4gb ram vs 8gb ram for gaming?

Slinkie

Slinkie

Slinkie

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21 Oct 2002
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Hi all,

I am getting back into gaming after a little while off. My PC specs at the moment are

i5 750 @ 3.7
G-Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Ripjaws Memory
2gb 7950 gfz card
1 ssd for os and one ssd for games installations
Windows 7 64

Would another 4gb ram benefit me? It seems quite cheap at the moment. If so should I get another 2 sticks of 2gb each or should I just get 2 new sticks of 4gbs?

Thanks
 
Most games don't use over 4gb but I'd get 8gb Just to be on the safe side. It would also allow more room for playing a game and say having other applications open at the same time.
 
What about 4 2gb sticks vs 2 4gb sticks? Is there much difference in terms of performance assuming all sticks run at the same speed? Does it affect the overclock of the CPU (I'm not really bothered by this, this processor can be pushed more but I am happy where it is at the moment)
 
For gaming you're extremely unlikely to see any benefit over 4gb

It's like paying for an extra set of taps to be plumbed in at your sink on the off chance you'll need them. Which in all honesty you probably never will.
 
I'd say it would be an improvement over 4gb, but not in a way that the games will use all of the ram.

Just that you can still have the few programs you have open normally, and run the game without any ill affects.
 
I saw a big improvement going from 8gb to 4gb when one of my sticks died, performance was overall slower. Now I'm back up to 8gb dual channel my computer is blistering fast again.
 
I say 8Gb at least for gaming. Future proof and still pretty fast 2 sticks vs 4 sticks. Remember the more sticks of RAM you can have the harder it can be to get your OC to stay stable so I would suggest 2. (or get 4x2GB and up VTT and DRam slightly)
 
Quite a few people on here have mentioned in the past how going from 4 to 8 for gaming has improved their experience. I would say 8 off that and in my eyes the more the better. (I have 16 as it was really cheap when I bought mine)
 
The ONLY game I saw an improvement with in upgrading to 8GB ram was BF3. All it improved was my load times when entering a map, and that was when I used to run it from a mechanical drive. I saw no improvement in other titles such as WOW, Fifa 12, BF Bad Company 2.

Minimum these days for gaming though would be 4GB, and most new systems will aim for is 8GB despite no game taking up all of that ram. 16GB is pointless for gaming only.
 
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