Here's what I'm gonna use it for. How much RAM do I need?

[Carlos.Rossetti]

I haven't owned an actual computer in years and the one I build myself next month is a long awaited gift from me to myself.
I'm not sure about how much memory I should get though. I already know I'm gonna go with DDR3 sticks since I'm gonna go with Devil's Canyon for my processor but I'm not sure about how much memory I should get.
Here's what I plan on doing on a regular basis:
Keep 30+ tabs open on my browser of choice (IIRC from when I had a computer this meant Firefox)
Listen to music either from streaming stuff like Spotify, my own music or from YouTube
Watch Netflix and Popcorn (is it legal for me to admit it?)
Play stuff like (heavily modded) Skyrim, COD and Assassin's Creed
Occasional videoconferencing
All this stuff will probably overlap a lot (I expect my average weds day night to see my tab treasury open while I listen to my YouTube The Killers playlist and throwback at Tamriel's Tundra (Skyrim, for those who might've missed the reference).
For stuff like this, how much memory do you guys think I'd be really using at my peak time? How much of a buffer should I have? Is 4GB enough for this taskload? If 12GB were an option would it be my desired memory? Is 16Gb too much for me?


That answered, would I see much of a difference shopping for higher frequency stuff? What frequency should I look for in my RAM?
I'm a bit of a Corsair Fan-Boy, is this a bad thing? Is it a great or an okay brand? Should I splurge for the Dominator line or can I make do with the Vencgeance stuff?


I think I'll end up with either 8 or 16 GBs of the stuff. Form what I've read around 4GB would be simply not enough for my needs. In case you guys end up selling me on 16GBs what would be better, 4x4GB or a 2x8GB kit? (Please answer this even if you think o should go for less than 16GBs. )
Much appreciated, guys.

Edit:
Oh, not sure it matters for my memory usage - I think it doesn't - but maybe I should tell you what resolution I'll be playing at:
No idea. There are caches I'll be rocking a sweet triple 1440p set up. Or a single 1080p one. Realistically I'm either gonna go with triple 1080p or single 1440p. I'll only be sure come next month.

(This probably has zero influence on RAM usage, but I thought it'd be better safe than sorry.
Thanks

 

[lazybedone]

4gb RAM with a tripple 1080p will do.

 

[TheELF]

(Skylake CPUs will be broadly available by the end of the month,maybe you should check them out? )

4Gb will do...with a lot of virtual mem/pagefile access
8gb is the minimum if you don't want it to affect your performance,browsers are mem hogs 30+ pages,if they are somewhat heavy,will pretty much fill up 4gb on their own.
Newer games need a lot of ram as well, some mods also need mem.

Get one 8gb stick to begin with and add another if you need it.

 

[larryccf]

considering how cheap ram mem is right now, go for 16 GB - when i built my computer 9 months ago, 16 GB (2 x 8GB) of G.Skill RipJaws DDR3 1600 MHz ran me $156 - today on newegg it's $72 - if you do go 16 GB, buy it in a matched set, not one at a time

I don't open that many webpages at one time, but i do a lot of video rendering - i check my mem usage in task manager occasionally - it's usually in the 6-7 GB range, but occasionally i find it in 9 gb territory.

or you may decide you want to run a Ram Disk setup (google it) to speed up your computer - which means you will definitely want 16 GB

 

[Carlos.Rossetti]

Ok, TheELF's post makes me confident 8GB's is the way to go. Anything comes up I can always upgrade. Thanks, man.

Other stuff:
I just don't see the point of going skylake. It's gonna increase my costs across specs - motherboard, ram, cpu all more expensive - for very little benefit
I'm under the impression RAM Disks were more useful to folks still not rocking the SSD boat. Nevertheless it's not an option for me, thanks anyway Larry.


One thing though: frequency. Is there a point in splurging for 2133MHz or can I make do with cheaper stuff? Would I notice real not differences on everyday use?

 

[zir_blazer]

If money is no issue, just do 2 * 8 GB, you can't go wrong with 16.

