# 8 vs 16 gigs of ram in 2012



## KevWestBeats

I am sorry if this question has been asked a billion times but I had trouble finding anything worth while on google besides a link to this forum. But what are the real benefits right now of running 16 gigs of ram over 8? I just bought a new laptop from best buy and I hear that there are no benefits to 16 if a program doesn't read it but why make a system if current software cannot support it? Idk I am rambling I guess the real thing here is will I see any real benefit now for 16 gigs of ram over 8? I am not gaming on this laptop I am a console gamer but I am doing some video editing for my youtube channel and making music on it as well.


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## Ischinel

I don't think there's any reason to run 16 gigs ram unless you're doing photo editing any anything else involving major rendering etc.


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## KevWestBeats

I will be doing HD video. Idk how the processing works exactly I am not a tech expert though.


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## Des_Zac

Are you sure your laptop supports 16GB of RAM? That would be the first thing I would check.


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## spirit

I'm on 8GB at the moment and it's more than enough, so I'd save the money and wait a few years then upgrade to 16GB.


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## DMGrier

16 GB is over kill, 8 GB for any program right is more then enough.


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## spirit

DMGrier said:


> 16 GB is over kill, 8 GB for any program right is more then enough.


+1 especially as many programs even in this day and age are still only 32-bit which means they can only use up to ~3.5GB RAM.


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## KevWestBeats

Des_Zac said:


> Are you sure your laptop supports 16GB of RAM? That would be the first thing I would check.



It does. I already looked into it. Comes stock at 8 goes up to 16.


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## KevWestBeats

DMGrier said:


> 16 GB is over kill, 8 GB for any program right is more then enough.



how far off are we until more programs are able to use that much do you think? I want to improve load times. This computer is good but I would like to make it better and I always thought that meant getting more ram. Are you saying that most software will simply ignore the new ram?


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## KevWestBeats

Just so I can be a little more helpful this is the laptop I have http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...lver/4708803.p?id=1218512740623&skuId=4708803


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## claptonman

Best thing to do is use the programs you plan to use at full blast, and see how much RAM it uses. If it uses more than 8GB, then you'll need some more.


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## spirit

KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> how far off are we until more programs are able to use that much do you think?


Not until all mainstream programs go from 32- to 64-bit are we going to see programs make use of more than ~3.5GB RAM. Of course, the programs which are already 64-bit will already be able to take advantage of much more than 3.5GB RAM, theoretically they will take advantage of up to 128GB RAM. I'm going to guess that it will take perhaps 1-2 years, we see more 64-bit applications before then though, or some applications may take longer to migrate. Already Microsoft Office 2010 can be purchased as a 64-bit application, and most of the Adobe suite is slowly moving to 64-bit. At the moment it tends to be the higher-end programs, you know the photo editing and video editing, designing, archiving and CAD design programs that make use of 64-bit technology. 



			
				KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> I want to improve load times.


If you want to make things load faster the first place I'd start is your hard disk, you can only load as fast as you can read. An SSD would really improve load times, so if you have the money I would spend it on a 128GB or 256GB SSD (I recommend the Crucial M4, it's very stable) and then replace your hard drive with an SSD and install Windows or whatever OS you use on it. I have a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD, and even though I am running it on a SATA II connection than the SATA III it is optimised for, it's still very fast! Things load pretty much instantly. RAM doesn't tend to make things load faster, it makes rendering things faster though and if you're doing HD video editing then 8Gb RAM will do you fine. What editor do you use?


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## claptonman

vistakid10 said:


> If you want to make things load faster the first place I'd start is your hard disk, you can only load as fast as you can read. An SSD would really improve load times, so if you have the money I would spend it on a 128GB or 256GB SSD (I recommend the Crucial M4, it's very stable) and then replace your hard drive with an SSD and install Windows or whatever OS you use on it. I have a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD, and even though I am running it on a SATA II connection than the SATA III it is optimised for, it's still very fast! Things load pretty much instantly. RAM doesn't tend to make things load faster, it makes rendering things faster though and if you're doing HD video editing then 8Gb RAM will do you fine. What editor do you use?



Even a 7200rpm drive would be quicker, as I'm guessing it only has a 5400rpm drive.

