System ram amount

[Dustin_Broke]

Right now my notebook has 4gb of ram and can go upto 8gb now I noiced that there are people today that have way more than 8gb of ram so does that mean I need to have at least 8gb of ram on my notebook to run well for todays programs and games?

 

[GamerBear]

If you plan to run hundreds of applications at once and play high quality games then you might need 8GB, but 4GB is just fine. I'm running on 2GB right now and I am able to do what I need, but I definitely need the upgrade in computer cause I really want to go back to playing The Sims 3 since Pets is coming out in a couple of months.

 

[silverbelt]

Not really. 4GB is still more than most people need for daily tasks. Stuff like web browsing with a few tabs open, email and music players (the three staples of modern casual computing) don't required loads of RAM.

I'm a developer, and it's not uncommon for me to run heaps of applications at the same time (browser, iTunes, email, RSS, code IDE, simulator, documentation), and this all works fine with 4GB of RAM. I upgraded to 8GB only so I could get Windows running smoothly as a virtual machine.

The only other consideration would be for games that state that they recommend 8GB, but often you can get away with 4GB by turning down some settings.

8GB is nice, but not necessary. When you feel your computer is slowing down and struggling to run your applications, then consider upgrading the RAM.

 

[T-Rexx]

RAM requires electricity to power it.

More RAM uses more energy, and will therefore run your laptop's battery down faster.

Adding RAM that you don't need and never use will actually reduce system performance, not increase it.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

I use my notebook mainly for playing games like Crysis 2, The Sims 3, Quake 4, etc. I do also use my notebook for browsing the web, going onto forums, watching YouTube, going to Facebook, etc. I do listen to my music using Windows Media Player and watch downloaded YouTube videos using RealPlayer. Of cource I have Yahoo messenger too. But do I need more than 4gb for this stuff? Or is 4gb enough? I wonder if there will be a time that I will need 8gb though. Or will I likely not need more than 4gb for the next 3 years.

 

[ShavedBare87]

I use my notebook mainly for playing games like Crysis 2, The Sims 3, Quake 4, etc. I do also use my notebook for browsing the web, going onto forums, watching YouTube, going to Facebook, etc. I do listen to my music using Windows Media Player and watch downloaded YouTube videos using RealPlayer. Of cource I have Yahoo messenger too. But do I need more than 4gb for this stuff? Or is 4gb enough? I wonder if there will be a time that I will need 8gb though. Or will I likely not need more than 4gb for the next 3 years.

Sounds like plenty for what you're doing. To be completely honest, most of the people who say they have 8GB's of RAM are not even using half of it. It's more for bragging rights (compensation).

The only reason to have that much RAM is if you are doing heavy duty rendering in a 3D Imaging program (Bryce, Carrara, etc) or heavy duty, high definition movie editing. In other words, a program that is going to utilize an immense amount of RAM for one general purpose.

For browsing the interwebs 512MB's of RAM will do it just fine, let alone 4 gigs.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

Well that's a good thing I didn't buy the two sticks of 4GB since I found one for $80 at newegg and it had free shipping but I was really planning to get it but if I don't need it then that save me money. But my other question is that maybe now I don't need more than 4GB but will I need 8GB around 3 years from now? Like will programs or games use more than 4GB around 3 to 4 years from now? If so I wonder if I still get it so I am future ready. But I also wonder if ram will be even cheaper by that time since if that's the case I should wait till 3 or 4 years from now and then buy 8GB of ram.

What do you guys think I should do?



Btw thank you for helping I do really appreciate it.

 

[Jeffs0418]

4 gigs should be enough for some time to come. The real question is whether the other hardware remains up to snuff. 3-4 years is a long time in the CPU/GPU industry and brings many advancements.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

Well all I know is I won't be buying a new notebook until it doesn't work anymore since I can't really afford one anymore. I got mine as a gift. But I did find a 8GB total ram for $60 with free shipping on Newegg but is that a good deal?

Also will DDR3 type rams get cheaper and cheaper as years go on?

 

[quietguy5]

The real issue here which I have not seen mentioned is are you running 32 bit or 64 bit windows. 32 bit windows only recognizes 4 gigs of ram total. 64 bit windows recognizes 4 gigs of ram per processor. IE: A dual core on 32 bit windows will recognize 4 gigs of ram no matter how much you put in it. A dual core on 64 bit windows will recognize up to 8 gigs of ram.