For browsing needs, chances are that you end up with Chrome. The main advantage of Chrome over Firefox is that it is Multithreaded, and each Tab has its own Thread. If a Tab goes Full Load due heavy script usage, it doesn't impact the responsiveness of the others, and it may even crash with no fallout of doing so. On Firefox, a Tab doing the same would make the entire browser crash or be unresponsive, since it is Single Threaded. Supposedly, Firefox is already supporting Multithreading on beta builds, but not on stable releases. Regardless the fact that Chrome is rather superior in performance and stability, it is a serious RAM eater. Its not hard to go over 8 GB with it, up to the point that I believe that for heavy browser, you need more than your regular gamer that thinks that 8 is enough if you're the type of guy that likes to leave a truckload of Tabs open.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I vote for 16GB, if you can fit it into the budget at all. (But if going 16GB, means that, for example, you wouldn't be able to afford an SSD, then you might not want it.)

 

[LTC8K6]

Why go for one of the two Devil's Canyon unlocked chips?

Are you overclocking?

A much better value is a Haswell Xeon, such as the E3 1231 V3.
It's essentially an i7-4770 without the igp, for about $250.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117316

http://ark.intel.com/compare/80910,75122

 

[Coup27]

8GB minimum.

 

[MongGrel]

Ok, TheELF's post makes me confident 8GB's is the way to go. Anything comes up I can always upgrade. Thanks, man.

Other stuff:
I just don't see the point of going skylake. It's gonna increase my costs across specs - motherboard, ram, cpu all more expensive - for very little benefit
I'm under the impression RAM Disks were more useful to folks still not rocking the SSD boat. Nevertheless it's not an option for me, thanks anyway Larry.


One thing though: frequency. Is there a point in splurging for 2133MHz or can I make do with cheaper stuff? Would I notice real not differences on everyday use?

I vote for 16GB, if you can fit it into the budget at all. (But if going 16GB, means that, for example, you wouldn't be able to afford an SSD, then you might not want it.)

+1

8GB minimum.

I'd say 8 minimum myself, get a SSD over 16 if that's an issue.

Use 12 myself, but still using triple channel DDR3 on an X58.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ok, TheELF's post makes me confident 8GB's is the way to go. Anything comes up I can always upgrade. Thanks, man.

Other stuff:
I just don't see the point of going skylake. It's gonna increase my costs across specs - motherboard, ram, cpu all more expensive - for very little benefit
I'm under the impression RAM Disks were more useful to folks still not rocking the SSD boat. Nevertheless it's not an option for me, thanks anyway Larry.


One thing though: frequency. Is there a point in splurging for 2133MHz or can I make do with cheaper stuff? Would I notice real not differences on everyday use?

The higher-spec'd RAM will mostly benefit (if at all) according to which processor or processor generation is installed. With my Sandy Bridge K processors, I upgraded to DDR3-1866 with low 9-9-9-24 latencies. I might "think" there's a slight difference over 1600 Mhz, but it mostly appears in benchmark results. If I exchange the 1866 RAM for 2133, I won't see much of a performance improvement, but I will have to increase my VCCIO/CPU_VTT voltage for the integrated memory controller. I'd rather leave my custom setting at <= 1.1V.

If I were building a Devils Canyon system, I'd probably look at RAM rated at 2133, even so.

For "Quantity," I'd recommend 16GB or 2x8GB -- not because you can "use" all of it, but because it is relatively cheap. Take for instance these G.SKILL kits:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Description=G.SKILL+DDR3-2133&N=-1&isNodeId=1

If you want to save a little money, limit yourself to 8GB or 2x4GB. If you decide you want 16GB later, you can always buy a second kit. However, the total expense to you will be slightly more based on today's prices. However, your profile in "stocks and flows" of money will outweigh that in savings over time.

As much as I attempt to do all the things on your computer-usage list, I cannot much saturate memory usage beyond 60% with my 16GB kits.

What I CAN do is use some of the RAM for SSD and HDD caching under Primo-Cache. [And that usage still doesn't push RAM usage beyond 60%.] I've currently allocated ~ 3GB of RAM for caching (a) an 840 Pro SSD boot disk and (b) an SSD-cached (60GB) HDD (1TB).

You could probably do almost as well without any RAM-caching of SSD/HDDs, and 8GB. But for the money, it's your call.