4Gb or 8Gb for gaming... I have to decide in 2 hrs plz help...

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amd7674

[H]ard|Gawd
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I'm buying new ASUS M4A77T/USB3 mobo in a couple of hours. Along I'll pick up some G-Skill ram, is $40 worth it going for 8Gb over 4Gb sticks...

I'm planning to keep my rig for the next 3 years or so, mainly for gaming and web browsing.

CPU: PII 965 @ 3.8Ghz
MOBO: Asus M4A77T/USB3
GPU: MSI GTX570
PSU: TX750
OS: WINDOWS 7 PRO 64bit

TIA ;)
 
for $40 bucks more , just get the 8gb

specially if you are looking to use the machine for a while
 
I'd definitely go for it. I have 6gb and can't say I've had a game max that out (other then GTA4), but if you're looking down the road in the next or so you'll see games using more RAM and get your moneys worth.
 
sorry for being dumb ars... but how do you install a pair?

Slot 1 – chan A1 - black
Slot 2 – chan B1 - black
Slot 3 – chan A2 - blue
Slot 4 – chan B2 - blue


WOuld it go to slot 1/2 or 3/4 for dual channel DDR3 config ? or is it slot 1/3 or 2/4 combos?

My Hyper 212+ might be a problem for G-Skill high heat spreaders..... If anyone know please let me know ....

Thanks...
 
Why would you buy two 4GB sticks if you actually have four slots? Lower memory density per stick usually means lower price per GB, so if you buy four 2 GB sticks it will be less expensive than two 4 GB sticks. The GSkill Ripjaw heat spreaders are junk and just marketing, buying normal ram with normal heatspreaders will work just fine.

Dual channel, as the name implies, means TWO channels. If you populate channel A1 and A2 you aren't doing dual channel. Manufacturers tried to visualize this by coloring the slots in pairs.

This really belongs in the memory section.
 
At this point I would go with 8Gb, you'll need to run a 64bit OS in order to use more than 4Gb however.
 
Thuleman,

From what I've seen most of the time it is cheaper to buy 2 x 4Gb vs. 4 x 2Gb... Also by leaving 2 dimms open I'lll have an option to upgrade later if I ever need to. Thanks for confirmation on the channels, which was my follow up queston to my original question if I should buy 4gb or 8gb of RAM for gaming....
 
amd7674 said:
sorry for being dumb ars... but how do you install a pair?

Slot 1 – chan A1 - black
Slot 2 – chan B1 - black
Slot 3 – chan A2 - blue
Slot 4 – chan B2 - blue


WOuld it go to slot 1/2 or 3/4 for dual channel DDR3 config ? or is it slot 1/3 or 2/4 combos?

My Hyper 212+ might be a problem for G-Skill high heat spreaders..... If anyone know please let me know ....

Thanks...
Click to expand...

I just installed a Hyper212+ with Gskill ripjaws. You have to move the fan a few mm higher than normal for it fit over, for my mobo it overs the first dimm slot. I'm not sure how much this affects cooling though, I had a load of ~50C on my 2500k (stock) in prime. Though the heatsink still felt cold the entire time, so I'm guessing it will not significantly impact cooling the heatsink.
 
I'm running 4GB in the i7 system that I built back in September. I've yet to run into any issues where more RAM would help but I'd probably go for 8GB since it's so cheap at the moment. I think I paid $110 or so for my 2x 2GB kit back then.
 
I've got 12GB. I was briefly on 6GB and I think I almost cried a few times. More RAM is always better, given it's quality RAM. Get 8 or more and turn your pagefile off...that's bliss.
 
4GB, not many software applications outside of SQL or VMWare will fully utilize 8GB of memory. But thats just for gaming, if in Windows you do a lot of video editing or large res (RAW) photo editing that RAM will come in handy. If all you do is game, browse the web and listen to music on your pc.. 8GB of RAM is a waste.

note : People who own 8+ GB of RAM are going to try and tell you how wonderful it is. This is part of justifying the cost and feeling like it was a worthwhile upgrade. In the real world, most every single game and application you will use will benefit very little from more than 4GB of RAM. We are on [H]ardforum and people here will buy more of anything just because they can, its not the 90s anymore and doing so doesn't always mean better performance. If you want better performance, instead buy a very fast SSD to compliment your 4GB of RAM and know you may the sound decision when you lay your head at night.

Nothing wrong with 8+ GB of RAM, the more the merrier ... but its just not needed. I could buy 20 hamburgers and be in awe at such a sight, be proud of my 20 hamburgers. But if ultimately I can only eat 2 or 3 of them ... aren't the other 17 really just there to look pretty? Unless of course you're a cow and have multiple stomachs. Looking at hamburgers is pretty cool too, but if costs money to just look at hamburger .. perhaps you're better off being practical.

