16GB to 32GB - is it worth it in an old PC?

Angilion · 18 Jul 2022 at 16:16

My once high end PC is old now. i7 4790K (running at 4.4GHz all cores), 16GB DDR3. I'm still wondering if maybe keyboard and mouse support will come to consoles (I mean really come to consoles, not something possible but rarely supported by games) so I'm not really in the mood to buy a whole new PC, which is what I'd have to do for any significant upgrade. New motherboard, new CPU, new cooler, new memory...probably need a new PSU too...may as well get a whole new PC and just move the drives over. I've lost interest in building PCs for the sake of it, so replacing most of a PC into the same case no longer holds any appeal for me.

Anyway...I was idly wondering if 32GB would be worth having over 16GB for games. I know it would be for 7 Days to Die, but that's only because it's so badly written. But it prompted the thought. ~£40 for 2x8GB DDR3 nowadays, may as well do it. Or so I initially thought. When I built this PC, it was high end. So I put what was then high end memory in it. DDR3-2400 aka PC3-19200. CAS 11. Requires 1.65V. Not a standard spec. Not available from OcUK. Not available from the manufacturer's website. Probably not made at all any more. I saw some for sale for £80. Probably leftover stock that's been sitting in a box for years. Or second hand. £40 is an impulse buy for me. £80 isn't. Not with bills the way they are now. Not for an old PC.

But maybe it's worth it. Opinions welcome.

kmax86 · 18 Jul 2022 at 16:39

I would prbbly start by checking CPU, GPU, and RAM usage when you are playing your favourite games. That would give a much more accurate answer if the upgrade to 32GB will be worth while.

Armageus · 18 Jul 2022 at 16:46

Only worth it if you could pick up a cheap 32GB set from the MM and resell your existing (rather than trying to match your existing with another set)

Equally though, no harm in sticking a wanted ad on the MM to see if people have anything matching (even a matching 2x4GB kit of the right speed would help and give you 24GB)

Rroff · 18 Jul 2022 at 16:52

I'd have thought for any games where 32GB is an advantage over 16GB the CPU would be holding you back at this point.

arknor · 18 Jul 2022 at 17:16

32gb just means windows has around 20gb in it's stand by cache.
I've not seen above 14gb actual usage yet gaming at 3440x1440 if that makes any difference which I don't think it does.

adding more ram likely does nothing for you

teenwolf · 18 Jul 2022 at 17:17

16gb is plenty

Tetras · 18 Jul 2022 at 20:34

£40 would almost buy you 16GB DDR4 and we're getting to a stage even an i3 is an upgrade, so I'd hold off.

JollyJamma · 18 Jul 2022 at 21:19

Anyway...I was idly wondering if 32GB would be worth having over 16GB for games.

No. 16gigs is fine.

tamzzy · 18 Jul 2022 at 21:40

not worth it. upgrade and move on

233 · 18 Jul 2022 at 22:06

depends on memory prices and what you want to run in the background,
i regularly see my system using 24-25bgb running anno 1800 spotify and a few chrometabs and mail client in the background. christ my windows system is currently showing 20.3gb in use atm with anno in teh background paused and a half dozen chrome tabs open that said also showing 13/14 % cpu usage on a 3600x

give windows more ram and it will utilise is you dont need it but its nice to have. especially if you do anything productivity related, for comparison my old mac pro runs 96gb of ram and makes good use of is but its used for work rather than play

Pottsey · 18 Jul 2022 at 22:13

If you can get it cheap enough and you don't plan to upgrade any time soon it can be worth it. I upgraded to 32gb+ and often break past 16gb.

goldy6660 · 18 Jul 2022 at 22:14

When I had the 4790k I upped my ram to 32 purely because why not. It used more because more was available to use and it was a cheap upgrade.

arknor · 19 Jul 2022 at 08:42

233 said:
i regularly see my system using 24-25bgb running anno 1800 spotify and a few chrometabs and mail client in the background. christ my windows system is currently showing 20.3gb in use atm with anno in teh background paused and a half dozen chrome tabs open that said also showing 13/14 % cpu usage on a 3600x

actual use? stuff in standby doesnt count its not used it's just waiting to be purged

233 · 19 Jul 2022 at 16:52

arknor said:
actual use? stuff in standby doesnt count its not used it's just waiting to be purged

yep but i do leave stuff running in the background quite happily

Armageus · 19 Jul 2022 at 16:55

It's funny to see the double standards - apparently no one needs 32GB ram, but yet when VRAM is mentioned, suddenly everyone needs the biggest available, rather than just dropping the odd largely unnoticeable setting down from Ultra to High

arknor · 19 Jul 2022 at 17:05

Armageus said:
It's funny to see the double standards - apparently no one needs 32GB ram, but yet when VRAM is mentioned, suddenly everyone needs the biggest available, rather than just dropping the odd largely unnoticeable setting down from Ultra to High

seems like a genuine bottleneck to me

lsg1r · 19 Jul 2022 at 17:13

I had, well have 32GB in an i7 4790k, my gaming didn't get anywhere near to using 32GB ram but I don't play anything heavy. However it did get used in other areas like 3D/Graphic Design and video editing etc.

As above though the cpu is likely going to be a bottleneck these days, I'm currently running my old 1060 6GB (waiting on rtx 4000 series) that was in my i7 in my 5950x build and I literally doubled the frame rates in some games. It was actually surprising to see just how much the 4790k was holding things back..

Having said that, if you can pick it up cheap, nothing wrong with having more ram than you need.