I actually don't think this is rocket science...looking to the future,

Buy 32Gig and have the ability to put in more.

Why spend $1,000s on a PC and not have ability to upgrade?

Why not think about other sims like I did XP is booming as a platform?

Yes, too expensive right now...

16 minutes ago, 1st fltsimguy said:

I actually don't think this is rocket science...looking to the future,

Buy 32Gig and have the ability to put in more.

Why spend $1,000s on a PC and not have ability to upgrade?

Why not think about other sims like I did XP is booming as a platform?

Well, the thing about RAM is you always have the ability to upgrade by swapping in a set of new DIMMs.  It's a generally bad idea to combine dissimilar memory modules, so the "ability to put in more" is really not there beyond a relatively short period after which a match for your current DIMMs won't be manufactured any longer.  So I think buying what you need now, with the option of completely replacing that memory later with a matched set of mo/fasta/betta modules is a more viable plan.

Regards

12 minutes ago, 1st fltsimguy said:

I actually don't think this is rocket science...looking to the future,

Buy 32Gig and have the ability to put in more.

Why spend $1,000s on a PC and not have ability to upgrade?

Why not think about other sims like I did XP is booming as a platform?

Why buy something that won’t be used? I still have two free slots so might be able to add another 16Gb when required. But memory speeds may have moved on by then.

I’ll never buy XP. P3D only here.

3 hours ago, Ted Striker said:

Thanks for the heads up on this Bob. This is a little disappointing to hear. My current memory, Corsair, allowed me to tighten the timings a little without having to bump the voltage. This will be my first experience with GSkill memory. Perhaps Corsair has more margin in its specs which would explain why most of the GSkill specs look better than those of Corsair. I will be running long tests with Memtest 86+ on each memory stick individually and also combined. I believe this is very important to eliminate the RAM as a source of any issues with the build.

I can't say I'm disappointed...as Rob pointed out upthread, what tests good on one mobo in the lab with a set of sample DIMMs may not translate universally to all mobos and DIMMs even of the same models.  TBH, I don't have a lot of expectation of besting 8.33 ns latency...was a little worried that maybe that rated speed was overly optimistic.  Often, I'll break out my trusty Fluke 87V multimeter and double-check the voltage reported by the board, but I haven't had time or inclination to go down that road so far.  Could well be that the 1.365v reported by the mobo is off...I've seen values close to 10% different from their reported values on other boards before.  At any rate, 1.365v does still leave some headroom to the 1.40v mark, which is where I would draw the line on the current generation of DDR4.

Cheers

 

I've always put four sticks in for saving the day later on because at some point one failed and so I've been able to fault find on that system and reduce to a working pair - agree with w6kd. Again - as I said before - if money is no object.

I have 16 but I run a lot of other apps while flying.  P3d itself doesn't go much over 9.  I run xp as well so if I we're building a new rig I'd go 32

I appreciate all the advice and views given in this topic. Those that run several other applications alongside P3D make a reasonable case for extra RAM. And should a module fail having a spare is also useful.

I do run a couple of apps alongside P3D such as LittleNavmap server, EFB server and AS16 / ASCA.

But that’s it. The main programs for LNM, EFB and Radar Contact v4 run on a networked PC so the load on my FS PC is fairly light. 16Gb seems fine for that configuration especially when there’s only a single display.

When it comes to failed RAM I can only recall one incident of bad memory in the last 25 years and that was when I swapped my 8Gb for 16Gb on this PC a year ago. Lucky perhaps.

Given nearly 2/3 of those who voted have 16Gb and haven’t regretted not buying more I’m content with my decision.

Thanks everyone, you’ve been very helpful. 👏

3 hours ago, w6kd said:

I've seen values close to 10% different from their reported values on other boards before

10% is a significant variance. An extra 0.015 volts on the RAM isn't that much as you said so I won't lose sleep over it.

Thanks,

Ted

I can currently load P3D v4 on my system and see 15gb+ system memory use.  Yes, I have to dial up settings... but the point is... it is already possible to use up 16gb between the OS, background tasks and P3D's graphics demands.

14 hours ago, simbol said:

This is the longest topic about RAM I have ever seen 

S.

I think it's been very educational. It has made me think more about what all of the mumbo-jumbo about RAM actually means. I've learned a lot following this discussion.

I think Ray's discussions have proved very useful to a lot of folk looking around at new kit. The proposed system seems like a decent enough balance of parts and cost that shows an intelligent way of going about it rather than simply just splashing out on the latest and greatest. 

40 minutes ago, WarpD said:

I can currently load P3D v4 on my system and see 15gb+ system memory use.  Yes, I have to dial up settings... but the point is... it is already possible to use up 16gb between the OS, background tasks and P3D's graphics demands.

It sounds like you’re dialling up the settings to maximise RAM use to test a theory. Do you normally fly with those settings or lower ones? You must have a hell of a system if most sliders are to the right.

Am I correct in thinking that once actual memory is exhausted Windows uses the swap file for additional memory? As that is held on a hard drive then perhaps it is critical how that is configured.

In the past I used HDD space but I guess M.2 SSD would be much faster. How do people manage the swap file? Auto or manually?

No, I set the settings to see how nice the sim could look and noticed that certain settings could really chew through system memory.  I don't rely on the swap file as a good way to use more memory.  I will be doubling my own memory in the very near future.

1 hour ago, WarpD said:

No, I set the settings to see how nice the sim could look and noticed that certain settings could really chew through system memory.  I don't rely on the swap file as a good way to use more memory.  I will be doubling my own memory in the very near future.

Yes, and RAM requirement is even more demanding in X-Plane11 nowadays and that is 32Gb already when used in G1000 aircraft with some Ortho4XP packages.