Doing the games, you really don't need more then 4 gigs. Only if you are using huge programs like photoshop whould you need more.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

This is the specs for my notebook.



CPU
Intel® Core™ i3 - 370M (2.40GHz) Motherboard
Arrandale

Memory
4 GB DDR3/1066MHz

Graphics Card
Intel® HD Graphics 1.7 GB


Hard Drive
320 GB 5400rpm Serial ATA

Sound Card
Intel® High Definition Audio


OS
Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Monitor
15.5" Back Light Technology: LED



My system is a 64bit so 8GB will work fine if I install it. But I wonder is that in couple of years will I need 8GB to run programs and games? Also if I waited more will DDR3 ram get cheaper? Thanks

 

[Jeffs0418]

Dude. If you really want 8 gigs of ram then get it. 60 bucks is cheap if you ask me.
We got a netbook recently and paid just 30 bucks to double the memory from 1 to 2 gigs. 4 gigs is enough for the forseeable future but if you must have more then get it. RAM is cheap! And if you have 64 bit the sky's the limit.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

Well if 8 GB is too much for me how about just 6 GB? Or 4 GB is forsure enough for many years? I just want to know if in few years will I need more than 4 GB to run games and programs. I don't do any video editing or anything like that though.

 

[foodandart]

Well that's a good thing I didn't buy the two sticks of 4GB since I found one for $80 at newegg and it had free shipping but I was really planning to get it but if I don't need it then that save me money. But my other question is that maybe now I don't need more than 4GB but will I need 8GB around 3 years from now? Like will programs or games use more than 4GB around 3 to 4 years from now? If so I wonder if I still get it so I am future ready. But I also wonder if ram will be even cheaper by that time since if that's the case I should wait till 3 or 4 years from now and then buy 8GB of ram.

What do you guys think I should do?



Btw thank you for helping I do really appreciate it.

Read up on your computer and look into what other users have found to be the optimal amount of RAM for it.

For example, I have a MacPro 1.1, from 2006 and because it's got limited speed DDR2 memory (667mhz), the speed on the Northbridge memory controller really works best with 3 gigs... which is what I have.

Buying more memory may not be the wisest if your system hardware can't handle the traffic.

 

[Dustin_Broke]

I did recently buy a new Toshiba netbook model: NB505-N500BL D3

I was wondering that for this netbook do I need to have 2 GB of ram? It uses DDR3 type ram and can go upto 2 GB. Right now it has only 1 GB. This netbook has Windows 7 Starter and has 250 GB hard drive and a Intel X3150 graphics card and has 256MB of ram on the video card. Also this is a Atom 1.66gHz N455 basicly this is a single core but has two HT so it's like a dual core.

 

[quietguy5]

Well if 8 GB is too much for me how about just 6 GB? Or 4 GB is forsure enough for many years? I just want to know if in few years will I need more than 4 GB to run games and programs. I don't do any video editing or anything like that though.

As a reference point. I have a quad core with 16 gigs of ram connected to 2 26 inch LED monitors running on Win 7 ultimate. I have 3 1 gig Access databases open with one of them in design mode, I have 2 huge Excel spreadsheets open, I have Outlook open, I have MSN and Yahoo messenger open, and I have Chrome open with 9 tabs going. I am using 5 gigs of ram.

For what you are talking about doing, 4 is enough. If you were using process hogging programs like Photoshop or a lot of gaming I would say go higher.

 

[quietguy5]

I did recently buy a new Toshiba netbook model: NB505-N500BL D3

I was wondering that for this netbook do I need to have 2 GB of ram? It uses DDR3 type ram and can go upto 2 GB. Right now it has only 1 GB. This netbook has Windows 7 Starter and has 250 GB hard drive and a Intel X3150 graphics card and has 256MB of ram on the video card. Also this is a Atom 1.66gHz N455 basicly this is a single core but has two HT so it's like a dual core.

Netbooks with only one gig of ram are slow. If you try to run more than one thing at once it will bog down. Upgrade it to 2 gigs. Also upgrade from starter edition to home premium. Starter has too many limitations. You cannot even change the home screen.

My netbook is running 2 gigs of ram and windows ultimate and I have no problems running multiple programs.