RAM Question(s)

[Tinkles]

I know that my computer will have 8GB RAM, eventually I will upgrade but 8GB will be for starters. 

Some games I want to play require 2 to 4 GB of RAM to play. My question is, if I have 8 GB of ram and 1 Game requires 2 GB does that mean I have 6 GB left to 'work with'?  If I install 3 games, each requiring 2 GB of RAM to play, does that mean I have 2 GB of RAM left?  Or does RAM only mean a 'cap', as in you can only play a game up to *this* point.

I think I made sense there.. does anyone understand what I am trying to say?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I know that my computer will have 8GB RAM, eventually I will upgrade but 8GB will be for starters. 

Some games I want to play require 2 to 4 GB of RAM to play. My question is, if I have 8 GB of ram and 1 Game requires 2 GB does that mean I have 6 GB left to 'work with'?  If I install 3 games, each requiring 2 GB of RAM to play, does that mean I have 2 GB of RAM left?  Or does RAM only mean a 'cap', as in you can only play a game up to *this* point.

I think I made sense there.. does anyone understand what I am trying to say?

You only play 1 game at one time so you'll never need more at once than what the one game requires. For most people 4-8Gb is sufficient. If you have 8Gb you may benefit a little from windows prefetching game etc. files to the ram so they'll start a bit quicker. Most games are designed to run at moderate ram amounts because the developers want to have their product run at the maximum amount of client computers (look at AH).

I think you're confusing ram to hard drive storage. Ram gets used only when you run a program but it's freed immediately when you stop using that program, hard drive storage gets used permanently so the more you use, the less you have left.

[Tinkles]

You only play 1 game at one time so you'll never need more at once than what the one game requires. For most people 4-8Gb is sufficient. If you have 8Gb you may benefit a little from windows prefetching game etc. files to the ram so they'll start a bit quicker. Most games are designed to run at moderate ram amounts because the developers want to have their product run at the maximum amount of client computers (look at AH).

I think you're confusing ram to hard drive storage. Ram gets used only when you run a program but it's freed immediately when you stop using that program, hard drive storage gets used permanently so the more you use, the less you have left.

Excellent.

..

Well, that was easy.  Thanks for the help! 

[Bizman]

MrRipley gave an excellent answer to the question. Here's a little something more to think about: RAM recommendations are just what the name says. There's minimum requirements and recommended requirements, both of which are quite general. At one time someone said that doubling the amount of the recommended requirement would be golden and I believe that is still valid advice. Also bear in mind, that Windows itself is using RAM all of the time, so if the game recommends 2 GB, doubling that would be 4 GB and with the amount of Windows' usage you'd be counting to 6 GB. Thus 8 GB would be a nice amount to have in a modern 64 bit Windows system.

[ink]

MrRipley gave an excellent answer to the question. Here's a little something more to think about: RAM recommendations are just what the name says. There's minimum requirements and recommended requirements, both of which are quite general. At one time someone said that doubling the amount of the recommended requirement would be golden and I believe that is still valid advice. Also bear in mind, that Windows itself is using RAM all of the time, so if the game recommends 2 GB, doubling that would be 4 GB and with the amount of Windows' usage you'd be counting to 6 GB. Thus 8 GB would be a nice amount to have in a modern 64 bit Windows system.

Bizman touches on something...not sure if you know...(guessing not by your question)

 you need a 64 bit OS to use anything over 4 gigs of ram.

IIRC you need certain one also not all 64 bits allow max ram usage....(that part I dont recall exactly)

[633DH98]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx

[Skuzzy]

Bizman touches on something...not sure if you know...(guessing not by your question)

 you need a 64 bit OS to use anything over 4 gigs of ram.

IIRC you need certain one also not all 64 bits allow max ram usage....(that part I dont recall exactly)

While the 64 bit operating systems may address more than 4GB of physical memory, all 32 bit applications have the same restrictions as if they are running on a 32 bit operating system.

See the link 633DH98 provided for details.

[ink]

While the 64 bit operating systems may address more than 4GB of physical memory, all 32 bit applications have the same restrictions as if they are running on a 32 bit operating system.

See the link 633DH98 provided for details.

so in other words....take AH it is a 32 bit application...no matter what OS I use it can only use 4 gigs....????

so to utilize Blender(a 3d modeling program) with more then 4 gigs I would need to get the 64 bit Blender.

learn something new every day.

[Skuzzy]

so in other words....take AH it is a 32 bit application...no matter what OS I use it can only use 4 gigs....????

so to utilize Blender(a 3d modeling program) with more then 4 gigs I would need to get the 64 bit Blender.

learn something new every day.

Correct.

[Pudgie]

so in other words....take AH it is a 32 bit application...no matter what OS I use it can only use 4 gigs....????

so to utilize Blender(a 3d modeling program) with more then 4 gigs I would need to get the 64 bit Blender.

learn something new every day.

Hey Skuzzy,

With all the new graphics engine development & such coming for AH........................... .....
Are y'all thinking about a rewrite of AH into 64-bit to accommodate the extra mem most folks are using nowadays?

Just asking....................... ......................

For NDA purposes you could answer this question w/ an emoticon...................

 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Bizman touches on something...not sure if you know...(guessing not by your question)

 you need a 64 bit OS to use anything over 4 gigs of ram.

IIRC you need certain one also not all 64 bits allow max ram usage....(that part I dont recall exactly)

I did not even think that anyone would have a 32-bit windows anymore and planning to buy new hardware to it. By the way you don't need a 32-bit OS to use more than 4 gigs of ram. It's only windows that doesn't support PAE. Other OSes can use up to 64Gb of ram despite being 32-bit.

[ink]

I did not even think that anyone would have a 32-bit windows anymore and planning to buy new hardware to it. By the way you don't need a 32-bit OS to use more than 4 gigs of ram. It's only windows that doesn't support PAE. Other OSes can use up to 64Gb of ram despite being 32-bit.

cc that..... thanx for the info