Performance difference between 16 GB and 32 GB RAM

[andradef 59]

I've read posts discussing the benefits of going from 16 GB to 32 GB of RAM. I've had my own experience that I want to share.

About a month or so ago, I opened my PC case to install and additional SSD drive. Inadvertently, I dislodged one of my 4 RAM sticks and didn't realize what I had done for a whole month. I booted up the computer again and never realized it was down to 16 GB instead of the originally installed 32 GB. 

Once my RAM went from 32 GB to 16 GB, MSFS performance started to suffer. The main issue was stutters, some lasting as long as 2 or 3 seconds. I also saw a degradation of FPS, but I never measured so I can't really provide a sense of the impact. 

When I finally noticed the other day that I was running 16 GB instead of 32 GB, besides feeling quite stupid for not having notice it for weeks, I reseated the RAM and restored my full 32 GB memory. MSFS performance improved considerably. I have not experienced a single stutter since then, and the game is much smoother. 

Worth mentioning that my setup is not the smoothest one to start with: like everybody else, I am on the waitlist to get a new 3080 video card so I am currently getting by with an AMD Vega 56. Because I have three 1080p monitors in my setup, I can't run settings on Ultra and most of them are on Medium (a few High). 

 

[RichieFly 743]

Interesting. It seems MSFS likes room to breathe. I find that, on average, about 24 Gb out of 32 Gb is used on my system.

Thanks for sharing.

[Virtual-Chris 682]

Ive noticed RAM usage seems to depend on third party scenery. For example, I loaded into LFBO in Toulouse with the Toulouse city scenery add-on from Flightsim.to and my RAM usage went to about 22GB where it’s usually around 16GB. So maybe if you don’t add any scenery, you’re fine with 16GB?  Not sure. 

[leprechaunlive 1,861]

Imagine me with my 8gb of RAM 😄

But im still having a blast 

[DAD 2,666]

32 minutes ago, leprechaunlive said:

Imagine me with my 8gb of RAM 😄

But im still having a blast 

Same here. And 8GB was double the standard back when I assembled my system many moons ago

[cianpars 1,217]

I have 16 gb of RAM, like many, I guess.  I've been wondering for a while whether to add a couple of sticks, but don't really have enough info to justify it to myself yet.

Got an RTX 3070 but may need to spend a bit on a CPU upgrade as I think my Ryzen 7 2700 may be limiting my system a bit.

[MarcG 3,064]

I upgraded to 32gb a couple weeks back, here's what I found in my tests:

Load times in MSF2020, From Steam to Menu and Fly to Cockpit:
16gb: Load: 1m 33s
Fly: 1m 14s - 15.9gb usage (Peak Load during Loading)

32gb: Load: 1m 26s
Fly: 1m 03s - 20.1gb usage (Peak Load during Loading)

In Flight from JFK to NYC:
13gb average usage with 16gb RAM
20gb average with 32gb RAM

[abrams_tank 7,532]

It depends on the resolution and graphics settings you are using, and the number of other applications also opened when you run MSFS.

I upgraded from 16 GB to 24 GB and there was no difference in performance for me in most cities.

 

I use high settings and 1080p.  With 16 GB of Ram and most of my other applications closed, MSFS and Windows would use up to 12 to 13 GB of Ram.  It never used all 16 GB of Ram.

I only upgraded to 24 GB of Ram because I didn’t like closing my other applications while running MSFS.  Now I can keep several browsers open, with the tabs opened on my browsers, and keep other applications open, and run MSFS and only about 60% of my memory is used with 24 GB of Ram.

The belief that 32 GB of Ram is needed for a smooth experience is just not true.  The performance of MSFS is the same for me between 16 GB and 24 GB of Ram, except that with 24 GB of Ram. I can keep other miscellaneous applications opened when I play MSFS.

Edited November 17, 2020 by abrams_tank

[Pilot53 545]

I've used as much as 25GB of system ram and 17.3GB of VRAM  on my system

Edited November 17, 2020 by Pilot53

[Flyfaster_MTN002 412]

1 hour ago, abrams_tank said:

It depends on the resolution and graphics settings you are using, and the number of other applications also opened when you run MSFS.

I upgraded from 16 GB to 24 GB and there was no difference in performance for me in most cities.

 

I use high settings and 1080p.  With 16 GB of Ram and most of my other applications closed, MSFS and Windows would use up to 12 to 13 GB of Ram.  It never used all 16 GB of Ram.

