8GB RAM not enough anymore?
- Thread starter Barnum4000
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Barnum4000
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A big problem with modern operation systems is that they pre-allocate the installed RAM. So if you have 8GB it's quite common that the system tells you only 10% are 'free', but this doesn't mean you are getting out of memory. On most UNIX alike systems you can look up the really in-use amount of memory by using the command 'top'. The total amount of memory is divided in 'free' / 'used' / 'buff/cache' where only the used amount can't be used elsewhere (obviously).
Using this command you should see that most of the time (according to my experiences) even 4GB of RAM is far enough for surfing and playing around.
Never the less using a SSD as main storage allows your system to operate smoothly even on low memory, so I think also today 8GB is a fair amount of RAM.
Using this command you should see that most of the time (according to my experiences) even 4GB of RAM is far enough for surfing and playing around.
Never the less using a SSD as main storage allows your system to operate smoothly even on low memory, so I think also today 8GB is a fair amount of RAM.
designview
New member
Speed is not only depend upon RAM size. If You use latest technology processor then increasing RAM size can speedup PC. But for 1st 2nd 3rd generation intel processors 8GB to 16GB ram is enough to run multi tasking on PC
Dragonix12
New member
8GB is still enough. However, your definition of "enough" varies between people's use cases. If you are a heavy Chrome user like me that constantly has 20+ tabs open at the same time with a bunch of other programs running, you probably want more than 8GB RAM if you want to run some games at the same time chrome is running. Chrome unfortunately hogs a bunch of RAM. If you closed all other programs and just purely ran a game, 8GB RAM is definitely enough even for modern gaming titles.
jenniferuq1309
New member
The first page is mostly filled with "if you're not playing games, just using the www, 8GB is enough". But they date from 2016. It is now September 2018.
8GB is now barely enough. Because Chrome has become a memory hog. I've now switched back to Firefox. I have two computers with just 4GB. NOT enough for web browsing. Load just two sites with either Chrome or Firefox, and the hard disk LED just stay lit. For those, I switched back to Palemoon. Seems to work better.
On my main computer, I have 16GB. If I open too many sites in Chrome, I can get this one to use up all the RAM and cause the hard disk LED to stay lit.
I suspect it is not just the browsers' fault. It's the way websites are constructed these days. You go to any website, and it tries to load 200 files before your page finish loading. The use of frameworks and packages have gone out of hand. One thing is built on top of another on top of another. Load any site, and you can see the different sites your browser has to go to to get this or that stuff to render the page properly. It didn't used to be like this. You go to a website, it loads a HTML file and maybe a couple of pictures. Maybe two reads and writes to the database. Even slightly later, with php and javascript, sites could load in less than half a second because all the files were from the same server. You don't have to wait for dns queries, to get 50 components from different sites around the world just to display a simple news article.
8GB is now barely enough. Because Chrome has become a memory hog. I've now switched back to Firefox. I have two computers with just 4GB. NOT enough for web browsing. Load just two sites with either Chrome or Firefox, and the hard disk LED just stay lit. For those, I switched back to Palemoon. Seems to work better.
On my main computer, I have 16GB. If I open too many sites in Chrome, I can get this one to use up all the RAM and cause the hard disk LED to stay lit.
I suspect it is not just the browsers' fault. It's the way websites are constructed these days. You go to any website, and it tries to load 200 files before your page finish loading. The use of frameworks and packages have gone out of hand. One thing is built on top of another on top of another. Load any site, and you can see the different sites your browser has to go to to get this or that stuff to render the page properly. It didn't used to be like this. You go to a website, it loads a HTML file and maybe a couple of pictures. Maybe two reads and writes to the database. Even slightly later, with php and javascript, sites could load in less than half a second because all the files were from the same server. You don't have to wait for dns queries, to get 50 components from different sites around the world just to display a simple news article.
8GB of RAM is also good for upto Windows 10 OS with x64 processors and also good for gaming and some graphical works.
But if You need more RAM you can SWAP some space from your Hard or USB Flash Drive and Add it to your 8GB RAM.
SWAP is the best option for users who don't want to upgrade their system and want to temporarily Add some RAM Capacity.
But if You need more RAM you can SWAP some space from your Hard or USB Flash Drive and Add it to your 8GB RAM.
SWAP is the best option for users who don't want to upgrade their system and want to temporarily Add some RAM Capacity.
jamiewalker
New member
The amount of RAM depends on your purpose. If you're playing games, 8GB is good, not excellent. Modern games require a minimum of 8 GB. If you're working on the Internet 8GB is pretty enough for you. But if you're an architect or an engineer who works in memory consuming applications, you will need at least 16GB of memory.
airthegame
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xdude
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My current desktop is an i5 with 64bit setup. I bought some used parts like Processor, RAM and mother board and rest new. I was moving from 4GB 32bit 4GM RAM setup so I think 8GB DDR3 going to be more than enough. I'm not a gamer. But seems in a 64 bit system 8GB RAM is not a lot. When I open lots of Tabs on both Chrome and Firefox RAM usage goes upto 7GB sometimes and things start slow down. I didn't expect this but I guess that's the reality. I'm thinking about upgrading it to 16GB but I wonder if it's worth the money.
@xdude I upgraded my Dell computer (model dated 2014 - Dell Optiplex 990) to 16 GB. I had one of those techs in a workshop completely re install the OS - in preparation for my move to South Africa at end of 2016 - and thought since I had purchased cheap memory in one of those souks in UAE - that he could install it for me at the same time. So I upgraded it from 8 GB to 16 GB. It did make a difference for me. But I think Windows 7 is not as good any longer with updating the system to current technology. I'm still not ready for Windows 10 - but think that things have come to the stage that most programmers are programming for Windows 10 and tweaking for other Windows. So maybe I'm not getting the optimum speed and efficiency I should from my new upgraded memory.
So I'm curious, what Windows are you using on your new system?
So I'm curious, what Windows are you using on your new system?
xdude
New member
I'm still using Windows 7. I'm not the type rush at new technology. I only moved to Windows 7 when they stopped support for Windows XP. I used Windows XP for more than 12 years. So I really don't want to jump to Windows 10 yet. So I think I will go for another 8GB RAM. Here even a used DDR3 8GB RAM cost about 50 usd. I have to check if I can get 2, 4GB RAMs for cheaper. Machine has 4 RAM slots. I'm about 5 generations behind when it comes to latest Computer technology. The processor is an i5 4th Gen one.
Now what I do need is go for SSD drive for OS. I hope this might speed up things a bit.
Now what I do need is go for SSD drive for OS. I hope this might speed up things a bit.