If you’re considering building your own computer or upgrading an existing one, the first thing you’ll probably want to look at is the type of RAM. How much RAM do I need? In 2021 when RAM prices finally came down, many consumers were once again able to purchase what they wanted rather than settle for something lesser – which is likely why there was so much activity in this area.
It’s always a debate among computer enthusiasts what size of memory to buy. An 8 GB module or 16 GB modules? In reality, the majority of laptops you can find on the market are equipped with an 8 GB RAM module but it is still possible to add more if needed. It’s easy to see why most people would want this amount; most modern applications require such a large amount of memory yet there are programs that manage well despite having less than ideal requirements . Today, thanks to technological advances many motherboards support higher capacities for those who use their computers heavily for things like 3D rendering and video editing (which takes up so much space).
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However, while this may be true for most gamers, 16GB RAM is what they prefer in their computer and it doesn’t seem like there are any downsides to going this route. Considering this, we will now take a look at the differences between different RAM capacities. In order to find out which one of these options is better than the other or if more RAM really matters as much as marketers claim it does, we will be comparing both synthetic and gaming performance across each of these memory arrays.
8GB RAM
First off, we are going to look at the typical RAM sizes that are available in today’s market. This will give us a solid basis for comparison and understanding what each score means in relation to one another, so there can’t be any discrepancy between this computer’s hardware or software and its performance with either of these two computers’ configurations.
Below, you will find simulations of what these programs would look like on an 8GB memory system.
- Blender: 2.69 at 6.1 GB usage.
- Lammps: 2.68 at 10.5GB usage.
- NAMD: 2.79 at 7.2GB usage.
- Redinia: 2.68 at 9.5GB usage.
As you can see, the scores were good–maybe even a little too good. You may not be able to comprehend this difference because we haven’t tested our 16GB bench yet; but I’m going to be honest with you: the results are pretty surprising, if not more than anything else.
In this section, we’re going to be talking about how the laptop handles games. Most people want to know if a laptop can handle it – so here you go! All gaming benchmarks were done with 65 chrome tabs open.
- Grand Theft Auto V: 56 frames per second at 9GB total usage.
- Batman Arkham Knight: 101 frames per second at 9.8GB total usage.
- F1 2015: 109 frames per second at 6.5GB total usage.
It is clear that the three intensive games posted an amazing score when they were run consecutively. Now, we will take a look at how 16GB RAM performs when the same applications are used.
16GB RAM
Contrary to popular belief, doubling the amount of ram does not mean that you will have double the performance. It is rare for applications to behave this way in terms of memory and ram use. Still, many gamers feel it’s a safer bet to invest in 16GBs ram due to how apps or games may run into problems with leaks due to poor programming which happens often enough even in 2021.
After having looked at the numbers from simulations, it’s time for us to take a look at how they compare.
- Blender: 2.70 at 6.1 GB usage.
- Lammps: 2.95 at 10.5GB usage.
- NAMD: 2.83 at 7.2GB usage.
- Redinia: 2.80 at 9.5GB usage.
Surprised? So are we. The difference between 8GB of RAM and 16GB of RAM seems minimal at best – but how does it fare in games? That is what we’re going to discover today!
Let’s take a look! Can we examine this further without wasting any more time?
- Grand Theft Auto V: 56 frames per second at 9GB total usage.
- Batman Arkham Knight: 102 frames per second at 9.8GB total usage.
- F1 2015: 109 frames per second at 6.5GB total usage.
As we can see from the graph, Batman Arkham Knight was able to put out one more frame per second when running on 16GB of RAM instead of 8.
So, Why More RAM?
There are two questions raised when it comes to these types of products. Why would you buy more RAM if they’re all the same? Well, that is because some programs and games do need a little bit more than most.
Moreover, we do not account for other realistic factors like memory leaks or the general use of more apps on a computer. Either way, having 16GB RAM will always be better than choosing 8GB RAM; it’s just the fact that this difference in performance is only going to matter in certain circumstances.
Conclusion
Drawing conclusions from these results is definitely not an easy task. It turns out that performance doesn’t differ much in this particular scenario. But when it comes to real-world scenarios – namely people who have different configurations and play varying games – there are notable differences between them. One thing worth noting is that upgrading your laptop’s RAM may be something you’re interested in doing but don’t know how to go about it yet; so take a look at our handy list.
Using 8GB of RAM is the safest option, but if you find that you need more, you can upgrade. With how easily available and quick it is nowadays to upgrade your memory, there really isn’t any reason not to go for 16GB over 8GB. Of course this will depend on what type of games you’re playing – but even so the pros outweigh the cons when considering getting more RAM over less; especially since buying more saves time and money later on down the line.
