how much is too much

MonKENy

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2007
2,026
3
81
Im just curious what would doubling my RAM really do? Im not looking to do it just a thought popped in my head and I didnt know the answer. What kind of performance gain would I be looking at?
 

Hellhammer

AnandTech Emeritus
Apr 25, 2011
701
4
81
It depends on your usage. Having more RAM won't help unless your usage can benefit from the extra RAM. Monitor your RAM usage for a few days. If you often use more than lets say 70% of your RAM, then getting more would not be a bad idea.

I think in your case getting an SSD would be the biggest upgrade.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
146
106
Unused memory got zero impact on performance. So if you only use say 3GB. It doesnt matter if you got 4GB or 500GB memory.
 

Coup27

Platinum Member
Jul 17, 2010
2,140
3
81
Don't take this the wrong way, but the fact you have had to ask suggests to me that you do not use even your current 8GB of RAM.

The big RAM users are things like virtualisation, photo, video and audio editing.

I ditto that of an SSD over more RAM.
 

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
5,184
107
106
4gb is plenty for gaming, the only reason i have 16gb is because i got it for 100$ and because I used to be big into video editing.
 

MonKENy

Platinum Member
Nov 1, 2007
2,026
3
81
Don't take this the wrong way, but the fact you have had to ask suggests to me that you do not use even your current 8GB of RAM.

The big RAM users are things like virtualisation, photo, video and audio editing.

I ditto that of an SSD over more RAM.

nope you're right. I didn't think there was any reason for me to. I figured the same, If I had to ask I didn't need it. But its always good to know for sure. When SSD come down I may take the plunge but I doubt ill ever need one at this point. I rarely use the PC anymore. The older I get the more casual I become. Its sad really