Question for someone with a 128 gb ram gaming system

[utahraptor]

Have you ever attempted to install a game like battlefield 1 into a ram disc and time the loading of a multiplayer match? I am just curious how much faster it would be then using an SSD to see if it would be worth the expense. I think the game's folder on my PC is 70 gb. That would leave at least 32 gb for the os.

 

[Chaotic42]

I've never tried it, but it looks like it's only beneficial in a few corner cases:

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/have-you-used-or-are-using-ramdisk.2496610/

 

[pandemonium]

I don't have 128GB, but I do have 32GB and ran a ramdisk for a while to see how it would perform compared to my SSD (Intel 750 400GB). I had my internet cache, tried a few smaller games, and used it as a data cache for Adobe Premiere projects. The real world difference is extremely negligible, as the post that Chaotic42 already linked explained pretty well. Most SSD's perform so comparably well to a ramdisk, no noticeable improvement will be witnessed (especially since the paging file is more often going to be used unless you've taken it upon yourself to tweak that specifically). Like, BSIM500 mentioned, a ramdisk loading files is basically like paging your RAM into itself.

I do want to note that BSim500 raised a lot of contention for loss of data if you shut off your computer, but I don't think many people really do that any more. I rarely shut off my computer and almost always sleep it. Since I run a UPS for all of my machines, I maintained the file structure 100% of the time without any risk at all. The only time I actually shut down my computer is when I leave for extended vacation and am not taking it with me.

 

[Charlie22911]

You hit diminishing returns quickly. With RAM prices being what they are, I'd recommend an NVME drive; more storage for less.