The obvious culprit for slow loading is either your hard drive is fragmented, or your computer has a ton of unnecessary programs loading since it is a laptop, and would have a lot of bloatware from Samsung. Take a look at this thread:

http://www.computerforum.com/188636-how-speed-up-windows.html

Has some good suggestions, especially Soluto.


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## spirit

claptonman said:
			
		

> Even a 7200rpm drive would be quicker, as I'm guessing it only has a 5400rpm drive.


True but the difference between a 7200RPM HDD and an SSD even when the SSD is running on SATA II is massive. With the prices of HDDs still rather high, and the prices of SSDs slowly dropping, it makes more sense to buy an SSD these days, even though the capacities of hard drives are larger. I have a 128GB SSD for my boot drive which has programs and Windows installed on it, and then a 2TB drive for storage. It's a great configuration but the OP having a laptop it probably isn't possible to have 2 drives... and I don't think 2.5" HDDs come in sizes of 2TB do they? I think 1TB is the max?


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## KevWestBeats

vistakid10 said:


> Not until all mainstream programs go from 32- to 64-bit are we going to see programs make use of more than ~3.5GB RAM. Of course, the programs which are already 64-bit will already be able to take advantage of much more than 3.5GB RAM, theoretically they will take advantage of up to 128GB RAM. I'm going to guess that it will take perhaps 1-2 years, we see more 64-bit applications before then though, or some applications may take longer to migrate. Already Microsoft Office 2010 can be purchased as a 64-bit application, and most of the Adobe suite is slowly moving to 64-bit. At the moment it tends to be the higher-end programs, you know the photo editing and video editing, designing, archiving and CAD design programs that make use of 64-bit technology.
> 
> 
> If you want to make things load faster the first place I'd start is your hard disk, you can only load as fast as you can read. An SSD would really improve load times, so if you have the money I would spend it on a 128GB or 256GB SSD (I recommend the Crucial M4, it's very stable) and then replace your hard drive with an SSD and install Windows or whatever OS you use on it. I have a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD, and even though I am running it on a SATA II connection than the SATA III it is optimised for, it's still very fast! Things load pretty much instantly. RAM doesn't tend to make things load faster, it makes rendering things faster though and if you're doing HD video editing then 8Gb RAM will do you fine. What editor do you use?



Hmm good to know. All of my software that I am using or going to use will be 64 bit. I do music and video is new for me. All of my music making software is 64 bit which is what makes me consider getting the extra ram in the first place. But if a faster hard drive may help Ill do that. My speed does not suck I just figure the faster the better. This is honestly the fastest computer I have ever owned.


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## spirit

KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> Hmm good to know. All of my software that I am using or going to use will be 64 bit. I do music and video is new for me. All of my music making software is 64 bit which is what makes me consider getting the extra ram in the first place. But if a faster hard drive may help Ill do that.


I would get 8GB of RAM and then buy an SSD or a faster hard drive, and then upgrade to 16GB of RAM when it's cheaper in a year or two, or buy the 16GB of RAM now and buy an SSD or a faster HDD in a year or two when they're cheaper too. The choice is your's.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

8 GB of RAM is a LOT MORE THAN ENOUGH for what you are doing believe me.You mentioned you will be doing HD video editing.Believe me you do NOT need more than 8 GB of RAM memory for that.UNLESS if you are nuts and perform tons of video conversions and editings at the SAME time lol.But no one does that anyway 

Besides if the software you are using needs 8 GB of RAM memory just to be able to even work then that software sucks and it's not optimized at all!It just sucks and you should not be using those kind of programs and especially buy them! 




Cheers!


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## wolfeking

vistakid10 said:


> True but the difference between a 7200RPM HDD and an SSD even when the SSD is running on SATA II is massive. With the prices of HDDs still rather high, and the prices of SSDs slowly dropping, it makes more sense to buy an SSD these days, even though the capacities of hard drives are larger. I have a 128GB SSD for my boot drive which has programs and Windows installed on it, and then a 2TB drive for storage. It's a great configuration but the OP having a laptop it probably isn't possible to have 2 drives... and I don't think 2.5" HDDs come in sizes of 2TB do they? I think 1TB is the max?


