8GB or 16GB for gaming?

opethdisciple · 28 Nov 2018 at 21:37

16Gb.

With BFV running my PC uses 8Gb of ram.

aardvark · 30 Nov 2018 at 13:01

i've never had a problem with 8gb but if i was buying new you might as well get 16gb

Apone70 · 30 Nov 2018 at 17:41

You can get 16gb of 3200mhz now for £150 so well worth it

Yadda · 30 Nov 2018 at 18:12

Another vote for 16GB here. It's not vital and many games don't use more than 8 but a few do (I noticed the BFV beta did when I played it) so if you can stretch to 16 now (2x 8's) then I would if I were you. It'll save you either running 4 sticks later on, or replacing your 2x 4's with 2x 8's.

rolypolyman · 3 Dec 2018 at 00:58

Apone70 said:
You can get 16gb of 3200mhz now for £150 so well worth it

Team Group Dark T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey
£82.99 bought on 1st feb 2017. Dont think its well worth it just yet, needs to come down a fair bit yet me thinks.

Apone70 · 3 Dec 2018 at 02:03

Thats crazy!! I just meant compared to what it was a couple months ago but no wonder people are kicking off about memory price fixing

Kelt · 3 Dec 2018 at 03:05

Apone70 said:
Thats crazy!! I just meant compared to what it was a couple months ago but no wonder people are kicking off about memory price fixing

The first PC I built, many moons ago, memory was £30 per Mb...I bought 4Mb for £120 :/

So 16Gb at those prices would be £491,530 (in the nineties so probably double that now!)

You kids today don't know you're born!

rolypolyman · 4 Dec 2018 at 01:51

I just bought 2x8Gb Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200Mhz for £122.39 for my new build, searched high and low for this price and speed. Lol Kelt 'You kids today don't know you're born!' I'm 61yrs young!

Dalandius · 4 Dec 2018 at 05:19

Back in March 2011 I picked up Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8) for £107.99, the following January I got another lot for £71.99. Oddly the updated VENGEANCE 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHZ DUAL CHANNEL KIT (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9) is more expensive now that nearly 8 years ago

16GB helped a lot to make my current system last as long as it has, my next one may even end up with 32GB

ExoMale · 4 Dec 2018 at 14:53

Depends what you play, I have 8gb and does fine, but certain demanding titles does use over 7 lol, 16gb certainly better and if you got the money you might as well get..

I don’t think the [more ram = windows uses more] is 100% accurate, when I had 16gb in my ddr3 I had in the same games etc I was only using 8gb, maybe once I had it go higher, but under 9gb, Windows side of things uses what it needs, 16gb is just playing safe and convenient along with comfortable.

Fluffybob · 4 Dec 2018 at 15:57

8 is ok 16 if you can afford it and 32 if you're an idiot on Black Friday

alphaomega16 · 11 Dec 2018 at 00:45

Currently I have
3570k i5
8GB Ram
1080 GTX

If I play "The Division" if I have everything set to high within 5 minutes ram usage is over 7GB (Not the game itself just total usage) and CPU whilst out and about 90-100% (Mostly closer to the 100) but if I drop to medium CPU drops to ~60-70% but Ram stays between 7-7.5 usage still.

In the process of acquiring a 9700k and 16GB ram, should provide me with a nice boost for the next 5+ years.

CaptainRAVE · 16 Dec 2018 at 12:53

I just upgraded to 16gb. Too often I keep reaching the cap of my 8gb.

Randomface74 · 16 Dec 2018 at 13:09

Always get a bit more RAM than you need - otherwise you'll find a few years on RAM limits you and sourcing RAM a few years on can be tricky. That bit of extra RAM now is a year or two longer system life later, or options like using it for a media PC, or selling it on, etc.

CaptainRAVE · 16 Dec 2018 at 13:29

billysielu said:
Always get a bit more RAM than you need - otherwise you'll find a few years on RAM limits you and sourcing RAM a few years on can be tricky. That bit of extra RAM now is a year or two longer system life later, or options like using it for a media PC, or selling it on, etc.

Good advice. Yup, it hasn’t been easy getting suitable DDR3 ram. Won’t get anymore currently since I will go for a big upgrade by the time 16Gb is maxed out.

ANDREW GREEN · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:09

More importantly

Dual Channel>>>>>Single Channel

I have a single channel of 8mb and am wondering how much boost I'll get from getting an identical stick and going dual channel

CaptainRAVE · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:22

CaptainRAVE said:
I just upgraded to 16gb. Too often I keep reaching the cap of my 8gb.

Have seen X4 use 12gb Ram, so that was a good move!

JasonM · 29 Dec 2018 at 13:36

Checked memory usage on my HTPC last night, over 6GB in use and that was just watching YouTube.

16GB is minimum for any serious machine today.

Also memory is really important not just for programs but for windows caching with standby memory. Data cached in standby memory is faster then even SSD's. This is why it's possible that once a computer has settled a 8GB + SSD can be slower then 16GB + HDD. So if you have ever played a computer game and found the levels load very fast second time around, it's because data has been moved to standby memory.

Tiny Clanger · 31 Dec 2018 at 09:49

billysielu said:
Always get a bit more RAM than you need - otherwise you'll find a few years on RAM limits you and sourcing RAM a few years on can be tricky. That bit of extra RAM now is a year or two longer system life later, or options like using it for a media PC, or selling it on, etc.

Wise words! I was toying with the idea of going from 8Gb to 16Gb (to finish off the 'cheap' upgrade to my ageing PC) but finding DDR3 2400MHz memory is like looking for hens teeth...

smogsy · 31 Dec 2018 at 09:54

Mr G said:
Currently building a PC for my daughter for her college work and some gaming, Overwatch, Sims 4 and Destiny 2.

How much memory does her build really need? I'm getting mixed advice from 8GB 3000MHz to 16GB?

just going to add BF V + win10 uses 11GB on my system.