have now? It is bound to be cheaper than going 2x8GB and if you ever really needed 32GB, I bet you would already be considering upgrading the platform at that point.
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Oh, I forgot to add that I have 2 x 4GB in now and I only have 2 slots for RAM.
 
testudo said:
Oh, I forgot to add that I have 2 x 4GB in now and I only have 2 slots for RAM.
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Could you tell us exactly what motherboard you have? Searching what is in your specs is only giving me pictures of motherboards with 4 DIMM slots.

If you have have 2 slots in total, then 2x8GB is your only real option.
 
Aquinus said:
Could you tell us exactly what motherboard you have? Searching what is in your specs is only giving me pictures of motherboards with 4 DIMM slots.

If you have have 2 slots in total, then 2x8GB is your only real option.
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Here is my mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H LGA 1155 Intel Z77
 
you have 4 slot and you have already 2x4gb then either sell those 2x4gb and get 2x8gb (what i did) or just grab a 2x4gb kit of the same brand model speed and timing. ie: 2x4 gb ARES 1866 (C9 or 11 i presume) do not mix brand or model.

2nd ie: for me it would be 2x8gb G.Skill Trident X 2400 C10

@Aquinus it was just a misunderstanding because he meant "i have only 2 slot on 4 left open"
 
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Thanks! Like with the new GPU I ordered, I said screw it and I just ordered 2x4GB of the RAM I have now. Why not, right lol?
 
Aquinus said:
With the page file turned off,
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i do never use that crap.....

Pill Monster said:
Sounds like something a salesman would say... :D
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correct ... not a valid argument i guess....

Pill Monster said:
The only real reason to do it is if your system runs out of physical and starts paging to disk (for those 27 die-hards still using a pagefile :p).
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there is people that will defend that file ....dot want to argue with them and i bet you neither...

rooivalk said:
16GB would be an improvement but I think it's rather miniscule. If you have plan to upgrade to Skylake, better stay with 8GB for a while.
I don't really believe RAM usage reading. It seems like apps/games will allocate RAM as much as they can not as they need.
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yeah right .... spend minimum $500 or a try out on a new system when $89 at amazon can get you a decent 16GB kit for all your problems... invalid argument... OP have a pretty decent system...


testudo said:
Thanks for all of the replies!

This is what I have now:
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)

I am looking at this:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Here is my mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H LGA 1155 Intel Z77

Would the G.SKILL be okay? Is it compatible with my mobo? If I decide to bump it up to 16 GB, should I go for 1600 or higher?

EDIT: I forgot to add that I have 2x4GB now and only 2 RAM slots.
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nice kit, i preffer kingston ... hyperX fury is pretty cheap now days
your motherboard have 4 memory dimm slots fella...

Aquinus said:
Why not just get another 2x4GB sticks of the same kind you have now? It is bound to be cheaper than going 2x8GB and if you ever really needed 32GB, I bet you would already be considering upgrading the platform at that point. Also memory above 1600 doesn't tend to have any tangible benefits on modern X86 cores unless you're feeding a ton of them. Honestly, I don't even think my tower has the XMP profile loaded for 2133Mhz and is running JEDEC 1600Mhz timings and I honestly notice zero difference in usability.
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agreed!
 
peche said:
there is people that will defend that file ....dot want to argue with them and i bet you neither...
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LOL, some people need it, so I never recommend getting rid of it. If your system works without one and you are more than an email/internet (read: basic) user of a PC, consider yourself lucky you are not getting errors. The performance difference is really negligible anyway when you have the proper amount of ram, so, why take the chance for nearly no returns? ;)
 
i have never gotten a problem.... avoiding that file ...
also on my work / cruncher computers i don't have that crap ... no problems so far,


Regards,
 
peche said:
i do never use that crap.....


correct ... not a valid argument i guess....


there is people that will defend that file ....dot want to argue with them and i bet you neither...
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If you're referring to Russunovich I couldn't care less what he says. He says whatever MS tells him to say.

The reason MS even hung onto the pagefile was because their IA32 processors didn't support over 4GB of RAM. AMD64 have never ever needed a pagefile, never.

That's also the same reason why PAE is not required on AMD chipsets, only Intel32. You won't find that documented in Winternals either.

And if you're referring to someone else I'll still be happy to debate the point. I work as a systems engineer so bring it on. ;)


** Actually on second thoughts don't bring it on....I've been in that discussion so many times I'm sick of talking about it. :P

Let and let live....
 
