8GB RAM enough?

[Mike87]

Hi all,

 

just wondering: I have 8GB RAM in my Setup. At the moment I play BF1 and to have the best results I close every other background program (f.e. Chrome, Music, etc.). 

While Playing BF1 I checked my system for bottlenecks. I saw that my RAM is mainly used up to 80-90%. So there is still room left, but I am not sure if my system OS will even hit 100% or does it reserve the rest for maybe critical programs? Should I upgrade to 16GB, ist it really worth it?

I run Win10 Pro x64.

 

Thanks

[Mr.Humble]

Considering your system is Haswell based and uses DDR3 memory, I'd suggest waiting for later when you decide to upgrade the whole PC.

[Pickelhaube]

3 minutes ago, Mike87 said:

Hi all,

 

just wondering: I have 8GB RAM in my Setup. At the moment I play BF1 and to have the best results I close every other background program (f.e. Chrome, Music, etc.). 

While Playing BF1 I checked my system for bottlenecks. I saw that my RAM is mainly used up to 80-90%. So there is still room left, but I am not sure if my system OS will even hit 100% or does it reserve the rest for maybe critical programs? Should I upgrade to 16GB, ist it really worth it?

I run Win10 Pro x64.

 

Thanks

If you are using all of that RAM, then it would be a good idea to get 16GB. I'd go for at least 2400MHz, and I'd recommend a set of HyperX Fury. You certainly don't need as much as I have though.

[BlargKing]

If you're hitting near the ceiling of your memory capacity, its probably a good idea to upgrade. Theres a number of upgrade paths you could consider, depending on your current config. If your motherboard has 4 DIMM slots, and you have 2 4GB sticks, you could simply add another 4GB for 12GB total. If you only have 2 slots, or have 4 2GB sticks, then you would be best off just getting 2 8GB sticks. 

[pwn_intended]

8GB is barely enough. Given how cheap ram is though, I would suggest going with 16, especially for a new build and if you're running other applications while gaming.

[Jasun]

Battlefield 1 does use a lot of memory. How much fps do you get? If you get enough then you should leave it as is and wait for a whole upgrade later on.

[Mike87]

2 minutes ago, BlargKing said:

If you're hitting near the ceiling of your memory capacity, its probably a good idea to upgrade. Theres a number of upgrade paths you could consider, depending on your current config. If your motherboard has 4 DIMM slots, and you have 2 4GB sticks, you could simply add another 4GB for 12GB total. If you only have 2 slots, or have 4 2GB sticks, then you would be best off just getting 2 8GB sticks. 

Is that a good Idea? I thought you should always use 2 or 4 sticks? atm I have 2x 4GB DDR3 and 2 slots left. 

[Mike87]

3 minutes ago, Jasun said:

Battlefield 1 does use a lot of memory. How much fps do you get? If you get enough then you should leave it as is and wait for a whole upgrade later on.

in MP with my R9 290 between 70-100fps. But I have graphic settings set mostly to Ultra  

[Jasun]

1 minute ago, Mike87 said:

in MP with my R9 290 between 70-100fps. But I have graphic settings set mostly to Ultra  

Isn't that enough? That would be for me considering you have most settings on Ultra. If you have a 60+ Hz monitor and really want more fps, then get more RAM but I'm not certain that it will boost the fps more than getting a better GPU.

[Mike87]

9 minutes ago, Jasun said:

Isn't that enough? That would be for me considering you have most settings on Ultra. If you have a 60+ Hz monitor and really want more fps, then get more RAM but I'm not certain that it will boost the fps more than getting a better GPU.

Yeah, I am considering buying a 144hz Monitor, so I will need to lower my graphic settings to be at least at 100+ fps

I just want to make sure that my RAM ist not bottlenecking my System. I don't know how Win10 behaves with keeping spare RAM for critical programs.

[Narnash]

12 minutes ago, Mike87 said:

Yeah, I am considering buying a 144hz Monitor, so I will need to lower my graphic settings to be at least at 100+ fps

I just want to make sure that my RAM ist not bottlenecking my System. I don't know how Win10 behaves with keeping spare RAM for critical programs.

Even 10 Hz more than 60 is a difference trust me  ( for battlefield 1 you're not only GPU limited, it's very CPU heavy) .

... I would say, try to get a 144Hz monitor soon, maybe get a single 8GB RAM stick somewhere dirt cheap used, too to be safe (but don't pump much money on it). And then after the release and benchmarks of Ryzen, Vega, 1080 TI (maybe you can snack a 1070/1080 used cheap then) you can go and upgrade your whole system.

 

PS: mixing RAM isn't a problem most of the time, sometimes you have to set the same settings for all sticks manualy but that's not very likely.  I simply wouldn't bother to spend much money now on a old RAM standart when it's likely that you upgrade your system in maybe a year or two anyhow.

 

[asand1]

4 hours ago, vojta.pokorny said:

Considering your system is Haswell based and uses DDR3 memory, I'd suggest waiting for later when you decide to upgrade the whole PC.

Skylake is only what? 6% better than Haswell? Get more RAM and enjoy your PC for 4 more years. Don't update your board and CPU until after Coffee lake or Donut Lake or whatever, unless you're hemorrhaging money.