4+ GB of RAM.... Whats the point?

I mean, really, there is no point to it...

I did a test just prior to creating this thread, to see how many programs I could run at once before my RAM was overloaded.

So, I ran Firefox (5 tabs open), PhotoShop CS3e (4 projects open, one over 5000x5000),FIFTEEN SEPERATE BLENDER PROJECTS, Cinema 4d, Sony vegas, Terragen, sketchup, and the crysis sandbox editor.

This was all on 2GB 1333Mhz RAM...

AND I DIDNT EVEN MAX IT OUT.

So really- What is the point to having more than 4GB RAM? Do you want to run 4 Seperate games of crysis at once on your 8GB of ram? lol

No seriously- Im looking for an answer, what is your reason for having more than 4gb of ram? I just want to know.

I suggest you read this if you game.

http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/AN804_Gaming_Performance_Analysis.pdf

I'm glad I have 4GB... I used to have 2GB but stuff was running like crap and all my RAM was used up in modern games. So my HDD did alot of page swapping. My GTX 280 did not like that at all.

Slapped 4GB and all my problems went away. I hit alt + tab and I can instantly do stuff now.

$40 more is a good investment.

I suggest you read this if you game.

http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/AN804_Gaming_Performance_Analysis.pdf

I'm glad I have 4GB... I used to have 2GB but stuff was running like crap and all my RAM was used up in modern games. So my HDD did alot of page swapping. My GTX 280 did not like that at all.

Slapped 4GB and all my problems went away. I hit alt + tab and I can instantly do stuff now.

$40 more is a good investment.

Truth_Hurts_U

I mean, really, there is no point to it...

I did a test just prior to creating this thread, to see how many programs I could run at once before my RAM was overloaded.

So, I ran Firefox (5 tabs open), PhotoShop CS3e (4 projects open, one over 5000x5000),FIFTEEN SEPERATE BLENDER PROJECTS, Cinema 4d, Sony vegas, Terragen, sketchup, and the crysis sandbox editor.

This was all on 2GB 1333Mhz RAM...

AND I DIDNT EVEN MAX IT OUT.

So really- What is the point to having more than 4GB RAM? Do you want to run 4 Seperate games of crysis at once on your 8GB of ram? lol

No seriously- Im looking for an answer, what is your reason for having more than 4gb of ram? I just want to know.

RFOMownage

First of all, your tests are bogus. Just simply having the programs opened proves nothing. Second, windows, no matter what version you have will use the paging file on your hard drive ragardless of how much ram is being used, which is why you never "maxed" your ram. Turn your paging file off and run your test again and see if some errors start popping up or the whole computer freezes.

The upside to having 4gb of ram or more means faster loading times for programs, faster switching between them from the start and during use. Applications don't really start to tag the ram until they're under use. Not just sitting there being open. Having more ram can also improve your hard drive life, due to less use of the paging file.

Also, a lot of the complaints about 4gb of ram being a waste is coming from people who only use their computers to play games (which ram really has no effect game performance after it's loaded), or have no real way of actually utilizing the extra performance of 4+gb of ram.

But hey, you had a bad point of argument from the start. People arent getting more ram for fear of lower amounts maxing out. People are getting more ram for the performance increase.

We have a load of PCs at work running Dual Xeons (reports 8 processors) with 4-8GB RAM. These are used for a distributed build network and regularly make use of the extra processors and RAM.

I'm ordering a new home PC and plan to get 4GB, though its tempting to get 8GB simply because it is so cheap and certainly can't harm the performance.