Due to the massive price cuts in DDR2 modules I was thinking about throwing 8GB of RAM in my new system just because it's so cheap.

I was just wondering if anyone has tested if 8GB would be used in today's games.

This is of course under a 64bit OS, I run XP x64.

If you feel like it then yeah, just remember to turn off the page file =)

Wow! You game on XP 64!
The driver issues must be much better off now. I couldn't find a decent 8800GTX driver to save my live a while back.
Having said that, if you're running a 64bit OS, then the more the merrier....Get the 8Gigs.

I read a post here that the only benefit in performance that person noticed was only in the game Supreme commander.

I was happy with 1 GiB on XP x64. I didn't see any change upgrading that to 3 GiB (I am a heavy gamer too but not in a computer hardware sense).

I have 8 GiB in my server (was XP x64 and is now Server 2003 Standard x64 Edition) and it is only using 1.5 GiB with 100% CPU load.

Basically, I would not recommend more than 2 GiB unless you ran into a situation that requires it. The only reason why I put 8 GiB in my server was to fill up all 8 DIMM slots which basically is just closure for me. I don't think I ever even got close to the 4 GiB used threshold.

...

Hmm...

What is your memory situation right now? Your motherboard has how many DIMM slots? What is in those DIMM slots? For example, "I have 4 DIMM slots with 2 x 2 GiB sticks in them."

Also, what is the most memory intensive application you use and how many instances of it are running?

There has been some discussion in a different thread that such large configuration of memory will lead to unreliable systems. Discussion starts about here in the thread:
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/45931/?o=80#535053

Oh, right...ECC. I stand by what I said in that thread: The greater the density of memory, the more likely there is to be a problem with radical electrons causing data corruption; thusly, requiring error correcting memory modules to ensure stability.

Ford,
We evidently don't play the same games, or at least in the same way.
My favorite game, CivIV-BTS can pull down every single bit of ram I have in a marathon game with all the goodies turned on.
But it's not just games, if I have multiple background processes running for a period of days or weeks, the DRAM requirements seem to continue to grow due to memory leaks.
More RAM is better than not enough, and I'd rather double my RAM than get a .2GHz increase in CPU speed.

I also stand by my view of ECC memory, that even on my 24/7 system or on a typical server that the types of errors that ECC protects against is not necessary in most systems.

I think 90% of it has to do with perfection (I try not to use that word) of virtual memory usage in Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. I never tried the likes of Supreme Commander with less than 3 GiB memory but the fact I was using a single-core processor really didn't help in the first place (an 8 player game ran so slow that there was still 8 players 6 hours into the game before it crashed).

Let's just say I can't make any solid recommendations until I know it is a desktop or workstation motherboard...

If i were to put 8GB's in my new rig it would be installed in an EVGA 780i A1 board.

Then no, 4 GiB is more than enough. If you want to leave the 8 GiB door open, get 2 x 2 GiB instead of 4 x 1 GiB. That money is better spent on a faster GPU or quad-core.

FordGT90Concept said:
He's not gonna get much faster any time soon, though. His machine is fairly top of the line.

That's pretty much what I was thinking when I ordered my parts. I bought a set of Corsair Dominator PC8500 2GBx2 to give myself room to grow if needed.

Thanks for the info.

I don't think any application is capable of addressing more than 2 GiB unless it is coded as a series of interlinked executables (which games are not). The only reason why that much memory would be useful in a gaming system is if you are constantly running multiple instances of a memory hungry application. The odds of that are quite low. So, any more than 4 GiB for a gaming system is pretty much pointless until the game binaries are 64-bit (at least a few years off yet) and can address more than 2 GiB of memory.

So yeah, it is overkill but if that is what you want, go for it.

looking at the prices of ram and 8gig ram sets, i think it would be a good idea. i myself upgraded to 8gig and don't regret it at all. considering future upgrades, with vista i already recommand 4gig and i am sure that windows7 will not use less then vista. so if you plan on upgrading os's and considering that future games will use more resources i would say 8gig is not a bad idea.

i have a question thou, how u like the q9300?

If you do any virtualization at all, 8GB is a slam dunk at current prices. My ~2.5 year old Athlon X2 is still just fine performance-wise, but I'm seriously considering an upgrade anyway just to get more memory...

Absolutely. I have 2GB (which VMware gobbles up like candy), but it's DDR1 and the prices are still pretty nuts compared to DDR2.

If you can afford it and you think you may need more then 4GB of ram at one point or another, then go ahead and do it. Remember though, you can always buy a 4GB (2x2GB) kit, and buy another of the same kits down the road. I did this in my somewhat recent build. It's nice to be able to max out the motherboard and not fill up all the slots (such as what would have happened if I went with something such as 4x1GB). I personally did not see the need for 8GB of ram, and I'd say I have never seen ram usage go above about 60% (possibly near 70% once) in Vista x64, even while playing Crysis at 1680x1050. When I first boot up into Vista x64, ram usage is around 24 to 30% according to the app that is on my Logitech G15 keyboard.

If your going with a 64-Bit OS and you have 4GB or more RAM, I'd highly recommend Vista x64 over XP x64. It seems the driver support tends to be better and in many cases the software support is as well. Of course with 32-Bit, XP is probably still supported better. If you already have a XP x64 that you own then I guess you would be fine to stick with that, but if your gonna buy a new license, go with Vista x64.

Corsair - 4GB RAM Better Than 2GB
http://www.overclockersclub.com/news/22285/

So if 4GB is better than 2GB, I would say 8GB is better than 4GB I love 8GB, my system runs so much more smoother when gaming on my 46" HDTV.8)

Apparently 4GB kills 2GB is Multi-tasking / Task switching Big Time.

Take that article with a very big pinch of salt. Corsair makes memory and as such, would be thrilled with the prospect of everyone buying twice as much memory even if they don't need it.

The bottom line I would say is that, if you're doing something really nutty and you need 8GB (of cheap DDR2 anyway), or you just really want it for bragging rights, go for it. If not, 4GB is probably more than enough. I use 2GB and I don't think I've ever seen my usage go above 1.5GB except when using VMware.