Is 64gb of ddr a poor investment?

[eddiew]

Let's get past the obvious starter; yes, I actually need more than the 32gb I currently have. I know it's a rare case, but it's my case

But... am I going to find that if I swap motherboard/cpu in a year or two, now I need ddr5 and there's no more ddr4 options?

My natural inclination is a 2x32gb set, but if it's going in the bin when this motherboard reaches the end of its life, I might just limp along with my current 2x16 plus a new 2x8 or something to tide me over until the big upgrade down the line.

 

[eddiew]

With that said though, with the right spec today it should still do what you need it to in a couple of years anyway even if you are using DDR4

If you're planning on replacing CPU soon, e.g. jumping ship to AM5, then I wouldn't. But, if you went for DDR4's last stand (e.g. a high-end 12th gen CPU), then like Choc said, it won't be dated any time soon.

I mean, to be honest, my 8700K@5ghz is doing just fine. Nothing I do seems to need more than 4 threads, so mostly I've got 2 cores idling even under load. The places I'd notice an upgrade tend to be single threaded stuff, and as far as I know, I'll still not find much of an improvement available there. Assuming it all holds together, I could well imagine another 2-3 years out of this same rig.

I guess there's an argument that my board will bottleneck a new GPU because of the old PCI-E version, but I'm still clinging on to a 1060 and only thinking about a 3060Ti - I think we can conclude that I probably won't actually see a problem with that either

But I am starting to bounce off 32gb memory in a couple of places. I'd be happier if I knew the next round of boards will still support it, but if not then I guess I'll make a choice assuming 2 more years before major upgrades. Suspect I could stick in another 2x8 and run a weird 48gb setup and it'd be ok for that long. Probably have to slacken the memory timings a little, but that's usually the last thing that needs optimising anyway...

 

[eddiew]

Higher density DIMMs are also more desirable for later upgrades for people who bought cheaper/oem motherboards that only have 2 DIMM slots.

Hadn't thought of that, but yeah, fair point. Also leaves me the option of putting them into a tiny itx build, should I ever feel the urge. I should see what's available in current ddr4 motherboards for that format, and if any of them have 2x m.2 slots!

 

[eddiew]

It depends on how much you need the 64GB and how long your keeping your current machine.

I mean, "need" is relative. I have a lot of Cities Skylines assets. I want more, but they're already eating ~20gb of memory. Allowing for other things in the background which I may not want to actually quit out of right now, I can quickly add up to ~28-30 in use, and things get a bit clunky.

On the whole, the idea of how long I'm keeping a PC isn't answerable; ask how long I've had the same computer and I'll say I've had it since 1999, but it's had 8 motherboards and CPUs, 12 storage drives, 7 GPUs, 4 PSUs and 5 cases along the way Lots of bit by bit upgrades, the only original parts are probably some of the older files, now living on their third storage medium.

But I've been reading around a bit, and the anecdotal suggestion is that if I throw another 2x16 in with the existing pair, I'm more likely than not to have problems, so I guess I'm in for 2x32 at some point. I'd be lovely if that works in new boards next year, it might interest me in an upgrade for the tech rather than the performance... but if I have to buy ddr5, then I'll just stretch out the one I have as long as it can hold up. I'm not doing anything that challenges the CPU right now, and I can't actually foresee a time when I will, given that the most intensive games seem to be the least interesting to me. I'd need to see a big whack of single thread performance gain to actually feel like there's anything worth buying.

 

[eddiew]

Why would you put it in the bin?

I wasn't really being literal with that, but I don't expect to get much of my money back

Since 8th gen

That is a good point, I should actually check that my board will be ok with 32gb dimms. It might need an update - although I'm fairly sure I gave it one a couple of years ago, which would be in the right timeframe. At least it was one of the premium boards of it's day, so there's a good chance it will be

 

[eddiew]

I remember ddr4 been over 200 for 16gb and 12 to 18 months in it was 60

Yeah, there's a 64gb Patriot kit for only a bit over £200 now And I guess I can look at selling my 2x16 on immediately if I get 2x32 now...

Edit: dangit. Checked the memory compatibility list for my motherboard; does not show any 32gb dimms. Last bios release 2019. That is... disappointing. So if I want 64gb I'm going to have to go with 4 modules and hope for the best.