Buy 4GB, upgrade later when applications you use need it. Be smart with your money. Its 2011, not 1998. It doesn't take a lot of money to build an awesome gaming machine these days and there is very little reason to even upgrade often anymore. Gaming software has hit a plateau and stacking CPUs, RAM etc.. does very.. very little benefit. Your main bottleneck is likely your IO on your drive, so putting an SSD in place will alleviate those slow downs better than stacking RAM.

edit. I do TONS of video/photo editing and I have very little need for more performance. My Q6600 and 4GB of ram works butter smooth for everything.. thats something to think about. I built my machine 3 years ago.
 
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theNoid said:
4GB, not many software applications outside of SQL or VMWare will fully utilize 8GB of memory. But thats just for gaming, if in Windows you do a lot of video editing or large res (RAW) photo editing that RAM will come in handy.

If all you do is game, browse the web and listen to music on your pc.. 8GB of RAM is a waste.
Click to expand...

I browse, keep VS open, run other apps in the background...and kill the pagefile. There's totally a point to that much RAM. No pagefile is bliss. I mean, Windows can't do error logging right...but I don't see ANY BSODs....so who cares.
 
rampantandroid said:
I've got 12GB. I was briefly on 6GB and I think I almost cried a few times. More RAM is always better, given it's quality RAM. Get 8 or more and turn your pagefile off...that's bliss.
Click to expand...

From what I understand you shouldn't disable your pagefile in Windows 7.

Get 8.

The colored RAM slots indicate in what pairs to achieve dual channel.

And yes, 2GBx4 is better than 4GBx2 price-wise.
 
I have run Mass Effect and WOW plus 30 documents at the same time and still not gotten near 4GB according to the Windows task manager. That's with ultra texture settings. You will not be using your 8GB's.
 
the stagnant state of games development due to consoles is pretty much insuring no one will be using above 3GB's of system RAM for gaming or general usage any time soon.
 
MadSkills said:
the stagnant state of games development due to consoles is pretty much insuring no one will be using above 3GB's of system RAM for gaming or general usage any time soon.
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not true plus its not always about gaming and 8gb will help make difference in everyday computing too if running lots of stuff.
 
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I agree with the people saying it won't be useful for gaming but it is so damn cheap, why not.

Maybe you will want to play around with a small ram disk or something.

Go ahead and get an SSD too. :D That is the upgrade that will blow your socks off.
 
wrangler said:
I agree with the people saying it won't be useful for gaming but it is so damn cheap, why not.

Maybe you will want to play around with a small ram disk or something.

Go ahead and get an SSD too. :D That is the upgrade that will blow your socks off.
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when it comes to gaming it does help a little bit. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778-6.html

Summary and Conclusion

"In a 64-bit system with a powerful graphics card, 8 GB of RAM really is a must if you're going to play demanding games. This is the case regardless of whether you're using 32-bit or 64-bit applications. However, even more than 8 GB of RAM can be subjectively noticed while playing. There is no real need for 16 GB of RAM, though. Going with 8 GB is quite enough unless you're running some taxing application in the background. We’ll comment more on this subject later, because the problem is often overestimated, as shown in our 64-bit gaming benchmarks."
 
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wrangler said:
Exactly. Will not change the settings at which you are able to play the game so not worth the reccomendation for purely gaming purposes.
Click to expand...
I doubt anyone purely plays games and it will help with daily tasks if you run a lot of stuff. and funny how the article recommended 8gb or more after doing game testing. with ram prices what they are its silly not to go ahead and get 8 gb.
 
There was a recent article on the web done by a site that stated going between 3gb or 6gb showed little to no change in FPS for gaming.

The only reason why most people end up putting more ram into their systems than what they need is simply cost or boasting reasons.

Some people DO need to have 6gb or 8gb of ram for things they do but take into account a large portion of everyday software is still 32bit.
 
firebane said:
There was a recent article on the web done by a site that stated going between 3gb or 6gb showed little to no change in FPS for gaming.

The only reason why most people end up putting more ram into their systems than what they need is simply cost or boasting reasons.

Some people DO need to have 6gb or 8gb of ram for things they do but take into account a large portion of everyday software is still 32bit.
Click to expand...
and many games showed no difference in benchmarks going from 1 to 2gb either years ago. during actual gameplay it DID help though.

I will quote another part of the article I just linked to that stated 8gb is a must for demanding games...

"The amount of extra available memory can be very hard to measure and quantify in numbers of frames per second, mainly because it leads to improved level loading speeds, higher detail levels, and better-quality textures. Often, the game you're playing will allow for higher graphical options, and there will be fewer artifacts when the system is heavily loaded."
 