I only upgraded to 24 GB of Ram because I didn’t like closing my other applications while running MSFS.  Now I can keep several browsers open, with the tabs opened on my browsers, and keep other applications open, and run MSFS and only about 60% of my memory is used with 24 GB of Ram.

The belief that 32 GB of Ram is needed for a smooth experience is just not true.  The performance of MSFS is the same for me between 16 GB and 24 GB of Ram, except that with 24 GB of Ram. I can keep other miscellaneous applications opened when I play MSFS.

Most would likely aspire to Ultra settings and 4k HDR at good FPS and smoothness....

[Virtual-Chris 682]

One other anecdotal comment... Terrain LOD can really utilize RAM. If you want higher draw distances, RAM is important... especially if you mod your LOD in the config file to like 4 (400) it will gladly use almost all your RAM. 

I really hope we see some more scientific hardware performance analysis of MSFS and the impact of various settings. It’s a unique beast with way more emphasis on CPU, RAM, and VRAM than any other game I own. Things like weather and AI traffic can have an effect. It would be ideal to know what settings can impact what hardware so people have a better idea on what to optimize and invest in for their tastes/needs. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Virtual-Chris

[pmplayer 9,696]

I think RAM is one off the importend things

for MSFS.

I use 32 GB and think this is a kind oft

Optimum you need, not shure if 64 GB

do mutch more on the performance, should somebody tell us who use it.

So i am pretty lucky with 32 GB.

cheers 😉

[SierraHotel 994]

13 hours ago, andradef said:

I've read posts discussing the benefits of going from 16 GB to 32 GB of RAM. I've had my own experience that I want to share.

About a month or so ago, I opened my PC case to install and additional SSD drive. Inadvertently, I dislodged one of my 4 RAM sticks and didn't realize what I had done for a whole month. I booted up the computer again and never realized it was down to 16 GB instead of the originally installed 32 GB. 

Once my RAM went from 32 GB to 16 GB, MSFS performance started to suffer. The main issue was stutters, some lasting as long as 2 or 3 seconds. I also saw a degradation of FPS, but I never measured so I can't really provide a sense of the impact. 

When I finally noticed the other day that I was running 16 GB instead of 32 GB, besides feeling quite stupid for not having notice it for weeks, I reseated the RAM and restored my full 32 GB memory. MSFS performance improved considerably. I have not experienced a single stutter since then, and the game is much smoother. 

Worth mentioning that my setup is not the smoothest one to start with: like everybody else, I am on the waitlist to get a new 3080 video card so I am currently getting by with an AMD Vega 56. Because I have three 1080p monitors in my setup, I can't run settings on Ultra and most of them are on Medium (a few High). 

 

You got that right, I run (until the RX6800 arrives) a GTX1060 6Gig, with 32GB it's as smooth as butter in most situations, the odd stutter in heavy cloud. With 16GB it's almost unplayable.

[loge 42]

It runs OK for me with 16GB RAM, but this sim certainly does need a lot of virtual memory.  I had a 16GB pagefile, and was getting virtual memory exhaustion CTDs flying the FBW A320 into Heathrow.  I only had a few other apps running, so it seems it was using close to 32GB.  Increasing the pagefile to 24GB seems to have fixed it.  Will definitely go for 32GB RAM with my next PC.

I suspect that a lot of CTDs people are experiencing are simply virtual memory exhaustion.  Fortunately this is an easy thing to check: open windows event viewer, go to Windows Logs -> System, and check for Out of Virtual Memory events.  To increase the pagefile size, simply go to “View advanced system settings” -> Performance -> Advanced, and give it a sufficient custom size with initial/max set to the same value.  I'm sure many of you know this, but there may be some who find this tip useful.

[Brandon01110 407]

18 hours ago, andradef said:

I dislodged one of my 4 RAM sticks and didn't realize what I had done for a whole month. I booted up the computer again and never realized it was down to 16 GB instead of the originally installed 32 GB. 

not trying to be a detective here but can you tell us your ram config? you said you have 4 sticks and (1) got dislodged.  I would have guessed you have 4 sticks of 8GB so taking one away would leave you with 24GB, not 16GB.  Also, someone correct me if i'm wrong but taking 1 away from 4 would also make it single channel vs dual channel ram configuration.  This could explain your stutters. Let me know if i'm  assuming incorrectly on your ram stick sizes.