The max 2.5 HDD size is 1TB I think. And even then, it is a 5400 RPM drive. 

I would agree that a SSD is a good option, but I would have to disagree on your thesis of not being able to use 2 hard drives on a laptop. A good majority of them have the ability to use a HDD mount instead of the optical drive, and this would be the best option. Otherwise a firewire, eSATA, or USB3 external HDD would be a good option.


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## KevWestBeats

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I am going to get the hard drive and wait for the ram. Do the 7200s come in 1 TB? I really need the space. Speed here is not bad but i am just being greedy lol


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## larsch

vistakid10 said:


> Not until all mainstream programs go from 32- to 64-bit are we going to see programs make use of more than ~3.5GB RAM.



What rimes with multitasking?


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## claptonman

KevWestBeats said:


> Thanks for the help everyone. I think I am going to get the hard drive and wait for the ram. Do the 7200s come in 1 TB? I really need the space. Speed here is not bad but i am just being greedy lol



No 1TB. But here is a 750GB that is a solid state hybrid:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837

You can always get an external hard drive for media.


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## KevWestBeats

I really need the portability of not using too many external devices. My music work requires that I move from place to place often and quickly


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## turbodiesel

16 gigs is like server RAM


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## mtb211

If you are running many 64 bit versions of software with a 64 bit operating system it could come in handy...

Upgrading from a 5400 RPM to a SSD makes a HUGE difference.... my work laptop is a 256 SSD and it boots  fully in less than 25 seconds but the computer in my signature takes over a minute to load all the background programs and run quickly


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## spirit

wolfeking said:
			
		

> I would agree that a SSD is a good option, but I would have to disagree on your thesis of not being able to use 2 hard drives on a laptop. A good majority of them have the ability to use a HDD mount instead of the optical drive, and this would be the best option. Otherwise a firewire, eSATA, or USB3 external HDD would be a good option.


OK my bad, I was never the laptop geek 'round here!  Yeah pick up an external 500GB or 750GB 2.5" HDD and keep it in your laptop carry case if you require the extra space.



			
				mtb211 said:
			
		

> If you are running many 64 bit versions of software with a 64 bit operating system it could come in handy...


True, but 8GB is more than enough today. I use Premiere Pro CS5.5 on 8GB RAM with no problem, and that's a 64-bit application. I don't think upgrading from 8GB to 16GB RAM would make it run any faster for me.



			
				KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> I think I am going to get the hard drive and wait for the ram. Do the 7200s come in 1 TB? I really need the space. Speed here is not bad but i am just being greedy lol


I'd recommend the hybrid drive claptonman recommended as it will be faster than a 7200RPM disk and no the fastest 7200RPM drive is 750GB I think. I'd then pick up an external 2.5" drive if you need the storage, or if you want loads of storage pick up a 3.5" WD Caviar Green 2TB drive, put it in an external USB closure, and then you have yourself a 2TB 3.5" external drive. You could keep the drive in your carry-case if it's big enough. I know a 3.5" external drive would be bigger than 2.5", but if you want the space...


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## KevWestBeats

so if I am understanding correctly the 1TB hard drives only come in 5400/5200 rpm? If that is the case I will stay where I am at and wait until they make bigger hard drives at faster speeds. I can fill a 1TB hard drive quickly if I really want to and since I do so much work away from home and do it on the fly most of the time having any more external devices than my soundcard, keyboard and camera are probably not a good idea for me. Thank you again for the suggestions everyone I really do appreciate it I think I have made my decision. My computer is not slow for me by any stretch of the imagination I was just being greedy.


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## spirit

KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> so if I am understanding correctly the 1TB hard drives only come in 5400/5200 rpm?


Yeah think so, all the 2.5" 1TB drives I've seen are only 5400RPM.



			
				KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> If that is the case I will stay where I am at and wait until they make bigger hard drives at faster speeds.


I'd wait until a big 1TB SSD is released, it will be quite soon I reckon, give it a year or two. SSDs are getting bigger and faster, and ultimately one day will overtake the hard drives.