If spending the extra $40 isn't going to be a problem financially, may as well. Better to have too much than not enough (though I'll admit I've never really had a problem with 4gb :p)
 
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If this is your primary workstation and gaming rig, get the 8GBs If not, just stick with 4GB. I have 8 in my old 790GX/750 and it runs like a champ for 2 years now (4 2GB Dims)
 
I have 2GB and I never maxed out in gaming neither working with applications. I guess I don't consider myself as multi tasking person or somebody who will open 20 tabs in a browser. My take on this is to buy 4GB RAM with lower timings than 8GB general RAM
 
I reckon just go for 8, its not much more expensive. You might get a bigger overall framerate gain from spending that $40 elsewhere, but more ram is always good :p

Thuleman said:
Why would you buy two 4GB sticks if you actually have four slots? Lower memory density per stick usually means lower price per GB, so if you buy four 2 GB sticks it will be less expensive than two 4 GB sticks. The GSkill Ripjaw heat spreaders are junk and just marketing, buying normal ram with normal heatspreaders will work just fine.

Dual channel, as the name implies, means TWO channels. If you populate channel A1 and A2 you aren't doing dual channel. Manufacturers tried to visualize this by coloring the slots in pairs.

This really belongs in the memory section.
Click to expand...

If you intend to overclock you'll be able to get more out of 2x4gb than 4x2gb, and less likely to have stability issues even at stock clocks.
 
Spiko said:
If you can double anything on a PC for 40 bucks, do it.
Click to expand...

This plus the fact that prices are just dirt cheap *right now*. I hate to cry about it but I bought my 6gb for about $180 a year ago which now go for a little less than half that. I don't go above 4gb running everything I possibly could but for the money, right now, there is just no reason not to for a little future proofing.
 
At this point why not? Newegg had a 2x4gb 1600mhz 1.5v kit on sale for $75 recently.

cannondale06 said:
when it comes to gaming it does help a little bit. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778-6.html

Summary and Conclusion

"In a 64-bit system with a powerful graphics card, 8 GB of RAM really is a must if you're going to play demanding games. This is the case regardless of whether you're using 32-bit or 64-bit applications. However, even more than 8 GB of RAM can be subjectively noticed while playing. There is no real need for 16 GB of RAM, though. Going with 8 GB is quite enough unless you're running some taxing application in the background. We’ll comment more on this subject later, because the problem is often overestimated, as shown in our 64-bit gaming benchmarks."
Click to expand...

Thats Toms Hardware for you. Based on my experience that is just 100% false. For gaming at 1920x1200 there is just no need for 8gb of ram at this point. Maybe for very high resolutions with monster expensive video cards but for the rest of us there is no difference.
 
I dunno there is a thread over in the NBR gaming area with some people (those with 8GB) saying BC2 feels smoother with 8GB vs 4GB, and others (those with 4GB) saying it makes no difference. To be honest... unless if you are strapped for cash, get the 8GB kit. Once upon a time, people believed we would need no more than 64k of ram (16bit limitation).
 
jeremyshaw said:
I dunno there is a thread over in the NBR gaming area with some people (those with 8GB) saying BC2 feels smoother with 8GB vs 4GB, and others (those with 4GB) saying it makes no difference. To be honest... unless if you are strapped for cash, get the 8GB kit. Once upon a time, people believed we would need no more than 64k of ram (16bit limitation).
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It's called the placebo effect. I have owned a system with 8gb of ram. I never saw a difference before or after. I also tried a lot of texture mods and the like in games like Oblivion. I have a hard time believing that a console port and one that isn't even particularly good looking is more demanding.
 
As someone who lives and works in Microsoft OFfice while running games like WoW in the background, sometimes multiple game clients at a time, no, you do not use 8GB for everyday tasks. You barely use 3GB most times. someone can try and post their Task Manager to prove me wrong.
 
MadSkills said:
As someone who lives and works in Microsoft OFfice while running games like WoW in the background, sometimes multiple game clients at a time, no, you do not use 8GB for everyday tasks. You barely use 3GB most times. someone can try and post their Task Manager to prove me wrong.
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I use up 4gb all the time.
 
amd7674 said:
sorry for being dumb ars... but how do you install a pair?

My Hyper 212+ might be a problem for G-Skill high heat spreaders..... If anyone know please let me know ....

Thanks...
Click to expand...

I had interference problems with my gskill heatsinks and 212+ on my gigabyte p55-ud3. I just raised the fan on the 212+ about an 1/8th of an inch and all was well.
 
4 is good, 8 is better.

i7 platform here, so I'm installed in tri's. 6gb, next bump is 12. I haven't come close to getting 6gb filled yet during gaming, so I'm fine for now. I might buy another 6 just cause prices are historically cheap right now
 
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