Drawbacks 12gb vs 16gb?

dancook

dancook

dancook

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Are there any drawbacks going for 16gb ram instead of 12gb?

I haven't picked a specific motherboard yet, but I'd be interested in how it affects overclocking as well.
 
The more slots that are used up, the more "strain" it puts on the motherboard and reduces the maximum successful OC on the system.

More memory added after about 8gb doesnt really speed up the pc - it just allows more stuff to be open without slowing down the PC. ;)
 
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Alasdairhurst said:
The more slots that are used up, the more "strain" it puts on the motherboard and reduces the maximum successful OC on the system.

More memory added after about 8gb doesnt really speed up the pc - it just allows more stuff to be open without slowing down the PC. ;)
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Thanks, I am likely to actually be using this RAM. I'm estimating usage of 10-12gb RAM. But if it spills over that, I wonder whether it's best to have 16gb just in case or whether it will detrimentally affect the performance of the pc.
 
I am running Win764 with 8gb of XMS3 (4 x 2gb sticks)
even working with CS4 i never use more than 6gb when rendering
on idle in Windows i only use 1.4gb
unless you are using cs5 i cannot see the point in going over 12gb
 
groovesection said:
I am running Win764 with 8gb of XMS3 (4 x 2gb sticks)
even working with CS4 i never use more than 6gb when rendering
on idle in Windows i only use 1.4gb
unless you are using cs5 i cannot see the point in going over 12gb
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I'm sure there are more applications in the world than Adobe Creative Suite :D

I multi-box World of Warcraft, I run five copies of the game simultaneously on one PC.

The game + addons is quite a memory whore, then multiply that by 5.

In particular I can play it fine during 5man dungeons, but when there are a lot of characters on the screen like in the cities, or Raids, I can experience sluggish framerates.
 
Sorry, it was not my intention to come across as arrogant.
I was using CS as a benchmark as it is a cpu & memory intensive program.

You never said you were running 5 instances of WOWC.Which would have obviously have made a difference in my initial reply!
 
If you get a dual channel system youll be getting either 4 8 or 16, no point 12, however if you get a triple channel system then it becomes 6, 12 or even 24, which platform are you looking at?
 
no worries groovesection

95thrifles said:
If you get a dual channel system youll be getting either 4 8 or 16, no point 12, however if you get a triple channel system then it becomes 6, 12 or even 24, which platform are you looking at?
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You're right, why am I considering dual-channel? I'm assuming triple channel is better (from it's name and a quick google search!)

http://techreport.com/articles.x/15967

So I might as well consider 12gb for now, trying to find out what to look for - for over clocking potential.
 
dancook said:
You're right, why am I considering dual-channel? I'm assuming triple channel is better (from it's name and a quick google search!)
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The number of memory channels comes down to which platform you pick.

All AMD are dual channel.
Intel core i7 are triple channel
The shiny new Intel core i5 Sandy Bridge are dual channel.

I think the Sandy Bridge are generally regarded as the fastest for gaming but for running 5 wow instances I don't know. Maybe an AMD x6 chip would show a benefit with it having 6 cores.
 
Some serious dedication, buying 12GB of RAM for WoW! :p

Then again, I play WoW quite a lot myself, and I have 8GB. :o

I would say go with 12GB for now, if triple channel.
 
Fourstar said:
The number of memory channels comes down to which platform you pick.

All AMD are dual channel.
Intel core i7 are triple channel
The shiny new Intel core i5 Sandy Bridge are dual channel.

I think the Sandy Bridge are generally regarded as the fastest for gaming but for running 5 wow instances I don't know. Maybe an AMD x6 chip would show a benefit with it having 6 cores.
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Oh I see, well from what I have learnt today. I'm thinking 2600k Sandybridge, Asus P8P67 DELUXE, Corsair Vengeance 12GB, Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator.

I have ummed and arred about the AMD because of the 6 core. But without anyway of really knowing if it would benefit it - i didn't want to take the risk.
 
Darkman said:
Why?

I've never played WoW, I'm just genuinely curious.
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When I started playing WOW, it was a time when it took ages to get groups for dungeons, and I got fed up of wasting my time sat in the city searching for players to fill spots.

Then when you got in a dungeon, often you would be against other players when trying to win loot!

Then when I found out about multiboxing. I found that I could play five characters simultaneously and go through dungeons - and keep all the loot! I could do this time after time with no time wastage, much fewer wipes and much more killing efficiency!

It also became an added challenge to which I found it difficult to go back to controlling just one character :)
 
dancook said:
Oh I see, well from what I have learnt today. I'm thinking 2600k Sandybridge, Asus P8P67 DELUXE, Corsair Vengeance 12GB, Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator.

I have ummed and arred about the AMD because of the 6 core. But without anyway of really knowing if it would benefit it - i didn't want to take the risk.
Click to expand...
I suspect the Sandy Bridge will end up faster especially if you overclock it a bit.

They are however dual channel so you'll need to decide between 8 or 16GB ram. In theory you could combine 2*4GB + 2*2GB to get 12GB but mixing different sized memory modules could cause you instability problems if the modules don't match well enough. I'd leave that approach well alone.

Out of interest what graphics card do you run? Must take a real beating!
 
I was running 4870 which was coping pretty fine. Now I've got a gtx480, so once i've sorted out the cpu/ram bottleneck it should be pretty good!
 
I'm so curious now to see how your desktop looks like when running WoW :p.

As the others have stated, Sandybridge is dual channel so you can only get 4gb/8gb/16gb. You could try the 2x4gb + 2x2gb idea, but as Fourstar said there could be problems fron that.

Also a note, there are currently problems with the Sandybridge chipset. I would consider waiting for Intel to sort this out, but apparantly as little as 5% is only affected.
 
Here is a performance comparison between i7 950 & i7 2600K
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=100

This page has a WOW benchmark if you scroll down. closest to the 950 is the 975 which runs 10% faster (3.3GHz vs 3GHz).
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

At stock speeds the 2600K leads 975 by around 15%. Of course running multiple instances could do anything to the figures.

On one hand the 2600K giving the performance and easy overclocking but with the spectre of having to RMA the mobo for a replacement when Intel can produce an updated chipset. On the other the 950 giving solid performance, availability and the useful 12GB memory capability.

I think my money would go on a 2600K. Well it would if I didn't go the AMD x6 route a few months back :)
 
Thanks I've specced up the following

223919d1296854104-video-card-upgrade-specc.jpg


Will the pro version of the motherboard be fine for OC, I read the deluxe is better - but it can't be that bad.
 
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