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## KevWestBeats

vistakid10 said:


> I'd wait until a big 1TB SSD is released, it will be quite soon I reckon, give it a year or two. SSDs are getting bigger and faster, and ultimately one day will overtake the hard drives.



thats exactly what I was thinking! It would be better for me to wait rather than buy now and upgrade in 18 months.


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## Ischinel

8 GB is alot actually unless you are doing photo rendering


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## KevWestBeats

why is photo rendering so special? its really just editing a still picture and people keep saying this as if it takes more power to edit that still picture than it does to edit a moving picture like video. Am I missing something?


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## S.T.A.R.S.

LoL you people are crazy.You do not need even 8 GB of RAM for so simple tasks not to mention EVEN MORE than 8 GB of RAM lol!


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## larsch

S.T.A.R.S. said:


> LoL you people are crazy.You do not need even 8 GB of RAM for so simple tasks not to mention EVEN MORE than 8 GB of RAM lol!



It depends on what level you are


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## wolfeking

not really. The same could be said of 4GB a couple of years ago. Heck, for the longest time our desktop had 512 MB of DDR RAM, and we never hit top usage, even though it supported 4GB.

RAM usage isn't massive. Most people don't need 4GB, let alone 8. But RAM is cheap. It is like coke or bread. Why buy 20 oz and 2 slices for $2, when you can get a whole loaf and 2 litres for $2.25? Sure you don't need that much, but better to have and not need than to need and not have.


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## Gary1

vistakid10 said:


> +1 especially as many programs even in this day and age are still only 32-bit which means they can only use up to ~3.5GB RAM.



-1 because some of us don't use only 32 bit programs. AutoCAD can cripple even the best made machines. I would think video editing might be on par with AutoCAD. OP specifically mentioned one part of his computing experience. At this moment please disregard programs like VLC that will fit in "most programs" and consider the one that counts. 

FOR THE OP If 16 gigs of ram is in your budget go for it, however finding a computer with professional GPU instead of Gaming GPU will be your best bet. Very hard to do on a laptop!


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## Geoff

8GB of RAM isn't that much these days, I don't know how I manage with only 6GB still!  My MacBook Pro has 8GB of RAM and when I use my wireless site survey tool alone it uses up all available memory down to 10-15MB once I get several data points collected.  Heck just having Chrome, Safari, Outlook, and iChat open is taking up almost 4GB of memory.


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## claptonman

WRXGuy1 said:


> 8GB of RAM isn't that much these days, I don't know how I manage with only 6GB still!  My MacBook Pro has 8GB of RAM and when I use my wireless site survey tool alone it uses up all available memory down to 10-15MB once I get several data points collected.  Heck just having Chrome, Safari, Outlook, and iChat open is taking up almost 4GB of memory.



Kind of different with a mac. OSX uses RAM much more efficiently than windows.


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## Geoff

claptonman said:


> Kind of different with a mac. OSX uses RAM much more efficiently than windows.


It still crashes my system when I use that app


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## FuryRosewood

...wow. When you can get 16 gigs for less than 100 bucks right now, why the heck do you even argue it? just max the damn board, turn off the page file, unless your worried about crashing for stability's sake, and enjoy the space. overkill is fine when its affordable, and its damn affordable right now.


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## Ischinel

Well, don't think anyone would actually need 16gb for general usage. Maybe at 2014-2016 ...


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## MineIQ1701

You might not need an entire tank of gas to get to work, but if it's cheap enough, you might as well fill up the tank. Go with the 16 gigs.


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## Okedokey

KevWestBeats said:


> ...I am doing some video editing for my youtube channel and making music on it as well.



If you are doing video editing you want an SSD hard drive with firewire external (or better) for external storage AND AS MUCH RAM AS POSSIBLE>  

Most of the guys here would never use more than 2GB of ram.  I have 32GB of RAM why?  I do video editing like the OP.  I set up a RAM DISK of 24GB which i run a virutal installation of the software i use.  THIS MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE!

If you don't do this kinda work, you would think a 2600K at 5GHZ with 32GB of RAM is overkill, but trust me it = hours of productivity = money.

To the OP, if you do video editing in HD, get the most amount of RAM you can fit in that bad boy.  RAM is cheap these days.


