16 GB vs 32 GB ram

Goero

Space Marshal
Dec 28, 2016
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I DO have some input into this! *excited*

So recently I DID upgrade from 16 gigs of DDR4 3200 to 32 gigs of DDR4 3200. Same kit, just doubled.

BEFORE the upgrade, I would occasionally get a message from SC as i was loading up that my PC was under a certain threshold of available Memory to run SC (not that it ever mattered, I ran it anyways and saw a few dips here and there but that could have also been my old GPU struggling).

AFTER the upgrade, which also consisted of upgrading from a R9 390 to a RTX 2070, as well as doubling the memory. I no longer get the message about not having enough memory, and between the GPU and memory, my FPS is way more consistent and when flying towards caves on the moons, they don;t pop out as much in a weird way as if they are an optical illusion. The additional RAM has also allowed me to be able to multitask a bit more while playing as well as having something playing on my 2nd monitor with no degradation in quality.

In reality, the memory probably really didn't help as much as the 2070 did, but not getting that message everytime I open SC about memory usage is pretty nice ;)
 

Joehockey

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Apr 8, 2017
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Personally, I've yet to actually play SC without 32gb ram. But, at the same time, games are starting to actually push the limits of the ole' 8/12gb ram is good enough argument. Making 16gb the bare minimum if you don't want to upgrade in the next year or two.

Having said that, it's my OPINION and not much fact. As well, I'd be that we'll be seeing DDR5 ram within 6-12 months: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/what-we-know-ddr5-ram,39079.html So maybe go with 16gb now, and upgrade more than just your ram with ddr5 ram comes out?
 

Lorddarthvik

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Feb 22, 2016
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I have 16gigs and a 10gig page file on an ssd to help out when needed, and it gets used a lot. I'd say it won't make much a difference in Fps if you are running only SC and nothing else, but more ram is always better. You could even leave other stuff running in the background with 32 gigs, which could be useful.
Tldr: more ram is better, but don't expect a huge boost
 

Jolly_Green_Giant

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Jun 25, 2016
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I went from 16 to 32 and stopped getting a message every time i started the game up telling me I didn't have enough ram. Even though I had 16, I guess I didnt have enough available. I think were at a point where 32gb is usefull. I think I was playing some game, I think anno 1800 and noticed my ram usage was like 18gb. So yeah, you can use more than 16, especially if you multitask.
 

Bambooza

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Sep 25, 2017
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I'm considering upgrading the system ram to 32 GB and wondering how much of a difference it would make for SC game performance.
It all depends on what applications are you are running at the same time as SC. With the client-side object container stream and ssd drive 16 GB's seem to be adequate. If you start to run lots of other applications like multiple tabs within chrome steam launcher, unreal launcher, rockstar launcher, etc then you'll need more ram.
 

Radegast74

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Oct 8, 2016
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I have 16GB RAM and I've *never* gotten a message about needing more RAM. I have Discord running and usually have a Firefox tab or two open...before I boot SC I have about 4.0 GB RAM utilized, after starting up SC I have just under 12GB RAM utilized.

My advice --> if you don't have an NVMe SSD, get one and set your paging file to that. Also, don't run a bunch of other stuff simultaneously.
 

BUTUZ

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RAM is waaaaay faster than an SD rive, so go 32GB if you can do it for not too much cost. Your FPS will get better in SC and stuttering reduced.
 

Xious

Admiral
Dec 4, 2018
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Xious11
My main issue with SC has been stuttering or times when frames briefly drop really low.

SC 3.7 has been much better than previous builds but it's still there from time to time. I see it especially during the bunker missions on Hurston when the pirates rush in. The frame rate dip way down.

I found a good split-screen comparison video with 16 on the left and 32 on the right. For the most part, it seems that 32 is overkill except for the stuttering. You can see some on the 16 side but none on the 32 side.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_CPD6XezNM
 

Xious

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Dec 4, 2018
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Xious11
After a little bit of searching, I'm considering 4 sticks of Kingston Hyper X... of course... for about $100.

View attachment 14594
I have a real old computer and the memory is at a steady 32% usage. I'm sure 16G is plenty.

edit: opps 32% of 64 is 20.5G, that is how much memory my computer is using when SC is running.
Wait... you didn't know that you had 64gb of ram? lol

What is your graphics quality setting in Options?

Are you running anything in the background?

I usually only run Discord.
 

Esctasy

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Nov 28, 2018
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After a little bit of searching, I'm considering 4 sticks of Kingston Hyper X... of course... for about $100.

View attachment 14594


Wait... you didn't know that you had 64gb of ram? lol

What is your graphics quality setting in Options?

Are you running anything in the background?

I usually only run Discord.
Yes I knew I had 64G, but the math didn't click in when I saw only 32% was used. I'm running 4k resolution with very high graphics quality. I have Razer Synapse, Malwarebytes, iCue, Bitdefender, Discord, and Game Glass running in the background.

Edit: and the Target GUI for my warthog.
 

Xious

Admiral
Dec 4, 2018
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Xious11
I currently have SC installed on a Samsung EVO SSD but I forgot that I also have an NVMe SSD. I wasn't sure what the difference was so I did a speed test on both.

Samsung Scores
Samsung EVO SSD Benchmark.jpg


NVMe Scores
NVMe Benchmark.jpg


I moved SC over to the NVMe drive but didn't have much time to test it out.

From what I've seen so far, it looks smoother but I'll test it some more tomorrow.
 
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