Is it worth upgrading RAM from 8gb to 16gb?

iamcornholio

I have a Windows 7 (64bit) i5 system recently built and the four RAM slots are occupied with 2GB sticks - with fast Kingston RAM giving 8gb total

The board will take 4gb per slot to give 16gb maximum, but I wonder if it is worth swapping the RAM out for 16gb?

I do CAD and some graphics work, but the system is already fast and I don't have any particular speed issues

I just wondered as RAM is cheap now is it worth it?

macman

I think you've answered your own question.
Doubllng the RAM may only make a negligible difference for what you want to do.

bevanuk

It's cost dependant. There isn't going to be any harm if it is cheap and you can afford it. 8gb is a generous amount anyhow.

Mondez

Is your CAD application a 64Bit application? If not, more memory won't speed it and it doesn't sound like you have any other memory hungry processes so I'd personally say save your money. Even on 64Bit versions of Windows, 32Bit apps can't use more than 4GB each. However if you plan to stick with the system for a while and its likely your applications will be upgraded at some point, you may come to use the memory down the road.

iamcornholio

Ok thanks everyone.

Yes my CAD program is 64bit, but it does run smooth so I am just not sure if it will/can run smoother. Probably not

It just pains me that I paid £95 for 4gb RAM about 9 months ago and then got 4gb more for a "bargain" £60 a few months ago and its something like £20 now .... and I don't need it :mad:

Kernel_Sanders

iamcornholio wrote: »

Ok thanks everyone.

Yes my CAD program is 64bit, but it does run smooth so I am just not sure if it will/can run smoother. Probably not

It just pains me that I paid £95 for 4gb RAM about 9 months ago and then got 4gb more for a "bargain" £60 a few months ago and its something like £20 now .... and I don't need it :mad:

What we have here is a case of what I used to do, that is, feel better about my perceived 'losses' by buying the same item at the vastly reduced price. It's quite an interesting psychological phenomenon; you feel good about finally getting the product at a bargain price whereas in reality you have expended even more unnecessary money because you have more of the product than you need. (does the term throwing good money after bad strike a chord to you?)
Do what I now do; consider that you paid the going price at the time for something you needed at the time. Try and think of any subsequent price reduction as a good thing, i.e. a benefit to others yet no loss to yourself.

Hammyman

My wife uses Adobe CS and can regularly get up to 16GB image files and cache so for her it makes sense. For someone who doesn't fully utilise 8GB, there is no point.

iamcornholio

Oh no, I'm in a fix now

I have a SSD as the boot drive and my system is fast [enough]. The SSD only has about 5gb free, so after browsing hotukdeals there is a good offer on a 120gb SSD ... so I ordered.

Now having checked the specs, the SSD is SATA 3 ... but my mobo is SATA 2. It will work, but I will be technically losing some speed. So now, playing on my mind is that a new mobo 'may be required' ..... at which time I could get 16gb of cheap RAM.