Do I need 32GB of Memory now?

yep.

that’s why some of these threads make me smile.

 

the battles some of us choose

to fight...

 

makes life interesting.

True. But then again, I go apoplectic when a program adds a tray icon w/o my permission. :D

I play with 12 GB.. It never goes beyond 10 GB RAM, even online with 30 players.

 

But I must admit that I play on Medium details, so larger textures might require MORE Ram.

 

So I would say 16 GB is Fine, but if anyone can afford 32 GB then why not... but there won't be any difference.

Looking at your memory usage and saying "doesn't use 100%, so more is not needed" is a bad test.

That is, because an application or game on startup might check for how much memory is available and then decide on a memory usage strategy to best make use of the available resources.

So doing the same test on 32 GB might show much higher memory usage, if they implemented it that way.

However that does of course not mean that more than 16 GB will improve things, but rather that different tests are needed.

Best test would be to run it on a 4×8 GB system in dual channel and then compare that to the same system with 2 of the modules removed (also in dual channel).

Personally, for a new system, I'd recommend 32 GB, even if DCS doesn't fully benefit from it right now.

Thing is that memory consumption will only go up, so in the future you might benefit more. So it's more future-proof.

Also, right now memory isn't that expensive any more.

Upgrading an existing system that has 16 GB on the other hand wouldn't be worth it.

One wouldnt need the full 4x8 kit, I think 24GB would also help those pilots where 16GB seems to be their weak spot. Additional 2x4GB for little money can get you far in MP or heavy missions and are stuck with DDR3, or soon DDR4. Nobody wants to invest heavily in last gen hardware, that's clear.

Still, in some missions in MP it crawls beyond 20GB. I doubt it would do that with a total of 24GB. But it would help, no doubt.

If I had to build now with those low prices, I'd go 64GB, no question.

24GB means you're mixing RAM modules.

That can work, you might be able to get dual channel working with that, but it's risky.

The system might also run in single channel only, which would mean a significant performance hit.

The system might also run in single channel only, which would mean a significant performance hit.

worse than not having enough memory?

Of course not, but also not worth the ~20-30€ you save when getting an additional 8 GB instead of 16 GB.

(in addition to a 16 GB kit already installed)

Prices depend highly on clock speed obviously. Approximate prices are:

8GB: 35€ (2400 MHz) - 60€ (3200 MHz)

16GB: 65€ (2400 MHz) - 80€ (3200 MHz)

32GB: 130€ (2400 MHz) - 160€ (3200 MHz)

I just went from 16 to 32 GB (4x 8GB). My decision to pull the trigger is based on:

- low ram prices these days

- curiosity/peace of mind

- seeing the utter disappointment of the gtx 20 series, I will wait for the next gen before upgrading my system

So I was not expecting much, did not take any notes to compare performance before/after.

My (very subjective) experience thus far is that it will not make a system run smoother of faster under normal circumstances, but under heavy load the system will not slow down as much since ram starvation is not a factor anymore.

The immediate effect is that after about 1/2 hour of play, I finally turned off my FPS meter for good.

DCS needs a lot more VRAM than most GPU's have, all the terrain textures plus all the resource hoggy liveries (but that's fine, that's the nature of them), that's why a lot of it has to be offloaded RAM, combined with all the stuff on the RAM anyway.

16GB of RAM is not enough anymore, 32GB is optimal, 24GB Minimum. 16GB you're asking for problems.

However, there's one big thing, DCS doesn't cleanup what it doesn't need, not that that's bad, it keeps it cached for faster access just like I suggested years back, but sometimes too much so it starts going into the pagefile, you can see this happening in Encyclopedia, it will not clean anything when you're viewing liveries/models there, if you keep going it will eventually run out and crash or crash your PC.

32GB is not even future proofing, it is waste of money for games. Talk about video editing, image processing and so on, then 16GB will hits its limits.

8GB is OK for mot games, but you will benefit to go to 16GB.

16GB is enough for almost everything, you just benefit from it if you really handle huge amounts of data, that DCS doesn't do.

There is reason why we have possibility to go for 64GB or even 128GB, and it is not ever about games, as for same reason video editing benefits from that over 32GB even.

The major problem in DCS is really the Video RAM, having 6-8GB is limitation, having 11-16GB starts to be benefitical. But in future I am expecting to see a 16-32GB models at affordable price range.

