Hi, this isn’t a “problem help” but more of an “advice help”, if you can call it that.
Anyways, after the next 2 months or so, I will be switching to Linux as my main OS, but I’m currently in a dilemma.
So at the moment, my setup is this:
OS: Windows 10 Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Display (HP E232): 1920x1080 @ 60 Hz in 23" Display (PHL 243V7): 1920x1080 @ 75 Hz in 24" CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (16) @ 3,7 GHz GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 (16 GB) Memory: 16 GB DDR4 Storage: Samsung SSD 980 1TB(the main drive that I’m currently running windows on) KINGSTON SUV500MS240G 240 GB(the drive that I have tumbleweed installed on and using it just to test and tinker/play with stuff on Linux)
In the next 2 months I will be upgrading my PC with the components you see in the image:
So my setup will be the same except for the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and storage.
My dilemma is if I should upgrade to 32 or 64 GB of RAM, because DDR4 may not have a lot of years left (at least that’s what the rumor is), and I was thinking of going for 64 GB because I will be running certain stuff and “maybe” some games as well in a VM. I could also go for 48 instead, since it’s the middle ground between both, but I don’t really know.
So what do you think ?
Should I stick to 32 or go for 48/64 GB of RAM?
My main “fear” you could say, is that ddr4 could become obsolete in a few years, and then it would feel like I wasted money. But, I also know that linux has no problem with older hardware.
A funny/ironic fact: Up until 2021/22, I was on ddr3 (couldn’t afford to upgrade) until I upgraded my rig.
Soo… yeah
I remember $30/MB for my first PC in 1990, $120 for a “whopping” 4MB. It didn’t take long for me to realize I needed twice that, and a full 32bit CPU to replace the 386SX-16.
I am slightly confused. If the DDR4 RAM becomes obsolete, “what is going to happen” ?
Do you think it will stop working? Or maybe you’re worried about the warranty? (obsolete: no longer produced - doesn’t matter, really. I have a motorcycle that is no longer produced, but I still ride it).
If my DDR4 RAM became “obsolete” six months ago, the machine would still be running. There would be no degradation.
If our 6 year old desktop stops working because the RAM has finally failed, I’ll simply build a new desktop. Or better, we’ll buy a Mini-PC
I’m sorry if I have used the wrong term, I meant “obsolete” in terms of performance/relevance.
Like how ddr3 is now compared to ddr4. Most people nowadays either use ddr4 or ddr5 because they are faster and in some cases it improves the performance in certain games or software.
Anyways, I think I’ll go for 64 GB because I will never know if I might want to do other things that are more ram intensive.
So thanks for helping me figure it out!
If you don’t plan to upgrade the system again in the near future, then go for as much as you can reasonably afford.
When I purchased my last system, I decided I wanted it to last at least 5-6 years (if not longer, and I tend to use my systems for closer to 10). I had options up to 256 GB, and went with 128 GB (couldn’t justify the further expense for doubling it).
Why bother with a new AM4 motherboard? And if you are getting all new mobo/cpu/ram, why not move up to AM5 where you will have future upgrades available?
AM5 is stil too expensive for me, and I’m buying the new mobo because I want to have 2 m2 slots instead of 1 (can’t buy an adapter because the gpu is covering the pci slots, and buying and extender is expensive in my country and will also look weird).
And also, I can recover some of that money back when sell the old mobo, cpu and ram (which I intend to do).
Fair enough. Do you do anything that is very RAM heavy? I have a laptop with 8gb that I only use for web browsing and writing, and 8gb is plenty of RAM. I have a server that runs Jellyfin for my entire family and often uses about 20gb when multiple people are streaming.
Does your workload NEED 64gb? If not, I wouldn’t spend extra money on it. Unused RAM is wasted RAM.
If you are adding a new pair of DDR4, make sure the timings are the same (or better) than the existing pair, specially the CL. The others may diverge a bit without appreciable difference in real-world performance.
I would then have 32gb for the host and the other 32gb for the vm, which might or might not be overkill.
But, I also thought: “What if there’s a game or software that I might want to use/run in the vm and it requires 32gb ?”
My bad, I should have mentioned in the first post that I have already done all of technical research beforehand.
But now that you mention it, there is a question that comes to my mind:
I’ve seen some posts on reddit where they said that having 2 sticks of ram is better than 4 because there is less strain on the memory controller or whatever while others said that it depends or it doesn’t matter at all.
So what is true and what isn’t ?
I’m asking because I was thinking of going with 2 kits of these: Corsair 32GB RAM Kit
(and also because 4 slots look better in my “dum dum” brain )
Sheesh … Reddit. Yawn, boring. Might as well search facebook. It’s not a real technical resource… “strain” - very funny opinion!!
Four sticks here, now for 6 years (already mentioned).
At this point now, decide what you truly want … and if you want to do REAL research, only rely on longtime reliable technical articles and longtime resources, NOT social media junk.
)