How much difference is there between 16Gb and 32Gb in VR?

Just wondering if installing an extra 16Gb RAM to add to my existing 16Gb would make any difference to running DCS, especially in VR.

In my experience no.

In DCS, when I increased my ram from 16 to 32 gb, the only thing I was able to remark was to see the new 16 gb sleeping with non-used part of the "old" 16 gb.

I saw no VR improvement, because with my usage of DCS (type of mission, mostly SP, etc...) my system was not fully used before upgrade regarding memory (not all the 16 gb ram nor the 11 gb Vram were used). So FPS graphs were the same, and eventual "stutter" (FPS short blocage while GPU and CPU are not maxed out) were the same.

What I did since than was to let my 32 gb ram handle the pagefile instead of virtual memory. Theorically ram is 40 times quicker than ssd's virtual memory but that also don't give perf. improvement ingame. But at least my 32 gb are not sleeping anymore.

BUT if you use VR with BIG MP scenarios, I don't know maybe it can be usefull ??

In my experience, ABSOLUTELY!!!

I mostly fly online with my squad mates.

Usually, when I fire up the FA-18C my system hits 13-15GB RAM usage right away. I am 100% sure it would NOT take 15GB if I only had 16GB total, how should it ??? So no one with 16GB can give you answer that holds. I have taken 16GB out and put them right back in after a week with the Hornet and latest patches. I am NEVER under 13GB usage and 25GB Swap in MP, seriously NEVER.

16GB may work for SP and lesser airframes but I would seriously consider 32GB for a new rig. Adding RAM later can and likely will be a BIG pain unless you stay with 2133MHz.

SP + moderate airframe = 16GB

anything else = 32GB

I went from 16 to 32 when 2.5 was released. No benchmarks, but from just what I see and feel.....no difference in MP or SP. YMMV.

6700k@4.5, 980Ti, Rift.

So, with 2 yes and 2 no, that's pretty conclusive then! Thanks for your opinions, guys. I must say that on my previous PC, I didn't notice a difference going from 16Gb to 32Gb, but I just wondered what the current thinking was.

Didn't notice a difference going from 16 to 32 and I play regularly in VR on a big MP server on the open beta.

Depends on a lot of things. I would say No, for the most part. DCS only comes close to using a full 16GB under very special circumstances. Lower your preload radius if it gets too close. I have 32GB and I still lower it to reduce loading times.

Depends on a lot of things. I would say No, for the most part. DCS only comes close to using a full 16GB under very special circumstances. Lower your preload radius if it gets too close. I have 32GB and I still lower it to reduce loading times.

Loading time not an issue for me. With pre-load at 100%, it takes about 35 seconds to load a mission from the GUI.

Loading time not an issue for me. With pre-load at 100%, it takes about 35 seconds to load a mission from the GUI.

So here's the kicker, if you preload too much, your ram MAY get filled up and then it'll start swapping to page file which will cause bad performance. In that case more ram will be better. However, making preload radius less can help to avoid that. If preload radius is at 100% and you're all good it means you like aren't running heavy missions and 16GB RAM is enough and therefore adding more ram will do nothing.

So here's the kicker, if you preload too much, your ram MAY get filled up and then it'll start swapping to page file which will cause bad performance. In that case more ram will be better. However, making preload radius less can help to avoid that. If preload radius is at 100% and you're all good it means you like aren't running heavy missions and 16GB RAM is enough and therefore adding more ram will do nothing.

Thanks for that. Makes sense, but I haven't noticed any bad performance so far, even in the Spit Epsom Campaign which is heavy stuff with dozens of aircraft and ground units. And Normandy!

I don't think you will see any difference in the basic operation of VR in DCS with 16 or 32GB of ram when using a very basic mission. The real issue with the amount RAM in my opinion arises when you start adding lots of trackable objects into the missions.

This, however, is not unique to just VR. Join a server with a good number of players and trackable objects and you will definitely see a benefit from having more RAM.

I have a setup pretty close to yours imachen and it's my opinion that you could get away just fine with only having 16GB but, if you have the means to get 32GB I would go with 32GB. It might be overkill but that headroom can't hurt.