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## larsch

bigfellla said:


> I have 32GB of RAM why?  I do video editing like the OP.  I set up a RAM DISK of 24GB which i run a virutal installation of the software i use.  THIS MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE!



You would think that using the memory for data processing is more efficient than using it for application storage (it takes up double amount of memory this way).


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## Okedokey

larsch said:


> You would think that using the memory for data processing is more efficient than using it for application storage (it takes up double amount of memory this way).



Windows 7 doesnt handle data volatile memory that way anymore.  Like some distros of linux it can somewhat over commit.  You still have 8GB of RAM for system memory, but then you use the remaining RAM as a super fast SSD.


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## larsch

I am talking about letting your applications use the memory - instead of just letting it sit idle with your applications installed on it. They start faster, but then the memory just sits idle.


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## Okedokey

Hmm, i don't think you will be able to saturate 8GB of memory with properly coded 2D applications.  Remember, it has 8GB to do that and an ADDITIONAL 24GB working as a super fast, low latency SSD hard drive.  Im not sure how what you are saying is different?


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## larsch

Okay, so I am guessing your need for memory isn't that big, since you can allow most of it to be used for data storage


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## Okedokey

larsch said:


> Okay, so I am guessing your need for memory isn't that big, since you can allow most of it to be used for data storage



You don't get it do you?

I use 8GB of RAM for System, which I wouldn't say is low.

The other 24GB of RAM i have I use SELECTIVELY as required as a RAM disk.  

Pretty basic concept.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

WRXGuy1 said:


> 8GB of RAM isn't that much these days, I don't know how I manage with only 6GB still!



ONLY 6 GB?!
Don't you ever say that again lol!
If 6 GB sucks for you then what the hell would you say on my RAM memory which is just 512 MB xD
If you don't like it,we can trade  And hey...number 512 is even bigger than 6 so I am sure you will be satisfied xD xD xD


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## wolfeking

I see that you are joking, but after converting both it would be .5 vs 6 or 512 vs 6144.


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## larsch

bigfellla said:


> You don't get it do you?
> 
> I use 8GB of RAM for System, which I wouldn't say is low.
> 
> The other 24GB of RAM i have I use SELECTIVELY as required as a RAM disk.
> 
> Pretty basic concept.



Sure I get it, but I am not sure that you are getting me


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## S.T.A.R.S.

wolfeking said:


> I see that you are joking, but after converting both it would be .5 vs 6 or 512 vs 6144.



LoL.


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## 2048Megabytes

Heh! heh!

I am still using 2 gigabytes of RAM on my current desktop computer.  I have about $50 currently saved for a motherboard upgrade and I already have 4 gigabytes of DDR3 1600 RAM that is in my brother's computer.  Just waiting for a good reason now.  I have no reason to upgrade now.


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## spirit

I think in conclusion, we can say that really unless you are running multiple virtual machines at the same time or rendering multiple HD videos simultaneously or running servers or maybe manipulating massive photos in Photoshop, then really anything above 8GB, maybe even 6GB, is overkill for now, but sure 16GB will probably be useful in the future. Remember this time two years ago when we were all saying that 4GB RAM was more than enough and how 8GB RAM was too much? I run virtual machines of Vista 64-bit and various 64-bit Linux OS's on my desktop using VMware and I render HD videos using Premiere Pro CS5.5 64-bit and manipulate large photos in Photoshop Extended CS5.5 64-bit and I can honestly say that 8GB RAM is more than enough for these tasks (I only usually run one VM at a time), so really I'd only upgrade to 16GB when you need to, because in a year's time, 16GB RAM will be even cheaper then than it is now! That's certainly my plan for the future, sometime next year I'll upgrade to 16GB, if the upgrade is worthwhile. 8GB has served me well for over a year now.


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## Okedokey

The only problem with that argument is that he does require the overhead, and RAM is cheap now.  Try and buy 16Gb of DDR2 brand new now and see how you go.  Expensive.  So waiting a year or so may not be a good idea.


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## tlarkin

Not sure if this has been said.  99% of apps out there are still 32bit apps, all video games are 32bit with a few rare exceptions.  32bit apps can only address a maximum of 4gigs of Memory.  Unless you are multitasking (many apps at one, or running lots of virtual machines) or have insane I/O going to your Rig anything over 8gigs is going to be overkill for you.

