32GB of RAM On Track To Become the New Majority For Gamers (tomshardware.com)
- Reference: 0178978210
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/09/02/1631203/32gb-of-ram-on-track-to-become-the-new-majority-for-gamers
- Source link: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ram/32gb-of-ram-on-track-to-become-the-new-majority-for-gamers-steam-survey-indicates-shift-could-occur-before-the-end-of-the-year
Windows 11 crossed 60% adoption among Steam users. The RTX 4060 continues gaining market share despite newer RTX 5060 availability. Display resolutions at 2560x1600 pixels saw the largest growth, primarily from gaming laptops.
[1] https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ram/32gb-of-ram-on-track-to-become-the-new-majority-for-gamers-steam-survey-indicates-shift-could-occur-before-the-end-of-the-year
32G (Score:1)
I went for 32GB back in 2020. Maybe it was a little overkill for a desktop PC back then, but I didn't want to upgrade for a number of years. Still haven't to this day. And for laptops I don't go lower than 16GB.
Re: (Score:2)
I went for 64 GB in 2020 and I wouldn't want to have less now. Even in times you need only a fraction of it, your kernel can use it for caches, there is no such thing as having too much RAM.
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Yup, was building a gaming pc for Cyberpunk 2077. Seemed prudent to opt for 32 GB RAM back then. Still using a 4060 with 16GB VRAM. Can't decide if switching to an AMD GPU with 20GB VRAM will help future-proof things for a few more years.
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Yeah. I've always gone for RAM above just about all else. Back in the day a computer with a 350MHz processor could outperform one with a 1.2GHz processor if the former had a gig and a half of RAM and the latter had 128MB. When I got my used Precision T7400 as the first OEM-built workstation-class computer it had 48GB RAM and it was always an incredibly solid computer. When the RAM isn't upgradable as in most modern laptops, I opt for max RAM if I can, or at least something that I don't think will give m
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Shit, my PC was built in 2012, with a pair of GeForce 660s in SLI (since updated to a 1050, wheeeee) and you're goddamn right I went with 32gb of ram.
The Final Majority. (Score:2)
This civilisation wont last long enough for us to see a 64 bit majority.
Um, what? (Score:1)
You can just barely install windows 11 24h2, put some basic common software on it, and then just idle it after booting with 16GB without paging with all the bloated garbage running. How the heck are people running games on 16GB? It should be 32 now with people looking at 64.
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> You can just barely install windows 11 24h2, put some basic common software on it, and then just idle it after booting with 16GB without paging with all the bloated garbage running.
Everything you said is bullshit. Windows deserves all the flak for all the right reasons. This is simply not one of them.
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Okay, go install it, uninstall zero MS apps, sign into a hybrid online account as required by the unmodified installer, install Discord or Teams and Steam, don't disable Edge's ability to run in the background or disable fast boot in Windows, reboot, open one Chrome window, and let me know what wizardry you did to have it not use approximately 11.5GB of RAM, as it consistently does in my testing.
Re:Um, what? (Score:4, Informative)
Sitting with 1 edge tab and teams open I am at 13.2gb used. Literally nothing else.
Since DDR4 came out... (Score:2)
I would say all my machines are either 32gb or 64gb. With at least an 8gb GPU, preferably 12-16gb. Been having a good time on a 5700x with a 12gb Battlemage ARC GPU. Less than 800$ total system cost, and I can 1440p Ultra any AAA game out right now with a little FrameGen and be in the 90-130fps range. Good enough for me. I don't know how anyone could run on 16 anymore. Not enough parking spaces, too many error prone "Drivers ;-)
Max RAM + removable storage = longer useful life. (Score:2)
I've done similar for decades. The cost is background noise over years of use. When buying new notebooks I order the least RAM and cheapest storage options available then upgrade with aftermarket parts.
Replaced storage gets 3D printed enclosures suited to cheap USB adapters, and often an OS install I can boot anywhere.
As PCs slowly age out I demote them then place where convenient in my workshops and home. I can remote into any from any to access their contents.