Do I need 32GB of Memory now?

what would we put in 16GB of vram? we could preload and force things in, but most of the textures would be sitting there unused

32GB is not even future proofing, it is waste of money for games. Talk about video editing, image processing and so on, then 16GB will hits its limits.

 

8GB is OK for mot games, but you will benefit to go to 16GB.

16GB is enough for almost everything, you just benefit from it if you really handle huge amounts of data, that DCS doesn't do.

 

There is reason why we have possibility to go for 64GB or even 128GB, and it is not ever about games, as for same reason video editing benefits from that over 32GB even.

 

The major problem in DCS is really the Video RAM, having 6-8GB is limitation, having 11-16GB starts to be benefitical. But in future I am expecting to see a 16-32GB models at affordable price range.

This almost sound like the "No one will need more than 637 kB of memory for a personal computer" statement (most probably incorrectly) attributed to Bill Gates.

Is 32 GB a must to run DCS - no. Does it help - yes. It allows to heavily increase the pre-load radius setting which on one hand increases the load time when spawned in the cockpit but on the other hand helps a lot with almost removing macro stutter associated with scenery loading, especially when flying high. Is it worth the money - it depends. For those having older CPU's which make the loads more pronounced I would say extending RAM from 16 to 32 GB is worth to consider especially when comparing to price of a new build with new motherboard, CPU and RAM. Those getting new PC's in most cases will get 32 GB anyway.

Tbh, I gave up on this problem and pov. Let them run 16GB rigs, we (32GBitters ) know that it helps here and there and you cannot convince them all, that's RL.

So for single player only and low number ai units, 16 to 32gb will make a difference? And running the machine like a console with little or nothing running in the background.

So for single player only and low number ai units, 16 to 32gb will make a difference? And running the machine like a console with little or nothing running in the background.

I would say yes, but cannot prove anything else than a 'seat of the pants' feeling.

I would say yes, but cannot prove anything else than a 'seat of the pants' feeling.

that’s the most important part.

Tbh, I gave up on this problem and pov. Let them run 16GB rigs, we (32GBitters ) know that it helps here and there and you cannot convince them all, that's RL.

I agree here. I am a firm believer in headroom. I would rather have memory that I don't need and PSU wattage that I don't need than end up short on either. It is rather like arming yourself for military combat. There is no such thing as too much ammo or firepower.

If money is an issue then that is a problem but if you are already this deep down that rabbit hole then you might as well dig deep and do it right.

EDIT: Btw, a thunderstorm yesterday seems to have smoked my Logitech G910 keyboard. Once I determined that it was the keyboard that kept the machine from booting I replaced it with an old Corsair gaming keyboard and life was good. Never throw anything away and have spares for everything. :)

So for single player only and low number ai units, 16 to 32gb will make a difference? And running the machine like a console with little or nothing running in the background.

IMHO, you won't notice any difference in that scenario.

But, at least the rigged prices are dropping now, so you won't pay a fortune for that little to no gain in SP as it is.

Though, be careful if you're planning to upgrade the system in the near future, since I guess DDR5 is coming this year (in which case, you'd upgrade your system before you got to the point where you'd actually put those 32 GB to good use).

I am on 16gb memory as well and i often have to kill pretty much anything in the background to stop dcs filling my ram to the brim even in single player, especially on Caucasus.

Now, i still have an amd 7870 2GB vram card, and plan to upgrade this fall. My question is; does anyone have any experience whether moving from such a low vram card to lets say a 8-10gb gpu might actually alleviate some stress on system memory? Is dcs offloading some stuff that usually belongs into the vram of the gpu into system memory if you have a low vram card?

I've got a 1080ti with 11gb of VRAM and just upgraded to 32GB of RAM. Task Manager showed over 20-22GB of ram usage on MP servers. I'm not sure if it's actually using all of that or if it's just allocating it for future use. I can't say I noticed any quantifiable difference going from 16gb to 32gb either, but I also haven't had much time with it nor have I made any effort to really compare before and after performance.

...the plot thickens

bigger is better

Openbeta update reports fixing a memory leak. Will be interesting to see if that has an impact on memory usage.

Openbeta update reports fixing a memory leak. Will be interesting to see if that has an impact on memory usage.

Video memory leak

Video memory leak

:megalol:

:thumbup:

The Hornet Free Flight SP on PG still loads with 14.5GB RAM and stays there.

What does that read on a 16GB system ?