4 vs 8 gb ram

AresReborn · 15 Dec 2012 at 17:21

I am getting a budget gaming laptop with the following crap:
Intel® Core™ i5-2450M Dual Core Processor
Dedicated GT 630M Graphics (or possibly just intel HD 4000)

I am basically looking to play SC2, Dota 2 and assorted mobas and Diablo 3 as well as a bunch of old PC exclusives.

Would there be any real difference between 4 and 8 gigs of ram for these games with this machine?

new numa hey · 15 Dec 2012 at 18:17

A small difference but it's worth it. Anything over 8GB is just silly.

Infam0us · 15 Dec 2012 at 21:08

oa786gunnerhq · 16 Dec 2012 at 13:11

I would say 8GB is the max you'll require, with RAM I'd be more concerned about speed 1333MHz and 1600MHz sticks are both as cheap as chips!

R088ieS86 · 16 Dec 2012 at 13:18

Would there be any real difference between 4 and 8 gigs of ram for these games with this machine?

Depends on the model, if you use Intels HD4000 then it will use RAM as graphics memory. I think around 1.6GB IIRC. So then you have 2.4 left for system RAM.
The GT630M will have its own memory so all 4GB will be yours.

So if you have the GT630M 4GB, 8GB if you don't would be my recommendation.

MikeHunt79 · 16 Dec 2012 at 14:06

new numa hey said:
A small difference but it's worth it. Anything over 8GB is just silly.

It depends on your usage.

For games and browsing then more than 8gb is excessive, but if you're using ramdisks and have virtual machines, then the extra RAM can only help.

Geo-Gamer · 19 Dec 2012 at 00:12

I had 4gb and bf3 used to lock up so bad it would now and then lock up for a couple of seconds. I then switched to 8 gb and it fixed the issue. I noticed ram usage was over 4.5 gb for bf3.

TheEliteReaper · 20 Dec 2012 at 00:36

id get 8gb just so you know its going to run quick and smooth..

Phil2008 · 20 Dec 2012 at 01:01

4gb should be the minimum now for a average pc

coupe69 · 20 Dec 2012 at 01:16

Geo-Gamer said:
I had 4gb and bf3 used to lock up so bad it would now and then lock up for a couple of seconds. I then switched to 8 gb and it fixed the issue. I noticed ram usage was over 4.5 gb for bf3.

I don't think the OP is expecting to play BF3 on it to be fair, especially if he ends up with the Intel graphics

Bromhead · 20 Dec 2012 at 03:18

I had the same. I was using 4gb ram, I was going to up it to 8gb, but then there was a special deal where 16gb was the same price as 8gb

My system runs smooth as butter now on bf3

Steveocee · 20 Dec 2012 at 20:47

For the minimal difference, go for 8gb

thepolodoc · 20 Dec 2012 at 21:54

I would go for 8gb at the moment.