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    Do I need more than 8GB of RAM for gaming?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by fantomasz, Apr 11, 2012.

  1. fantomasz

    fantomasz Notebook Deity

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    Im buying new laptop and have question about memory.Title say all.
     
    fantomasz, Apr 11, 2012
    #1
  2. Noctilum

    Noctilum Notebook Evangelist

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    I don't know of any games that use 8GB let alone more than that. However, 8GB seems to be the sweet spot these days, with other things running in the background it will give you breathing room though.
     
    Noctilum, Apr 11, 2012
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  3. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    and your answer would be buy a lappy with the LOWEST ram configuration, then upgrade your ram to 8GB HyperX 1600mhz aftermarket :)

    4GB should be enough for gaming, but won't be enough for windows if you are multitasking (which everybody does I guess)
     
    maxheap, Apr 11, 2012
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  4. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

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    For gaming, 8GB should be more than enough.
    I'd recommend it either way these days.
    You'd be surprised just how much RAM web browsing on it's own can take up (we are talking about tabbed browsing with lots of tabs though).
    To that end, seeing how x64 OS is being pushed onto the market for the most part, 6GB seems to be it's sweet spot though for most functions (including gaming).

    8GB is more oriented to people who probably have more RAM hungry software or are doing things on the laptop/desktop that are memory intensive in the first place.

    But, either way, more RAM won't really hurt you.
     
    Deks, Apr 11, 2012
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  5. DEagleson

    DEagleson Gamer extraordinaire

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    Got a pair of 2x4gb Kingston HyperX 1600MHz memory myself.

    Memory is cheap so why not upgrade it? :p
     
    DEagleson, Apr 11, 2012
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  6. moviemarketing

    moviemarketing Milk Drinker

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    Definitely not.

    The only way you will ever use more than a few GB is if you are working with extremely large (several GB) files in Photoshop, After Effects, 64-bit video editing / motion graphics apps, or something like vmware.

    I have never run any game that ever used more than around 3GB RAM.
     
    moviemarketing, Apr 11, 2012
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  7. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    ^^ 100 pages on chrome will do it ;)
     
    maxheap, Apr 11, 2012
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  8. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

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    The more RAM you have, the more RAM the computer will use.
     
    Cloudfire, Apr 11, 2012
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  9. Chazy90

    Chazy90 Notebook Evangelist

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    Really...? :D
     
    Chazy90, Apr 11, 2012
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  10. moviemarketing

    moviemarketing Milk Drinker

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    I have 16GB RAM; however, the only time I ever use more than a few GB is when working with huge files in applications like Photoshop.

    It's not helpful for gaming, at least not any game I've ever played yet.
     
    moviemarketing, Apr 11, 2012
    #10
  11. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    W7 tries to use the RAM as a cache to help speed the system up. It helps, but past 4GB I would argue the benefits are limited. 8GB is more than enough for most anyone.
     
    Greg, Apr 11, 2012
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  12. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

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    Yeah, 8GB is overkill, but RAM overkill is cheap these days, so it doesn't matter too much. 4GB is still more than enough for most uses, including gaming. Past that, and often, even Windows 7 may not use up all the RAM for cache.
     
    MidnightSun, Apr 11, 2012
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  13. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    I regularly use more than 4GB when gaming, but then again i leave a ton of stuff open. I feel like 4GB is becoming a bit cramped under some circumstances for me, RAM intensive simulations aside since those don't really count as normal or gaming usage.
     
    tijo, Apr 11, 2012
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  14. andros_forever

    andros_forever Notebook Deity

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    8 GB is overkill if your goal is just gaming. I have 4 GB Ram and use a 2 GB paging file set up on my SSD internal upgrade.

    In Skyrim for example, even with high resolution and many HD textures installed the game doesn't use up all the memory available.
     
    andros_forever, Apr 11, 2012
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  15. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    8GB is nice to bypass page file :)
     
    maxheap, Apr 11, 2012
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  16. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    It's more than enough for modern gaming, but the cost is so marginal that I would still recommend it. There's no reason to go with less memory to save $0.
     
    masterchef341, Apr 11, 2012
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  17. moviemarketing

    moviemarketing Milk Drinker

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    Actually you end up with a bigger page file.

    AFAIK, I don't think it's advisable to use less than 4GB page file with 8GB RAM. At the moment I'm using 8GB page file with 16GB RAM.
     
    moviemarketing, Apr 11, 2012
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  18. Star Forge

    Star Forge Quaggan's Creed Redux!

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    8 GB is sufficient but it never hurts to go 12 GB or 16 GB if you have just a bit more pocket change though. Currently I don't think anyone would need more than 16 GB for a while.
     
    Star Forge, Apr 11, 2012
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  19. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The pagefile is there for (1) programs that absolutely require it and (2) for instances in which the system runs out of RAM. There is no benefit to disabling the page file except for if you have absolutely no hard drive space for it. You're just risking the potential for system instability for the sake of some "optimization" which does nothing to improve your system.
     
    Greg, Apr 11, 2012
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  20. baii

    baii Sone

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    When I have 10+tabs youtube + forums/email up ,usually take 5-6GB though.
     
    baii, Apr 11, 2012
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  21. Winter.Scaze

    Winter.Scaze Newbie

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    Chrome is a memory hog when you have too many tabs and applets running, I can easily use 3-4 gigs just with Chrome open.

    8 gigs is still the sweet spot for now.
     
    Winter.Scaze, Apr 11, 2012
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  22. PaKii94

    PaKii94 Notebook Virtuoso

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    you got that right. I can barely run a youtube page on chrome (with extensions) and skype at the same time with 2 gigs of ram on my laptop its rediculous how much chrome uses..
     
    PaKii94, Apr 11, 2012
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  23. Augmented

    Augmented Notebook Consultant

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    I have 8gb and while playing MMORPG's (they use more system RAM than most standard games), I only see 30-40% of it being used.
     
    Augmented, Apr 11, 2012
    #23