Really anything over 6gigs, but since 8gig RAM kits are cheap enough why not?  Building a gaming rig and tossing 16gigs of RAM in it, is pointless. I know RAM is cheap right now so it's not a huge deal, but it's pointless.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

Anything above 512 MB is overkill !


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## Gary1

bigfellla said:


> If you are doing video editing you want an SSD hard drive with firewire external (or better) for external storage AND AS MUCH RAM AS POSSIBLE>
> 
> Most of the guys here would never use more than 2GB of ram.  I have 32GB of RAM why?  I do video editing like the OP.  I set up a RAM DISK of 24GB which i run a virutal installation of the software i use.  THIS MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE!
> 
> If you don't do this kinda work, you would think a 2600K at 5GHZ with 32GB of RAM is overkill, but trust me it = hours of productivity = money.
> 
> To the OP, if you do video editing in HD, get the most amount of RAM you can fit in that bad boy.  RAM is cheap these days.




EXACTLY. This forum should be labeled I spent $3000 on my computer how jealous are you?? Most posts on this site are here because the poster believes everyone will think they know more than someone who has posted only 4 times.

For you guys who say I use photo shop CS5, I use photo shop CS5 as well. I also use AutoCAD and photo shop does not use as many resources. I don't do video editing but I have friends that do. I don't have 16 gigs of ram but most of them do.  

DDR3 RAM is cheap, too cheep to loose an ounce of sleep over, so don't be jealous because OP's software cost more than your computer and your software. Well maybe those who say 8 Gig is too much don't have a clue what they are talking about.


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## Gary1

tlarkin said:


> Not sure if this has been said.  99% of apps out there are still 32bit apps, all video games are 32bit with a few rare exceptions.  32bit apps can only address a maximum of 4gigs of Memory.  Unless you are multitasking (many apps at one, or running lots of virtual machines) or have insane I/O going to your Rig anything over 8gigs is going to be overkill for you.
> 
> Really anything over 6gigs, but since 8gig RAM kits are cheap enough why not?  Building a gaming rig and tossing 16gigs of RAM in it, is pointless. I know RAM is cheap right now so it's not a huge deal, but it's pointless.




*How about you reread this post. I bet you will find its one of them not about 99% of aps or all the games in the world. Talking about pointless your post was pointless. Your so smart, but this isn't about games. *


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## S.T.A.R.S.

Gary1 said:


> Well maybe those who say 8 Gig is too much don't have a clue what they are talking about.


 
Or maybe they know how to make good software with great optimizations so that their RAM usage is like the RAM usage from notepad if not even lower.Those who have a LOT of RAM in their systems does not automatically increase their knowledge...


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## KevWestBeats

tlarkin said:


> Not sure if this has been said.  99% of apps out there are still 32bit apps, all video games are 32bit with a few rare exceptions.  32bit apps can only address a maximum of 4gigs of Memory.  Unless you are multitasking (many apps at one, or running lots of virtual machines) or have insane I/O going to your Rig anything over 8gigs is going to be overkill for you.
> 
> Really anything over 6gigs, but since 8gig RAM kits are cheap enough why not?  Building a gaming rig and tossing 16gigs of RAM in it, is pointless. I know RAM is cheap right now so it's not a huge deal, but it's pointless.


but as I've stated already all of my software is 64 bit and I am not gaming on this pc. I am doing video editing and writing music. 



Gary1 said:


> EXACTLY. This forum should be labeled I spent $3000 on my computer how jealous are you?? Most posts on this site are here because the poster believes everyone will think they know more than someone who has posted only 4 times.
> 
> For you guys who say I use photo shop CS5, I use photo shop CS5 as well. I also use AutoCAD and photo shop does not use as many resources. I don't do video editing but I have friends that do. I don't have 16 gigs of ram but most of them do.
> 
> DDR3 RAM is cheap, too cheep to loose an ounce of sleep over, so don't be jealous because OP's software cost more than your computer and your software. Well maybe those who say 8 Gig is too much don't have a clue what they are talking about.



lol. I was starting to think maybe they didn't understand my needs more so than anything else. It sounds like a lot of the people who replied do not do what I do. I may be wrong but I am not seeing it. I also do not see how Photoshop would take more processing power than video editing and nobody has answered this when I asked either lol. I am starting to think both routes (faster hard drive and getting more ram) are a good idea lol.


