8 vs 16GB memory relevant if you run lots of Chrome tabs?

[omega3]

I have the option to buy a new XPS 13 with either 8 or 16 GB RAM. I was wondering if 16GB is better when I have alot of chrome tabs (like 20-30 tabs) open at the same time or won't i see much difference compared to 8GB RAM?

 

[UsandThem]

I assume Windows 10 as the OS, so 8GB would be fine as long as it has a SSD. That's the biggest difference compared to having 8GB and having a spinning drive.

But if there isn't a huge price difference between 8GB and 16GB, it wouldn't hurt the extra RAM for future needs. I haven't played with any of the new XPS laptops, so I don't know how easy they are for a user to upgrade things like the drive and RAM in the future.

My 2012 XPS was easy to upgrade, as well as my 2017 Inspiron.

 

[omega3]

I use an XPS 13 i7 8GB (windows 10) from 2015 with at the moment only 14 chrome tabs open, yet according to task manager my memory usage is 63%.

Isn't that something that would improve with 16GB? When is that useful?

Not that I notice any lag at the moment.

 

[UsandThem]

I use an XPS 13 i7 8GB (windows 10) from 2015 with at the moment only 14 chrome tabs open, yet according to task manager my memory usage is 63%.

Isn't that something that would improve with 16GB? When is that useful?

Not that I notice any lag at the moment.

Windows 10 will use most of the RAM it has access to, or at least put it into standby. On my desktop with Chrome open, listening to some music, and browsing multiple tabs, I am still only using about 5GB of my 16GB of RAM. Since I haven't rebooted my PC in many weeks, Windows 10 has put 10GB into "standby", but not in use. However, once I restart my PC, most of that is returned back to free status. If you are only using 63% of your available RAM, adding more will not do anything for you. The extra RAM will mostly go unused by Windows, so it won't help you in any way.

With a good SSD, if Windows has to hit the page file a bit, it's not really that noticeable. With your stated use of the PC, I doubt you would actually use all 8GB of RAM. You can get 16GB, but personally I would not spend the extra money on more RAM that you will not really use if it means not getting a SSD in the laptop. That's where you will get the responsiveness from.

 

[UsandThem]

Just for giggles, I restarted my PC, fired up Chrome, and opened 20 various tabs.

I am using 4.3GB of RAM, with another 1.5GB in standby, and over 10GB free and not doing a thing for me with just a browser open.

 

[Carfax83]

The latest update of Chrome (version 67) now uses an extra 10-13% more memory due to specter and meltdown mitigations, so I'd go with the 16GB.

Or alternatively, you could just use Microsoft Edge instead. Overall, I think Edge is the most efficient browser, especially for mobile platforms.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think that Firefox is actually possibly one of the most current browsers that is fairly memory-efficient, and still has good performance.

I used the Nightly builds, occasionally there's some wonkiness, but generally, things get worked out, and you get the bleeding-edge codebase, with the newest optimizations.

 

[HutchinsonJC]

With a good SSD, if Windows has to hit the page file a bit, it's not really that noticeable.

I wanted to second this. If you don't know what a pagefile is, you should take some time to research that. An SSD makes a pagefile act and respond significantly faster than it ever would on a mechanical drive and because of that, an SSD can mask a LOT of RAM shortcomings.

My 2 cents:
Most people do not need 16GBs of RAM, but do not let me saying this deter you from doing your proper research for YOUR needs. If the limitation of your needs are some 20 tabs open in Chrome, then my opinion is that you do not need 16GBs of RAM.

If you're buying a machine now/today, you should consider your needs and future needs SERIOUSLY if you're buying a device where RAM choices are pre-selected and not able to be upgraded later or if you have a total fear of opening the rig up to upgrade it later. 16GBs will become increasingly more common as time marches on.

 

[Cerb]

Chrome will kill background tabs as memory pressure increases. You can have hundreds of tabs open in 8GB and be fine, it will just suspend or kill old ones as you use up more RAM. Or, you can get extensions for saving memory by actively suspending tabs, like The Great Suspender. IME, even with 32GB and hundreds of total tabs (across several windows, too), Chrome seems to stop somewhere in the several GBs, such that Chome+Outlook+Word+other_bloated_app is what gets you, with little RAM. 8GB can be too little for some normal users, now, that have gotten used to having many programs open at once.

