going to possibly 32gb ram questions.

[elkido122]

currently got an i7 6700k, 16gb ddr4 3000, gtx1080ti. im thinking of possibly going to 32gb since technically i only have 12gb since windows uses about 3-4 itself. anyone think going to 32gb is worth it for future gaming at 1440p and very high settings on all games??? thanks

 

[UsandThem]

Buying unneeded RAM, at it's highest price in years, for future gaming, doesn't sound like the best plan.

The "very high settings in all games" is a lot more dependent on your CPU and video card. Play a demanding game and leave Window's resource monitor open. You use a whole lot less RAM than you think you use.

Edit: I thought I recognized your username. You were the one asking if you needed to upgrade your 6700k for future gaming. You have the full-blown upgrade itch. Seriously, use your PC for what you do with it. If at some point it is actually unable to do what you need it to, upgrade at that point. There is no such thing as "future-proofing" with PCs.

 

[elkido122]

yep that was me, still think games might use more than 4 cores and 8 threads. correct me please

 

[UsandThem]

yep that was me, still think games might use more than 4 cores and 8 threads. correct me please

You really should get this "future proofing" off of your mind, so how about going all out and build a top-of-the line PC

-Intel Core i9-7920X (24 cores!!!!)
-Another GTX 1080ti to run in SLI
-2 x 1 TB 960 PRO in RAID 1
-64 GB DDR4 4000

Seriously though, maybe then you can just enjoy your very high-end PC for a year without worrying about the future so much. There are people still happily gaming on Bloomfield and Sandy Bridge CPUs. Just enjoy your PC, man. This isn't 1997 where your PC is obsolete in 12-18 months. You have a very fast CPU. You have a 1080ti. Simply enjoy them and play some games, and don't worry about benchmarks and the future!!! There is ALWAYS something bigger, better, and faster being released.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

currently got an i7 6700k, 16gb ddr4 3000, gtx1080ti. im thinking of possibly going to 32gb since technically i only have 12gb since windows uses about 3-4 itself. anyone think going to 32gb is worth it for future gaming at 1440p and very high settings on all games??? thanks

Honestly, 16 is fine right now. I've got 32GB, but when I bought it, it was $100/16GB for 3200, so I didn't think twice about it. I wouldn't do that right now.

Hold off until the price drops or you actually need >16GB.

 

[cjl]

yep that was me, still think games might use more than 4 cores and 8 threads. correct me please

Sure, they might at some point. At that point, you can upgrade, since CPUs will have better performance per dollar at that point than they do currently.

 

[Ratman6161]

Future proofing? The best future proofing is money in the bank. I've been on the upgrade treadmill since my first computer which was an 8088. What I've learned is that whatever I buy today will be cheaper next month. Or ill be able to buy something better for the same money. For example if I had waited just a few weeks my R5 1600 I could have gotten it $20 cheaper. Its ok because the money wasn't important to me...just like to tinker. But I don't kid myself that 6 months from now I could have done either better, cheaper, or both.

There are exceptions to the above. Memory prices are up right now and so are SSD's. RYZEN is still maturing and Intel always has something new on the horizon. So I actually think this isn't all that great a time for a new build if the money is a big factor. So cash in the bank is the way to go if you already have a decent system.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

yep that was me, still think games might use more than 4 cores and 8 threads. correct me please

At some point, games will likely use more than 8 threads. However, why upgrade now in anticipation of that day and in the name of "future proofing"? A better strategy is to wait until that day arrives or when your current rig isn't cutting it and THEN upgrade. It could be several years before the large majority of games need more than 8 threads and by the time that day arrives, there will be bigger, better, and faster CPUs to buy.

If you were on an older platform like me (see below), it might make a little more sense to upgrade now but IMO, not for a 6700k. If it is a case where you just love hardware and want to upgrade to satisfy the upgrade itch, then by all means, go for it. However, as other have pointed out, the price of certain components (specifically RAM and SSD) are relatively high right now, so it might make more sense to wait until later this year when prices are expected to stabilize and (hopefully) start dropping. We all know about the RAM prices, but I've been looking at SSDs and noticed prices on 512 GB and 1 TB SSDs are greater now than what I paid for the same sizes in 2015!

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

OP, not much point in 32GB unless you have some specific uses (eg. tons of VMs, Lightroom / Photoshop with humongous files, etc.)
All my rigs get 8GB (or 12GB for tri-channel setups), with only the gaming ones getting 16GB.

Went with 32GB in my main just because I'd be sticking with Haswell for awhile (based on my experience with Nehalem).
Looks like I was right - 2013 (Haswell launch) to ~2018 (Coffeelake / Skylake-X / Threadripper)

 

[elkido122]

yea it just seems like massively multiplayer games are crazy cpu intensive online, considering i do play in 1440p as well.

 

[Valantar]

yea it just seems like massively multiplayer games are crazy cpu intensive online, considering i do play in 1440p as well.

Unless you're seeing noticeable drops in framerate or other bugs, you really have no reason to upgrade. At all. A CPU is a 3-4 year investment at least these days, and RAM requirements have barely increased in ten years (VRAM is another story). Ten years ago, 8GB was rather extravagant, while now it's still sufficient for the vast majority of games. 16GB is more than you need for gaming. I'd be very surprised if you managed to exceed 12GB RAM in use while gaming (unless you purposely leave Photoshop or something like that open in the background.

Save your money, put it away until you actually notice that you might have any need for an upgrade (as in: you would somehow notice the difference).

Oh, and the resolution you play at has a minimal impact on CPU usage, the GPU is pretty much all that matters there (which is why tests to demonstrate CPU differences are typically set at stupidly low resolutions and quality settings to eliminate GPU differences). The CPU load differences between 1080p and 4k are a few percent at most.

 

[elkido122]

i dont know, my cpu usage in BF1 and overwatch are high. I mean in BF1 its 100% on all cores, and in overwatch 60-70% on all cores. seems high to me and tells me it probably wishes it had more cpu, am i wrong?

 

[Valantar]

i dont know, my cpu usage in BF1 and overwatch are high. I mean in BF1 its 100% on all cores, and in overwatch 60-70% on all cores. seems high to me and tells me it probably wishes it had more cpu, am i wrong?

That might be. BF1 multiplayer with loads of players can be quite CPU-intensive. What kinds of frame rates are you seeing (and what refresh rate do you play at)?

 

[elkido122]

in BF1 i get from 105 to 140fps it truly varies. i play in a 64 player room. 144hz refresh , 1440p on high settings

 

[Valantar]

in BF1 i get from 105 to 140fps it truly varies. i play in a 64 player room. 144hz refresh , 1440p on high settings

If I were you, I would look for an adaptive sync monitor (G-Sync, if you have an Nvidia GPU) rather than a new CPU or more RAM. That'll do more for your gaming experience than any of the other two. Maintaining 144fps in BF1 1440p high is pretty unrealistic, and there will always be a new game coming along that'll knock you down from that frame rate. With an adaptive sync monitor, you'll hardly know the difference.