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## cabinfever1977

If you have the money and if its cheap,go for 16gb of memory,its better to have more than not enough,and certainly won't hurt nothing.


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## tlarkin

> but as I've stated already all of my software is 64 bit and I am not gaming on this pc. I am doing video editing and writing music.



sorry I did not read the whole thread, but historically on this forum it is gamers that want to max out their RAM thinking it will actually make a difference.

As for audio/video work it just depends on how much you do.  16gigs of RAM may never been needed for your work load, but having it won't hurt since RAM last I checked was relatively cheap.


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## Gary1

S.T.A.R.S. said:


> Or maybe they know how to make good software with great optimizations so that their RAM usage is like the RAM usage from notepad if not even lower.Those who have a LOT of RAM in their systems does not automatically increase their knowledge...



I know you were kidding about 512MB of RAM. Right? Your last post kinda concerns me. There is no way I could run AutoCAD 2012 on 512MB. Maybe if I switch to 1.4, is that what your talking about??

OP:  You can also consider Professional Graphic cards as well, if its in your budget. Its not like gaming where you top out at a $800 GPU, these get pretty pricey and I would not consider anything under $1200 for what you do. I am not saying you need it though, Gaming GPU's will work in a pinch.


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## KevWestBeats

Gary1 said:


> I know you were kidding about 512MB of RAM. Right? Your last post kinda concerns me. There is no way I could run AutoCAD 2012 on 512MB. Maybe if I switch to 1.4, is that what your talking about??
> 
> OP:  You can also consider Professional Graphic cards as well, if its in your budget. Its not like gaming where you top out at a $800 GPU, these get pretty pricey and I would not consider anything under $1200 for what you do. I am not saying you need it though, Gaming GPU's will work in a pinch.



can I do that with a laptop? The laptop came with a Radeon GPU with 512mb of ram on board. I paid 1200 for it after tax.


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## Okedokey

There seems to be quite a lot of misconceptions around how video editing software differs from other software.  Video editing benefits from as much RAM as possible (due to the way Win 7 handles ram differently = it will use as much as you give it and survive on very little also).  Video editing is about the pipeline.  Fast CPU, is pointless without fast storage and throughput.  This can be achieved cheaply with RAM and an SSD.


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## spirit

bigfellla said:


> The only problem with that argument is that he does require the overhead, and RAM is cheap now.  Try and buy 16Gb of DDR2 brand new now and see how you go.  Expensive.  So waiting a year or so may not be a good idea.





			
				tlarkin said:
			
		

> As for audio/video work it just depends on how much you do. 16gigs of RAM may never been needed for your work load, but having it won't hurt since RAM last I checked was relatively cheap.


Hadn't thought of that, RAM gets more expensive as it gets older. OK give it a few months or half a year and then 16GB of RAM will be even cheaper than it is today. I can get hold of 16GBs of 1333MHz DDR3 desktop RAM for just under £70 now these days. I doubt the OP needs 16GB right now, but as I just said above, perhaps consider upgrading in the near future. Is DDR3 going to be replaced soon? It's been around for about 3-4 years now.



			
				Gary1 said:
			
		

> OP: You can also consider Professional Graphic cards as well, if its in your budget. Its not like gaming where you top out at a $800 GPU, these get pretty pricey and I would not consider anything under $1200 for what you do. I am not saying you need it though, Gaming GPU's will work in a pinch.


The OP hasn't said what software he uses, but to be honest a GPU or a graphics card is only worthwhile if the software makes use of it whilst rendering. For example, I use Vegas Movie Studio and that doesn't make use of a GPU. The higher-end video editing programs (Premiere Pro, Avid Media Creator) probably make use of GPUs whilst rendering video. 



			
				KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> can I do that with a laptop? The laptop came with a Radeon GPU with 512mb of ram on board. I paid 1200 for it after tax.


