Why would I upgrade from 4GB to 8GB RAM?

Why would I upgrade from 4GB to 8GB RAM on a machine that will be mainly used for gaming, some basic photoshopping on files less than 10MB, basic music production with cubase/fruityloops and HD video playback.
Will I see any difference in the use I stated, or is it only usefull if you do photoshop on large images etc..

 

Computer will always run smoother with more memory. You can run more stuff simultaneously without taking too much of a performance hit.

 

If it will mainly be used for gaming, don't bother. You can research, and then research some more, there's absolutely no reason to do it. I bought an 8GB kit because, for some reason, people think they need as much RAM as they can possibly get into a machine, so it will up my resale value some day.

 

If I could put all the ram I could possibly want in this laptop ... It would not be cost effective. 8GB sticks are like $400-500 and the R3 does officially support 32GB

 

I upgraded from 6GB to 8GB on my M17X R2. I immediately noticed an improved FPS in BFBC2. I can't explain this since RAM shouldn't affect the game much. But others have said the same thing and I experienced it first hand so I would say do it. It isn't that much money to upgrade so the better question is, why wouldn't you?

 

I used to stick to 4GB until recently I get into using Adobe Premiere and After Effects for video editing and rendering so I bought 2x4GB OCZ 1333Hz from NewEgg. It's still on the way so I don't know how, if at all, 8GB will improve preview in timeline and rendering time yet but I guess it will. For example, available RAM for AE in my system now is 1.5GB (2.5GB is automatically reserved for OS and other applications) while minimum RAM required for each core in AE rendering is 0.75GB so there're only 2 cores utilized while rendering.

Large memory is also for people who run VM.

Otherwise, 4GB is more than enough.

 

the only reason people with alienware upgrade to 8gb of ram is because they can

 

Well said! /10char

 

Not really.
My r3 is somehow more efficient than my precision workstation @ revit modeling & 3DSMax renders. 16GB isn't even enough. I'm hoping the replacement mobos (for chipset issues) will fully support 32gb ram - and that 8gb dimms will be priced remotely reasonable.

 

hmm that said, i was planning to run VM's as well, and if it helps with gaming like Ghost_AWP says, i'll get some then

 

8Gb ram cost dust nowadays and if you're planning on running VMs then you'll notice the difference 4Gb<8Gb.
newegg has them hyperX 2x4Gb for 99.9$ with a free flash drive

 

Generally, If you order the r3, you will 2x2gb right? How many slots are there? So if you put that in, you'll get a total of 12gb. Will it work?

 

Yeah, the default 4gb config is two 2gb dimms. You can add to the other 2 slots if you use same frequency and cas, but it's generally not recommended for reasons that I'm sure others will reply with.

I replaced my dimm's completely with Kingston HyperX

 

I wonder, If I will buy an r3 when its fixed, Do you mind selling me the stock 4gb that came with youre r3?

 

If I still have it by then, sure!
Was hoping to throw it on ebay, but I'm so lazy when it comes to that sort of thing that it probably won't happen haha

 

The only reason you noticed a difference is probably because you went from single channel to dual channel as 6Gb uses single channel in 4 + 2 setup.

Otherwise going from 4Gb to 8Gb in games should have 0 effect at all as confirmed by many reviews of Tom's hardware and others. It's all in the mind.

 

Thanks, Haha. Later on that, Sorry for OT posts.

 

of course there are exception but most of the others do it only because they can

and because the hyperX 8gb kit are prices resonably these time i'm about to upgrade to one of these kit

EDIT: to late kingston hyperX 8GB kit are now sold out

 

wow they just came back in stock on Thursday ( @newegg )

 

i guess some bugger ordered 100 units

 

Just finished putting 8GB in mine as we speak...I am always running multiple applications while I game - I need the extra RAM.

Someone said this thing has a capacity for 32GB but my sales rep told me 16... which is it?

 

manual says 16, original announcements said 32
some countries had 32 gb option for purchase on site
r3 parts codes lists 8gb dimms (and there's no reason to use 8gb dimms when there's 4 slots, unless the max is 32gb)

 

These 4GB VS 8GB conversations all end the same. Just as the 2GB VS 4GB ones did a few years ago. Some folks swear they get a performance jump, and some say there's no difference. If it's cheap, just get it.

 

it was not some year ago more like last year ....

 

Good point there and i think this thread can end here!

 

We're just splitting hairs now...but I clearly remember the 2GB VS 4GB debates right around the time I had my M17. Last year 4GB was pretty much standard.

 

There was the time when Windoes XP 32bit limited Ram to 3gb too.

 

Yup. I also remember that whole thing too. I was apart of another notebook forum at the time, and there were literally half a dozen new posts a day about why Windows only showed 3.25GB of RAM.

 

And I heard that it has heatsinks? Does the r3 support 1600Mhz?

 

That is because in 32 bits OS, you have 2^32 bytes in memory to store, words, bytes, dwords, etc... so 2^32=4294967296 bytes = 4194304 kbytes = 4096 Mbytes = 4 Gbytes

So that is the top for a 32 bit OS.. and if you have an IGP... 256 MB (shared memory) , you have only free 3.75 GB .

 

Yes it does and even above from what it has been advertised

 

GREAT NEWS! HAHAHAHA!