How big of a difference beyond 4gb of memory?

[DrewSG3]

I'm looking to upgrade my computer. Since I don't upgrade very often, I'm going for a quad core phenom/core 2 quad.

But is there a benefit to be had from having more than 4gb of memory? I figure there must be, but I'm wondering whether the cost is justified.

My main uses for my computer is gaming, movie (blu-ray) watching, media server and all the basic stuff.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: DrewSG3
I'm looking to upgrade my computer. Since I don't upgrade very often, I'm going for a quad core phenom/core 2 quad.

But is there a benefit to be had from having more than 4gb of memory? I figure there must be, but I'm wondering whether the cost is justified.

My main uses for my computer is gaming, movie (blu-ray) watching, media server and all the basic stuff.

Do you use photoshop a lot with large image files ? Do you run any Virtual Machines ?

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Originally posted by: DrewSG3
I'm looking to upgrade my computer. Since I don't upgrade very often, I'm going for a quad core phenom/core 2 quad.

But is there a benefit to be had from having more than 4gb of memory? I figure there must be, but I'm wondering whether the cost is justified.

My main uses for my computer is gaming, movie (blu-ray) watching, media server and all the basic stuff.

For most cases, no. For some special cases, yes. As pcslookout noted, photoshop is one (the new version is supposed to be 64-bit), and running multiple VM's is another.

Remember that you need a 64-bit OS to even see greater then 4Gig RAM.

And even if you do have a 64-bit OS, if your program is still 32-bit (like 99% of all Windows apps), the most each program can use is 2-3Gig (If I remember correctly, depending on if the program was compiled with 3gig support). Anyway, any 32bit program won't see the extra RAM either. So if you are basically running one program at a time (like gaming, or watching movies), it won't help.

Now if you run multiple programs that use a lot fo RAM (like several VM's), then each program can have it's 2 or 3Gig of "real" RAM without swapping to disk. But you still need a 64-bit OS to use >4gig.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat

Originally posted by: DrewSG3
I'm looking to upgrade my computer. Since I don't upgrade very often, I'm going for a quad core phenom/core 2 quad.

But is there a benefit to be had from having more than 4gb of memory? I figure there must be, but I'm wondering whether the cost is justified.

My main uses for my computer is gaming, movie (blu-ray) watching, media server and all the basic stuff.

For most cases, no. For some special cases, yes. As pcslookout noted, photoshop is one (the new version is supposed to be 64-bit), and running multiple VM's is another.

Remember that you need a 64-bit OS to even see greater then 4Gig RAM.

And even if you do have a 64-bit OS, if your program is still 32-bit (like 99% of all Windows apps), the most each program can use is 2-3Gig (If I remember correctly, depending on if the program was compiled with 3gig support). Anyway, any 32bit program won't see the extra RAM either. So if you are basically running one program at a time (like gaming, or watching movies), it won't help.

Now if you run multiple programs that use a lot fo RAM (like several VM's), then each program can have it's 2 or 3Gig of "real" RAM without swapping to disk. But you still need a 64-bit OS to use >4gig.

I really hate how most program are still 32 bit and even with a 64 bit OS you are still limited to only 2 to 3 GB max, even if you have 4 GB of ram +, with all of these 32 bit programs.

That means if you only run 32 bit programs you may only be able to use up to 3 GB of your ram which really sucks.

 

[pallejr]

Technically, it is 2-4GB per 32bit application in 64bit Windows, but who's counting

 

[unr3al]

Very handy if you want to turn off pagefiling, run a few progs like Fraps, Flashget, Opera etc. in the background and play 64-bit Crysis or something like Supreme Commander simultaneously. I'm aiming for 8GB at the moment and with memory prices tumbling as they are, I will actually go out and buy two 4GB kits soon... If you have a 64-bit OS, by all means I would say get what you can afford.

But as was already said, if you don't use your PC for multitasking RAM-heavy applications and use very few 64-bit apps, going beyond 3GB is pretty pointless. For now at least. Thats why I say get as much RAM as you can afford. It will only future-proof your PC in terms of memory.

 

[GundamF91]

Would you still need swap file if you have 4GB of memory? How much swap to use?