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is 12GB RAM overkill?

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DJFuji

Diamond Member
I'm a pretty hardcore power user so i generally have about 20+ windows open including some high memory apps (photoshop, sony vegas, premiere pro, firefox w/ 100 tabs open, etc). I try to close most of these down while playing games but it would be awesome if i had the RAM to not need to. 🙂

I'm running a fairly light load as I type this (only major apps being Sony Vegas, Firefox/35 tabs, and Outlook 2010). Task manager is reporting 3.71gb of memory in use. I have 4gb installed in a C2D o/ced rig.

Planning to put together a core i7 930 (win7 x64 of course) but am wondering if I should be looking for 6-8gbs of ram or something closer to 12?

Given that I could potentially be sucking up about 5-6 gigs of RAM with the stuff I'm doing, it'd seem like 12 wouldnt be overkill.

I'm running the OS off of an intel x25m if that makes any difference.

Comments? Suggestions?
 
Why not start with 6 and move to 9 or 12 if you still encounter annoying swapping? (I assume 3-channel)

Sadly RAM is still pretty expensive now, so it mostly comes down to money.
 
Going forward 12GB is the better option as more true 64bit games get released. I have seen memory usage above 50% on my system on rare but a few occasions while gaming and multitasking, however I have never breached 65%. So 8GB might be a better fit for you depending on the price, dual vs triple channel on quad i7's makes very little practical difference outside benchmarks. The only reason I got 12GB was because 6GB kits could be had for $80 back then and I wanted to experiment with multiple VM's for work.
 
@Barnaby: Yeah that might be a good strategy. Is 6x2gb the recommended strategy to get to 12gb these days?

It's cheaper but i think that lowers clocks to 1333 doesn't it? Is that worth the trade off in price? Because 3x4gb looks like it's running $500+ ... that's almost double!

I'm not opposed to dual channel, though I'd like to go with whatever has the better price😛erformance ratio especially when factoring in overclocking the i7-930. I have a feeling that 8gb might work for now, but in a year or two, i might need to jump to 12 anyway (i thought 4gb was PLENTY a year ago).

If tri-channel is the way to go, I'd love to start with 6 and then jump to 12 if needed, but I *really* don't want to re-do my overclocking stability tests and then hope that when i buy the second set of 6gbs that i can find a perfect match for a stable rig. I'm not a huge fan of stress testing and getting my rig stable.
 
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I have 8 GB on my machine and use most of it as /dev/shm (Linux equivalent of a RAM disk). An additional 4 would be nice.
 
dang. i paid $350 for my Q8300/GT220/8GB complete boxen.

I'd spend more money on video and storage than ram/cpu/mobo.
 
I agree with Barnaby, just get 6GB (3x2GB) for now. If you feel that it's not enough later, buy another 6GB kit. By then the price should be cheaper too.

I once had 12GB, but never saw more than 4.5gb of usage.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your build.
 
Im pretty sure 6 isnt going to be enough. 8 maybe, but 6... i'm at 3.7gigs on a LIGHT load NOW. And i don't even have photoshop and premiere running.

The biggest issue with 6 now 6 later is that i dont want to have to hassle with restabilizing my rig after i add the second 6. Last time around that cost me about $1500 in time that i spent troubleshooting. It just isn't worth it.

Now the question is 6x2 of fast ram or 3x4 of slow? Considering i'm going to be O/Cing this rig pretty hard core i'm leaning towards 6x2gb.
 
OP: I recommended 3X4 precisely because you plan on OCing pretty heavily. Generally, more sticks = harder to OC. If you count the rebate, the 3X4 is only $20 more than the other kit. As for the "fast/slow" part, you really won't see a difference in speed because you can use memory dividers and whatnot.

It's your money of course so you should do what you think is right.
 
I live in CA so taxes make the 3x4 kit $50 more (after rebate).

Do you guys think it's worth paying $50 more and "downgrading" to PC-10666 (with CAS 9) so that I can have 3x4 instead of 6x2?
 
well you won't be able to add any if you do 6x2. But as far as you described I would agree that 6 gb will probably not be enough for your usage pattern.

If money is no issue go 3x4.
 
TemjinGold said:
OP: I recommended 3X4 precisely because you plan on OCing pretty heavily. Generally, more sticks = harder to OC. If you count the rebate, the 3X4 is only $20 more than the other kit. As for the "fast/slow" part, you really won't see a difference in speed because you can use memory dividers and whatnot.

It's your money of course so you should do what you think is right.
Click to expand...

im a bit baffled by this statement. You WANT it to be harder?

I've never OCd so im not sure, i'm not trying to razz you or anything, the sentence just didn't seem to quite make sense, unless, as a OCing noobie, i dont know that you really do want it to be harder. From the outside looking in, it would think if more sticks = harder to OC, then he should go for the 2x6 to make it easier... no?
 
Paperlantern said:
im a bit baffled by this statement. You WANT it to be harder?

I've never OCd so im not sure, i'm not trying to razz you or anything, the sentence just didn't seem to quite make sense, unless, as a OCing noobie, i dont know that you really do want it to be harder. From the outside looking in, it would think if more sticks = harder to OC, then he should go for the 2x6 to make it easier... no?
Click to expand...

more per stick != more sticks
 
12 GB RAM is not overkill if you have the money and more importantly use it. The average enthusiast gamer will do fine with 4GB-6GB RAM but if you are the type that also does rendering, photoshop, and etc., work on the same rig then 12GB is going to come in handy. Just my .02 on the subject.
 
TemjinGold said:
OP: If you can swing it, 3X4 is better than 6X2.
Click to expand...

@ more then double the price premium. 😀

6 x 2gb of DDR3, will require you to ramp your VTT.
3 x 4gb of DDR3 is prefered however its more then double the price difference.
6 x 2gb of DDR3 will make overclocking a bit more difficult for you because you have more ram that now needs to be stable.
 
cschill1290 said:
Just out of curiosity, what do you need 100 tabs of firefox open for?
Click to expand...

to keep track of my porn. 😀

Serious note i have no clue..

But one of my pages.. ie.. photobucket, can take up to 100 megs+ of resources alone when i have all the pictures laid out.
 
beginner99 said:
more per stick != more sticks
Click to expand...

more per stick does not equal more sticks, yeah I was reading it backwards, see below...

TemjinGold said:
Paperlantern: 6X2 is SIX sticks of 2gb each. 3X4 is THREE sticks of 4gb each.
Click to expand...

Ah see that makes sense... damn lisdexia... i was reading it as two sticks of 6GB ea, and of course that makes no sense since... there is no such thing as a 6GB stick of RAM, wow, yeah it was early, haha... derrrrr. I need to make sure i'm fully awake before I read threads here, and certainly before i start posting to them.
 
aigomorla said:
@ more then double the price premium. 😀

6 x 2gb of DDR3, will require you to ramp your VTT.
3 x 4gb of DDR3 is prefered however its more then double the price difference.
6 x 2gb of DDR3 will make overclocking a bit more difficult for you because you have more ram that now needs to be stable.
Click to expand...

I can get 12 gigs of OCZ Reaper 6x2 for $300. 3x4 of OCZ or gskill is going to run $350-$375 (albeit slower clocked). All of these numbers are including rebates, taxes, and shipping.

$50-75 doesn't sound like a bad deal for the upgrade to 4x3, especially if it will make my overclocking more stable.
 
Yea if that's the price difference I would definitely go for it. 1333 memory is just fine for OCing an I7, and getting the 3x4 will also give you the option to go to 18 or 24gb later if you want even more ram. For the workload you use it isn't out of the realm of possibility, those image and video files take up a shitton of ram
 
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