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32 GB of RAM Could Become the New Standard for Gamers, According to Steam Survey (www.techpowerup.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[–] 2 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I have an utterly insane number of browser tabs and windows open constantly with several virtual desktops set up with programs, multiple instances of some, and I don't come close to 32 even when I'm running the most demanding games in my library.

What programs are you running that starve you for so much RAM?

There's only a couple games that even recommend 32GB as recc spec as far as I know. Hogwarts legacy is one. Games with a ton of mods and texture packs can eat up a ton of RAM, is that your challenge? Outrageously modded Skyrim and Minecraft?

Trying to figure it out and maybe help you diagnose if it's actually something else. I don't think any normal setup will be helped with more RAM than 32GB for gaming at this point, at least not that I know of.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Chrome is using 12GB right now, and I've got 8GB allocated between two VMs, and another 3GB to Docker. So of my 32, I'm currently at 9GB before I launch a game. Plenty of games want more than that.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Even after working with servers with hundreds of GBs of RAM it still amazes me how much RAM you chew through running even a small number of VMs. I built a new machine to do VMs and run a gaming VM with GPU passthrough not long ago and am already considering jumping from 64GB to 128GB on the host.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

    Ok, the VMs make sense, I guess. Out of curiosity what are you running in them?

    Have you considered using FF instead of chrome as your daily driver?

    RAM is pretty cheap right now. We're in that weird spot where last gen (DDR4) is getting more expensive and DDR5 has gotten way cheap. Regardless of your setup it's a good time to buy if you want to upgrade. Saw another post where you talked about getting a dedicated server. Sounds like that's optimal but RAM is cheap.

    Not sure what you've got running that's virtualized but a cheap mini PC could likely handle all that for not much more than the RAM, or the same cost if you find a good deal. And then you're not stuck with a ton of RAM that won't serve you super well in the long run (I don't think we'll be looking at 64GB RAM as a standard until we're well into DDR6, but I definitely could be wrong).

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    The vms are for home assistant and a linux distro with a gui. Docker is hosting a bunch of workflow, database, and ai related stuff.

    I'm using a laptop, so swapping to 64GB means a pair of 32gig sticks for like $300. It's likely a better choice to offload the work to a dedicated server, I can probably put together something for less than twice that cost.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Without knowing specifically what your AI requirements are I wouldn't swear on my following, but you can set up something easily for the same cost of your RAM with new components, and way cheaper if you go used.

    32GB mini PCs are right around $300 on Amazon with lazy searching, which means you can find them in the $250 range if you look, and they're cheaper if you want to go lower RAM and no OS. If you have a TV then all you'd need is an HDMI cord and a keyboard+mouse, or none if you go headless. You won't need a monitor because you wouldn't be gaming on it.

    But if you're going to set up dedicated hardware I'd suggest buying some server gear for better reliability in the long term. You'll still be in the $200 range to start, it's so cheap to get your first rig and make mistakes and figure out what you want later. This link has tons of lists of hardware you could put into a very capable server with price estimates. It's primarily NAS/service hosting focused so again, ymmv with AI requirements, but for base hardware that you can spin up some VMs and containers you're in business with 8-16GB and a mobo that supports ECC.

    https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-4-0-fast-quiet-power-efficient-and-flexible-starting-at-125/667/13

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