All the same, the new FF Quantum definitely uses far less for the same amount of open pages.

 

[WelshBloke]

Stupid question but how the hell do open tabs use so much memory in modern browsers?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Stupid question but how the hell do open tabs use so much memory in modern browsers?

Security. Chrome starts separate processes for tabs to make it harder for code on a malicious site to steal information from other tabs, like the tab you have open to your bank account or brokerage.

Also, some pages are incredibly bloated all by themselves. I've seen memory usage from a Facebook tab reach 1 GB from all the scripts running on the page. So much tracking....

 

[whm1974]

Security. Chrome starts separate processes for tabs to make it harder for code on a malicious site to steal information from other tabs, like the tab you have open to your bank account or brokerage.

Also, some pages are incredibly bloated all by themselves. I've seen memory usage from a Facebook tab reach 1 GB from all the scripts running on the page. So much tracking....

I had worse, with just a few tabs open with some sites with badly written scripts and lots of media causing the browser to consume 8+GB and and slowing way it down.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I wanted to second this. If you don't know what a pagefile is, you should take some time to research that. An SSD makes a pagefile act and respond significantly faster than it ever would on a mechanical drive and because of that, an SSD can mask a LOT of RAM shortcomings.

This cannot be overstated. If you have low RAM, get more RAM, and if you can't, or can't afford, GET AN SSD. On my quad-core AMD APU laptop, before I upgraded to 8GB of RAM, I used to often hit "Commit Charges" (virtual-memory total usage) of 6-8GB. And with a decent MLC SATA6G SSD in there, I barely got little pauses opening each new page or switching tabs. If this laptop still had a 5400RPM HDD, things would be a LOT more sluggish, and generally usuable, when Commit Charge exceeds total physical RAM. (Monitoring total overall Commit Charge should be a good yardstick if you need to upgrade your RAM, too.)

All the same, the new FF Quantum definitely uses far less for the same amount of open pages.

I'm a long-time Netscape, Mozilla, and now Firefox Nightly user. But I've found it to be decent with memory, lately.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I'm using a dell xps 15 with 8GB and even browsing 25+ tabs it's more than fine even with a slower (but still m.2) SSD inside. The only times I notice any slowdown at all is when I'm playing a 4k 60fps video in the browser with many other tabs open, or have another mildly intensive program or game open along with all my tabs.

On the xps 9560 upgrading the RAM is super easy so going for the 8GB was easy, but the 13in models do have soldered RAM so you have to choose. In that case I might go 16GB.

 

[Yuriman]

For what it's worth, I've been on 4GB of RAM for a few weeks (finally bought some more last night) and it hasn't been as bad as I thought. Outside of playing games, I can't tell a difference. I rarely have more than 10 Chrome tabs open at once, of course.

In games, I have to close Chrome or I'll get stuttering related to swapping, which wasn't present when I had 8GB.

 

[Organik]

You figure each Chrome tab is on average 60mb so X times that by 20 tabs that is 1.2GB . another 1.2GB thats 2.4GB for 40 tabs. As for how much RAM you should have, If anyone asks me with a Windows 7 OS and higher I will say 8GB for a normal gamer normal user. Above that if you do professional work. But for Windows 10 I would say to anyone minimum should be 16GB. The reason being Windows 10 simply takes up more RAM then previous OSes. People might have their opinoin on how 8GB is enough. You trust them or you trust me. hehe

 

[Batboy88]

16gb is absolutely the Minimum imo now.

 

[whm1974]

16gb is absolutely the Minimum imo now.

The OP should buy what he can afford.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just going through my old ebay purchases... some 16GB kits of DDR4, for $56. Those were the days...

 

[whm1974]

Just going through my old ebay purchases... some 16GB kits of DDR4, for $56. Those were the days...

If 16GB of DDR4 was still that priced then I would off the bat be saying go for it.

 

[rsutoratosu]

also depends on what plugin, i have one of those amcrest camera that goes through chrome plugin, it eats 35% by itself.. i have ram ranging from 8gb to 32gb, my issue is plugins, not amount of tabs