I use my pc (windows 7) for stock trading, excel and web browsing( lots of tabs open). No games but I do have 6 23"monitors with 3-4 trading platforms running at the same time. I currently have 8gb of ddr3 and when i pull up task manager during the day its not uncommon to see it using 6.5gb of ram. I don't think i've ever seen it go above 7. My question is will adding another 8 gb of ram be helpful, or since I am not maxing it out is it just a waste?
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Newbie RAM question?
- Thread starter stang3O2
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If you have an SSD, I wouldn't bother. If you don't have one, I would invest in an SSD. It will do a lot more towards speeding up your system than expanding the amount of memory you have for cache.
Just leave task manager open for an extended amount of time and see if you do exceed 7.5 gb. If you don't even come close, more RAM isn't necessary, and you should save your money for something else.
Just leave task manager open for an extended amount of time and see if you do exceed 7.5 gb. If you don't even come close, more RAM isn't necessary, and you should save your money for something else.
I do have a 120gb intel SSD. My system isn't slow just wondering if it will help since its only $50 to double the ram, but no need to waste it. Maybe I should put it towards a better processor, my Intel Sandybridge i3-2100 3.1ghz stays around 50% the whole trading day on all 4 cores. After the trading session is over and the data flow stops it goes back down to almost nothing.
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This is the [H]. No amount of RAM is too much. But seriously. I would get another 8.
Let's say hypothetically you had a single hard drive disk in your system. If your hard drive was 90% full and even though you don't see yourself using the last 10% in the very near future you wouldn't buy a new drive for extra capacity or replace it with a bigger one? Same concept here.
I'd be the first to tell people they're wasting money upgrading their memory if they can't find a specific use for the upgrade especially in these 8GB to 16GB instances. However in this case if you're pushing 7GB out of 8 on a routine basis you'd really want to step up for some headroom. If OP was running a X58 platform 12GB would be perfect. But since I'm assuming he's running a dual channel setup 16GB is the next viable upgrade without having to mix and match kits.
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Since you have an i3 at 50% load, it's very possible that your two cores are getting fully maxed out, since the other two cores are only logical hyperthreading.
I would say you might want to step up to an i5 quad-core, preferably one with higher clock speeds.
The analogy doesn't quite work because load usage patterns are relatively static. Unless he is going to run 2 or 3 more trading sessions or game while running those trading sessions (which seems extremely counter-productive), his load patterns won't change. Whereas with a hard drive, you can download games and movies on a whim, so you will want space for that.
I would say you might want to step up to an i5 quad-core, preferably one with higher clock speeds.
The analogy doesn't quite work because load usage patterns are relatively static. Unless he is going to run 2 or 3 more trading sessions or game while running those trading sessions (which seems extremely counter-productive), his load patterns won't change. Whereas with a hard drive, you can download games and movies on a whim, so you will want space for that.
The analogy I described absolutely does work. However, the spin you took on it makes it seem otherwise. While there is some truth to what you say about memory usage being relatively constant, it's not always so.
He's using several other programs alongside the trading sessions such as a web browser with lots of tabs open. That's just one of several variables that you simply can't account for with the limited information OP has provided.
It seems to me Tsumi, you have your opinion on it and I have mine. Although it's ironic because you have 32GB in your system while I'm only using 8GB and we're each trying to convince OP to the contrary.
Stang, as you can see I'm only using 8GB. If I were in your position and I'm coming close to maxing out my ram, I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I have to open another session to try to make an important trade or some other similar situation and my system isn't up to the task because I didn't invest that extra $40 to avoid this exact situation.
He's using several other programs alongside the trading sessions such as a web browser with lots of tabs open. That's just one of several variables that you simply can't account for with the limited information OP has provided.
It seems to me Tsumi, you have your opinion on it and I have mine. Although it's ironic because you have 32GB in your system while I'm only using 8GB and we're each trying to convince OP to the contrary.
Stang, as you can see I'm only using 8GB. If I were in your position and I'm coming close to maxing out my ram, I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I have to open another session to try to make an important trade or some other similar situation and my system isn't up to the task because I didn't invest that extra $40 to avoid this exact situation.
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I have 32 because I got it for an incredibly low price (all 32gb for less than $50, one pack). At that price point, would you pass it up?
Anyways, I have since switched to using 8gb of 2133 mhz Corsair Dominators that my cousin was no longer using.
Tabs don't take up that much memory. You need to have at least 50 tabs to have higher than normal RAM usage for your internet browser. He said he's usually around 6.5gb, and never exceeds 7. He still has 1gb of space to go, not to mention he has an SSD, which means swap would happen relatively quickly should he ever exceed 8gb.
However, based on his last post, I think a CPU upgrade might be more worthwhile if he's pegging at 50% CPU usage with that core i3. A higher clocked Core i5 would might be better, but it's also significantly more expensive than a RAM upgrade.
Anyways, I have since switched to using 8gb of 2133 mhz Corsair Dominators that my cousin was no longer using.
Tabs don't take up that much memory. You need to have at least 50 tabs to have higher than normal RAM usage for your internet browser. He said he's usually around 6.5gb, and never exceeds 7. He still has 1gb of space to go, not to mention he has an SSD, which means swap would happen relatively quickly should he ever exceed 8gb.
However, based on his last post, I think a CPU upgrade might be more worthwhile if he's pegging at 50% CPU usage with that core i3. A higher clocked Core i5 would might be better, but it's also significantly more expensive than a RAM upgrade.
Like I've said in several posts in this forum, I don't recommend RAM upgrades for the sake of "future proofing" or e-peen. The user must have a specific use for that amount of RAM to actually see a return on the investment.
The SSD does help move things along, but in this instance there's no reason to be cutting it so close when the upgrade is so cheap. That way if even if OP does indeed exceed 8GB in the near future with talking present to two years time it's there for him.
I'm going to bed now.
The SSD does help move things along, but in this instance there's no reason to be cutting it so close when the upgrade is so cheap. That way if even if OP does indeed exceed 8GB in the near future with talking present to two years time it's there for him.
I'm going to bed now.