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EarthDog said:
Why not? Its the American way!!!
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oh god .... i follow the american way? .... nope it's the SWISS WAY! (too ... ) nah .... just a earthlings way ... NO COUNTRY! FREEDOM FOR ALL! UTOPIAAAA... wait ... time to get my pills

and for those who answered after me ... WHY RECOMMEND HIM ANOTHER BRAND OF RAM as he already have 2x4gb of one brand model and timing!!! logic PLEASE!

unless he can sell the already owned kit for near the retail price taking a 2x8 is not really a option :D (unlike what i did ... heck i got the 2x8gb, i actually use, for free and gave the 2x4 to a friend )

and waiting for Sky/ohmygod10%faster/lake and DD/notreallyanimprovement/R4 is also not quite the recommendation :D (wait he has a Sandy or a Ivy? oh who care both qualifie for a Skylake upgrade .... ) as even with Skylake out DDR4 will still be outrageously high priced (and i bet manufacturer will not take the opportunity to do some Z170 mobo with DDR3 support ... greedy as they are ... )

and yep DDR3 RAM is cheap enough and still in the race
i got 2x4 gb GEIL Black Dragon 1600 C11 for 40$ ... i don't use them .... i just bought them on a promo with a "why not, it might be usefull someday"
 
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Atomic77 said:
Ram is the easiest thing you can do to help a computer
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This is true, up to a point. One thing that seems to make for more performance improvement is adding a good SSD.
Without a good SSD installed in your system, you don't even have a performance PC.

I find through my own trial and error that 16GB RAM is the sweet spot. It's not too costly and you don't run out of memory.
The only way that I would use 32 or 64 is if I was planning to run a Ramdisk.

Also, buying RAM that matches what you already have is always a good idea for compatibility's sake.
 
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Pill Monster said:
If you're referring to Russunovich I couldn't care less what he says. He says whatever MS tells him to say.
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ponit on that correct!

Pill Monster said:
The reason MS even hung onto the pagefile was because their IA32 processors didn't support over 4GB of RAM. AMD64 have never ever needed a pagefile, never.

That's also the same reason why PAE is not required on AMD chipsets, only Intel32. You won't find that documented in Winternals either.
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another point here...

Pill Monster said:
And if you're referring to someone else I'll still be happy to debate the point. I work as a systems engineer so bring it on. ;)


** Actually on second thoughts don't bring it on....I've been in that discussion so many times I'm sick of talking about it. :p

Let and let live....
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don get it ... :D

GreiverBlade said:
and for those who answered after me ... WHY RECOMMEND HIM ANOTHER BRAND OF RAM as he already have 2x4gb of one brand model and timing!!! logic PLEASE!
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here is people that jst dont read complete posts... also i did recomended but a complete 2x8 GB kit ... no over or using the old one..!

GreiverBlade said:
and waiting for Sky/ohmygod10%faster/lake and DD/notreallyanimprovement/R4 is also not quite the recommendation :D (wait he has a Sandy or a Ivy? oh who care both qualifie for a Skylake upgrade .... ) as even with Skylake out DDR4 will still be outrageously high priced (and i bet manufacturer will not take the opportunity to do some Z170 mobo with DDR3 support ... greedy as they are ... )
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that was my point too.... agreed Sandies and Ivies based systems still enough for couple of years more...

GreiverBlade said:
and yep DDR3 RAM is cheap enough and still in the race
i got 2x4 gb GEIL Black Dragon 1600 C11 for 40$ ... i don't use them .... i just bought them on a promo with a "why not, it might be usefull someday"
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another point here!
 
The point is ram is cheap - and in some very rare instances you may need it. 16GB is always > 8GB given that the kits are so cheap.
Ram amount doesn't matter at all until you run out -- 95% of the time you are fine with 8GB, 99.5% of the time you will be fine with 16GB.

On my work machine I have 16 since i constantly ran out of memory using large datafiles (even some excel operations took it beyond 5GB of usage just for excel). upgrading to 16 made a huge difference.

On a gaming rig 16 won't increase your FPS by any means, but it might allow more stuff to be loaded into memory and save you the occasional stutter here and there.

If you are building or upgrading a gaming rig today, you would be silly to build it with 8GB -- 16GB is the default.
 
Sorry for the confusion about RAM slots. That was my fault. I went ahead and ordered 2x4 GB of the Ram I have installed now. It was only $53 USD. Not too bad, so I got it.
 
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