Upgrading laptop hardware such as GPUs and CPUs is very difficult, time consuming and expensive, so no you can't really. Sorry. You could always look into an External Graphics card for your laptop though if you need a better graphics card. I don't know how much these cost or how well they perform or how big they are, but it may be worth looking into. 



			
				KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> I also do not see how Photoshop would take more processing power than video editing and nobody has answered this when I asked either


Generally Photoshop doesn't use _as_ much CPU power as rendering HD video does, but when opening large 10MB+ photos in Photoshop that's where you need your RAM and your CPU. Then when you export the photo you need to render it again so you need your CPU then as well. 



			
				KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> I am starting to think both routes (faster hard drive and getting more ram) are a good idea lol.


I can't remember how much RAM you said you had, but if you have 4GB then yes definitely get 8GB or 16GB. I'm just going to leave it up to you now on how much, because hopefully you've now read all the arguments for and against 16GB RAM. Yes I think a faster hard drive or maybe an SSD would be a good idea for you if you want your loading times to be quicker.


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## Gary1

I forgot we were talking about a laptop. sorry, I am sure your not looking for new laptops.


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## KevWestBeats

Gary1 said:


> I forgot we were talking about a laptop. sorry, I am sure your not looking for new laptops.


no not at all i bought this laptop a week ago lol. 


vistakid10 said:


> I can't remember how much RAM you said you had, but if you have 4GB then yes definitely get 8GB or 16GB. I'm just going to leave it up to you now on how much, because hopefully you've now read all the arguments for and against 16GB RAM. Yes I think a faster hard drive or maybe an SSD would be a good idea for you if you want your loading times to be quicker.


I have 8 right now. I am using Reason 6 for my music but honestly Reason is very well optimized and will run on any pos computer on the market. I also have Sonar and a few choice plug ins for it but I have enough power to run those too. The main thing I am worried about is video. I am trying different programs and I am just making it a habit to not touch anything 32 bit which is why I say I everything I have is 64 bit because I do not see a reason to take a step backards like that. EIther way thank you for your help you have been very very helpful to me. I am thinking I will upgrade the ram for now because I do need the extra hard drive space and I do not want to use an external drive for anymore than back ups. 


bigfellla said:


> There seems to be quite a lot of misconceptions around how video editing software differs from other software.  Video editing benefits from as much RAM as possible (due to the way Win 7 handles ram differently = it will use as much as you give it and survive on very little also).  Video editing is about the pipeline.  Fast CPU, is pointless without fast storage and throughput.  This can be achieved cheaply with RAM and an SSD.



This was my understanding of how windows 7 worked as well. I am no expert I have a working knowledge of computer technology. Basically just enough to do my work after that its just web surfing.


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## spirit

KevWestBeats said:
			
		

> I have 8 right now. I am using Reason 6 for my music but honestly Reason is very well optimized and will run on any pos computer on the market. I also have Sonar and a few choice plug ins for it but I have enough power to run those too. The main thing I am worried about is video. I am trying different programs and I am just making it a habit to not touch anything 32 bit which is why I say I everything I have is 64 bit because I do not see a reason to take a step backards like that.


As you have 8GB and it's OK for you now, just stick with it for now... if 8GB isn't cutting it for you after say a month then upgrade to 16GB. You are quite right not to use any 32-bit editing programs these days because of the RAM.


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## tlarkin

disk I/O is always going to be your biggest bottle neck and like I said it really depends on what you are doing.  I have a friend that works for a legit video production company (they actually do some Hollywood stuff too) and he uses a Macbook Pro with 8gigs of RAM in it to do almost everything.  They do a lot of post effects for movies, the only one I know for sure is they did all the rain in the movie Sin City.  The rest escape me.

If I recall, I think I read that the first transformers movie was edited on 3 Macbook Pros.  

As Bigfella already stated modern OSes will cache things out to memory, all OSes do this.  However, that doesn't mean it is going to make a real world applicable difference unless you utilize it.  The OP must find the balance of price/performance that works for them.  Suggesting 50gigs of RAM is futile and pointless because none of us can qualify the exact OP's needs.


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## cabinfever1977

If you have the money and if its cheap,go for 16gb of memory,its better to have more than not enough,and certainly won't hurt nothing.


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