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How much RAM do you wish you had?

cybernettr
Superstar
Of course, more RAM is always better, and it's easy to say, "as much as possible," but within reason, (and within the limits of your current or next PC) how much are RAM do you wish you had? (for both Medium and regular VR)?  

What is the maximum capacity of your current VR PC, and if money were no object, would you max it out it today?  

If your system holds a maximum of 64, would it be wiser to go to 32 instead, knowing that in a couple of years you will be able to get 64 GB at the same cost that you can get 32 today? Will Medium almost never need 64 or will it eat it up greedily for some of the more complex sculpts and operations? 

 I asked Google about RAM and it gave this handy little list of frequently asked questions on the search page, including how much memory you need.  Knowing that computer advice can go out of date within a couple of months, this Is was what it offered from extremetech > gaming: 

"A lightweight system today can get by with 4GB of RAM. 8GB should be plenty for current and near-term future applications, 16GB gives you comfortable space for the future, and anything over 16GB is likely overkill unless you specifically know you need it (such as for video editing or audio post-production)."
www.extremetech.com › gaming › 2224...

(A Dell tech openly admitted to me that Alienware sadly underequipped it's high-end gaming systems with only 16 GB of RAM.)
54 REPLIES 54

jayhawk
Superstar
8 is plenty, 16 is future proof, until you start using CAD/ 3D modeling applications (like medium), then even as high as 64 is not crazy.

falken76
Expert Consultant
You'll benefit from more than 16 gigs of ram in Medium because of the way the models are made.  16 gb is good for everything else, even traditional 3d programs for the most part, but that's because they allow you to model in many different ways that are a lot less resource intensive such as box modeling.

Anonymous
Not applicable


I actually haven't tried Medium yet, so maybe the RAM is worth it for that. I was speaking more for PC gaming, as most games don't take advantage of over 16GB.


@cybereality I'm still waiting for your first sculpt post in the thread!  :#

I'm really struggling to decide if I want to do a RAM upgrade for Medium sculpts as I hit the cap pretty quickly on high poly stuff, at the moment I've got 16GB (2 x 8GB) LP Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3 and the rest of my specs: i5-3570K @ 4.2 and a 970.

I am in need of a full upgrade really but at least with RAM I can carry it across to a new PC whenever I decide to upgrade 🙂

JaimieVandenber
Heroic Explorer
16gig in my VR machine, and I never go above about 10gig committed so this is clearly enough for a while yet.

Percy1983
Superstar
Currently have 16gb, have gone over 8gb quite often with video/photo editing.

Will go 32gb or maybe 64gb when I upgrade next.
Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 + 16GB RAM 1866mhz + i5-3570K at 4.5Ghz + Coolermaster Nepton 140XL cooler Sapphire 8GB RX 580 Nitro+ 256Gb SDD Samsung Evo 850 +3x2TB in raid 0 with 64GB SSD cache Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition + Toughpower 875w

NamelessPFG
Expert Protege
I maxed out my current box at 32 GB of DDR3-2400 months ago because at around $150, it was cheap enough; why not? Turns out it was a good call when RAM prices started shooting up again.

It's also why I hadn't noticed any memory issues with Oculus Medium when playing around in it. None of my sculpts were complex to begin with, even when I was just running on 16 GB, but if what everyone says is true, I should be set for a while.

By the time that 32 GB is a limiting RAM ceiling for my uses, chances are that my i7-4770K will be an even bigger bottleneck and it'd be time to build a whole new system.

ozelon
Protege
I have 32 and hit the cap with one of my sculpts however I used geometry poorly and was able to optimize by deleting stuff under floor that wouldn't be seen and merging layers (was before patch).
My current sculpt which is a whole scene uses 18GB when I check the task manager - all layers used but not to full extend (resolution)

cybernettr
Superstar
 I read that all information technology, such as computers and RAM, is advancing exponentially. I did some math to see if this is true.

The Macintosh Performa 476 I bought back in 1994 was upgradeable to 32 MB RAM. Assuming RAM capacity is doubling on PCs every two years, we've had 11 doublings from then to my current 2016 Alienware, which is upgradeable to 64 GB.

Has the math held up? Let's see. Pulling out my trusty calculator, I come up with this:

32 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 65,536

Which is pretty close, right?

Given these trends, most new PCS, at least high-end gaming PCs, should be upgradeable to 64 GB by the end of this year, and before the end of the decade, 128 GB capacity will not be uncommon.

Which will of course mean better VR and gaming experiences for everyone. 

elboffor
Consultant


Of course, more RAM is always better

if money were no object, would you max it out it today?  


Given the choice with no cost i think we would all have 128 whether it is needed or not.

We could all just downlpad more
Http://downloadmoreram.com
This is my forum signature.
There are many others like it, but this is mine.

reefy86
Adventurer
do we even need to go beyond 8gb for games yet? i have 64gb but im a graphics designer so pretty much use that alot but for games i dont think i use any more then 8