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16gb of ram for 80 more dollars.. Worth?

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It completely depends on what you are using the computer for. Internet browsing? No. Gaming? Not likely.

List full detailed system specs and what you are going to use it for.
 
If you are at/over your 8GB capacity, it will make a difference. If not, it will not make a difference at all.
 
Yea, I just like to play games and stuff like that. I was just wondering if getting 8 more gigs of ram would future proof me further.
 
nikoclops said:
Yea, I just like to play games and stuff like that. I was just wondering if getting 8 more gigs of ram would future proof me further.
Click to expand...

Since you're gaming, I would wait.

On your next rebuild, get 16GB of DDR4 when you get a new motherboard :thup:
 
Hey atmin :D , Wow I completely forgot ddr4 ram even existed for a moment LOL.
 
I've contemplated it a bit going with more ram, and the reasons stated above are clear really. Back in the day going from 2GB to 4GB was obvious, 4GB to 8GB took a bit more but it was clear advantage. Now going from 8GB to 16GB thats a stretch for everyday use.

My work laptop finally got to the point that 16GB was worth while and it takes a bit of heavy documents to do that (2D CAD/3D CAD).

Overall 8GB for Gaming and General PC usage it will be more then fine. Going upwards of that you got to be doing some heavy lifting.
 
Thank you for the insightful links. Though I am still a little confused because the article really does not specify how memory, other than a lack of enough, affects system performance. In fact, the way I understood the author, I came to the conclusion that it comes down to what software you may be running?

Anyhow, in my previous build we discussed the uselessness of my putting 64gb in my system. Having bought 8gb sticks (8 of them) i chose to leave my previous build at 16gb. That said, from reading the article, it seems like I would of been better to RMA the two 8gb sticks in favor of buying a quantity of four 4gb sticks so that I could put one in each channel?

Would you agree on that or would there be enough difference in the performance of the two 8gb sticks (dual channel) verses the performance of 4 sticks (quad channel) to take the time to RMA the 8gb sticks I have in favor of the 4mb sticks?
 
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If you were/are on the X79 platform which is the only chipset that supports quad channel, yes, you should be using four sticks. If you are on Z97/Z87, etc, they are only dual channel. The 4930K is X79 so four sticks is what you are looking for.

As far as memory goes, both memory speed and the timings matter in over performance. The big difference is if you actually can notice said tweaks and improvements outside of benchmarks... in a lot of cases, not usually. In regards to the timings, the lower the better, and speeds, the higher the better. The article ends essentially by saying pic something between 1600 and 2133Mhz with the lowest timings you want to afford... (note the build I picked 2133 with your budget).
 
Thank you that make sense. Another question if you don't mind my picking your brain. If your not trying to get past the manufactures tested speed limit, simply using the XMP feature (considering your memory is equipped with the same) should be good enough for just about anyone. If in fact that is true, does it create a problem to run your memory up to its maximum rating and leave it that way?

For instance, I have always ran my over clocked systems on stock settings until I had the need to actually use the boost (for lack of a better word). Is it okay to tweak memory out and run it like that 24/7?
 
Absolutely ok to run XMP profile. Though using the XMP profile is not overclocking, that is what they are rated to do. PAST that point is overclocking or LOWERING the timings from stock can also be considered overclocking as well. Both are fine 24/7/365 (if overclocking, you need to make sure its stable by running stress tests against it).
 
Lowering Latency

EarthDog said:
Absolutely ok to run XMP profile. Though using the XMP profile is not overclocking, that is what they are rated to do. PAST that point is overclocking or LOWERING the timings from stock can also be considered overclocking as well. Both are fine 24/7/365 (if overclocking, you need to make sure its stable by running stress tests against it).
Click to expand...

In my situation, I can simply RMA the RAM I have in favor of lower latency RAM, but If I was stuck with it, would my slightly increasing the dram voltage help me to improve my latency? Am I calling that the correct thing?
 
What really confuses me is that when you run your memory at higher speeds, your latency increases. Does the benefit of the extra speed, for instance from 1333 to 1800, outweigh the latency increasing.
 
That is exactly the difference and the game one needs to play. The highest clocks with the lowest latency. For a ballpark example, 1600CL8 is about = 1866 CL9. Sometimes applications respond better to lower timings, sometimes you need bandwidth. It will vary.

Truth be told, I personally leave little value in ram speeds/timings as, in most cases (outside of multi-gpu or igpu use to name two) getting insane speeds or low low timings really matters little in how things feel.
 
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