Even my old C2D Thinkpads (assembled from wrec
RTX 4060 Popularity Despite Pundit Rage (Score:2)
Throughout the launch of the RTX 4060 and ever since it hit the shelves, all the louder reviewers have slammed this GPU as not meeting their own expectations of what the 4060 should be. They complained that:
1. No one cares about power efficiency
2. DLSS/FSR is bad because it makes "fake frames"
3. People NEED 12+ GB of VRAM to enjoy their video games
4. $300 is too much for what people got
The market disagreed and I hope they look back and realize:
1. The cost of electricity is skyrocketing for most Americans. W
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It's really interesting to see not just the 4060, but the 3060, 2060 as the most popular cards of their generation by a wide margin. If anything the argument ought to be to buy the *060 model simply because it's going to be best targeted for support by developers as it's the most common card. 4060 has been more than adequate for casual gaming since I got one on sale
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Absolutely! The budget card is consistently the most used card for both Nvidia and AMD. It's no contest.
And that makes me wonder why the reviewers don't focus more on getting the most out of your budget card instead of (as they will frequently say), "Just save up and buy a better card."
I thought that was VRAM (Score:2)
32 Gigs of system RAM has been normal for like 10 years now...
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Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms/Mx/Fr/Br/Sr/Dr/Prof/Cllr/The Rt Revd/Sir/Dame/Lord/Lady/HAH/HE/HRH* Moneybags over here swanning about with more RAM than the HDD I had in my laptop ~10 years ago.
* delete as appropriate
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It's been normal and common behaviorally to go with 32GB on new PCs/builds, but given how long people keep their laptops and PCs, it hasn't been "the norm" throughout the entire population of home-owned PCs until recently.
Windows 11 runs in 4gb of RAM (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not blazing fast, but 4GB of RAM works. I have two laptops that had 4GB of RAM that I recently installed Windows 11 on. Then I upgraded to 8GB each, with old SODIMMs I had around, and they both got noticeably faster. Neither are my main computers. Actually, they're just backups of backups at this time, but maybe I'll have a use for them at some point, or sell or give them away.
I've run 16GB of RAM and IRIS XE video, and with multiple monitors and a bunch of apps, I've run out of RAM.
My main laptop now has 32GB, and I'd not go under that, especially because I run Firefox, aka Firehog.
Historical trend? (Score:2)
All the sudden I'm very interested in seeing how this number changed over time.
Re: (Score:2)
Similar... Since I've had 32GB in all of my *Laptops since 2012 why has it taken so long for gamers who typically build far more capable systems to catch up? Or is system memory just not a priority vs. VRAM?
Bloat (Score:1)
Some of these AAA titles seem like their texture and memory management is way down the list of priorities. If the stories from former game developers are remotely accurate, it sounds like optimization is always sacrificed on the altar of speed to market.
640k (Score:4, Informative)
Should be enough for anybody.
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I'll just settle for 24GB RAM
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I have 32 GB of ROM you, insensitive clod!
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
SimCity on the commodore 64 fits into 64k. A single load from cassette. Just the fact that somebody sat down in front of a computer and thought, I can fit this game in the 64k, blows my mind let alone the fact that they did it.
Yeah it's missing features from the Amiga and Macintosh versions but still.
If you're wondering why it's because in the UK very few people owned this drives using tape drives instead. And tape drives are incredibly slow.
As an American gamer I had a disk drive for my commodo
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I was thinking the other day about how amazing C64 games were. Flight sims, air traffic control sims, the Gold Box games, it was ridiculous.
Sure, those flight sims targeted 4 FPS, and were more akin to fancy arcade shooters than actual sims, but still.
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I had a pretty good pinball game fitting on a single floppy disk. It was all in assembly and you had to boot the 8086 computer from the floppy disk to play the game so it used no operating system at all.
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That's how I played Sid Meier's PIRATES! in monochrome on a Tandy 1000, as I recall.
Re: 640k (Score:2)
Yeah, mindblowing. I had both, the disk drive and the cassette drive - but the latter one took just took ages for those 64kb to load (,1)
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"I did have The Bard's tale 3 but I can't honestly remember if it had more than one disc."
2 double sided disks.
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For most gamers, 32GB should be enough. For anyone that thinks there is no reason to have more, clearly you haven't had to user Hyper-V (or another VM) to have separate versions of Windows (or Linux) running at the same time you do your work. I have 64 GB on my office desktop (bought 5 years ago) and I use it all the time. Having a Windows 11 VM with a dedicated 16 GB of RAM, another 16 for another VM, and still 32 GB for your main computer makes all the difference. Also, I recommend 32 GB as the standa
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> I have 64 GB on my office desktop (bought 5 years ago) and I use it all the time.
Sure, a computer will always use all the memory it has available in buffers/cache unless your drives are smaller than your RAM or you access less data on the drives than you have RAM. It's no indication that you couldn't have less memory and still have acceptable performances although.
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This is useless trivia, not news.