8GB of RAM a waste?

Discussion in 'CPU, Motherboards and Memory' started by scorps65, May 23, 2009.

  1. cube_

    cube_ Mega Geek

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    Lately, people are buying 6, 8, 12, and even 16GB of RAM for normal and gaming pc's. I ask, is it worth it? Can x64 systems utilize that much memory?
    I have 8GB (4 sticks) of DDR3 and see no difference between 4GB or 8GB. So i removed 2 sticks and now i have 4GB, hoping that this would save me an ounce of power from my monthly bill :x:
     
  2. zeus

    zeus out of date

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    Depends what you need really. Ive recently upgraded to 768mb. I didnt see any difference either! I avoid background programs running. I dont even bother with the "on the fly" virus scans and software firewalls. They're just bloody pop-ups to me.

    lol, 16gb of RAM. I bought a 30gb hard drive not long ago!
    Its a lot cheaper than it used to be so im not surprised people are going ott. Id imagine 4gb is suffice for the latest games.
     
  3. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    me too

    l
    yep

    to explain, Zeus is a *nix user not Win64, & i agree, using over 4GB RAM is just a waste, unless your doing some severe number crunching of using software that requires the RAM

    BTW: i run Lenny (KDE) on 1GB DDR2 & it's fine, but i do have a 2GB swap
     
  4. Ferg

    Ferg Manbearpig

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    in vista x64 it makes a great difference - i'm running 6gb at the mo and it is super slick - made a big difference in GTA4

    Did you run any benchmarks before and after? Do you even use it for top-end gaming?
     
  5. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    I've got 8gb in my x86 rig, wife's got the same in hers. But I compile with mine, and the wife does photo editing on very large images on hers so it pays off. RAM's pretty cheap these days, why not?

    If nothing else, Linux does a nice job of buffering and caching to make things smoother. I do agree though that no matter how much RAM you throw in a Windows box, it will swap to the HDD... seems wasteful.
     

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  6. Net Jockey

    Net Jockey Geek Trainee

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    64 Bit operating systems are useful for multi tasking...and will indeed recognize and use more ram...32 Bit operating systems...with 4 GB of ram...are better for on line gaming...32 Bit operating systems will use 3. something GB.
    Cheers.:)
     
  7. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Sorry to disagree, but the 3.2GB cap is only true of Windows. In my case, I'm running the x86 build of Debian... with 8gb of RAM. :)

    Regards,
    -AT
     
  8. Net Jockey

    Net Jockey Geek Trainee

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    I agree.:)
     
  9. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    you would, plank
     

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