Do 8GB RAM enough for gaming or I need more? Do I need to upgrade my computer in 2022 for better performance in gaming?
Today I am going to answer all these questions for you.
To help you find it out we tested all the newer games.
some game developers are even recommending 32 gigabytes. Unless eight gigabytes are enough.
we are going to be testing 8 and 16-gigabyte kits in both DDR4 and DDR5 flavors to ensure that you are not wasting your money.
For a gamer's system, memory or RAM plays a crucial role.
Its main job is to ensure that your CPU, and for gamers using onboard graphics, your GPU get the high-speed access to assets that are required to run your game smoothly.
because the second you must swap files out to an SSD, or even worse, a hard drive, you are likely to encounter problems ranging from FPS drops, to slower loading times, to random hitching or stuttering.
Its main job is to ensure that your CPU, and for gamers using onboard graphics, your GPU get the high-speed access to assets that are required to run your game smoothly.
because the second you must swap files out to an SSD, or even worse, a hard drive, you are likely to encounter problems ranging from FPS drops, to slower loading times, to random hitching or stuttering.
But, once you have enough RAM to eliminate these problems, there is often no performance benefit to adding more.
This means, that it is easy to blow away money that could have been spent on a better CPU, better GPU, or even a faster, rather than higher capacity RAM kit.
To isolate memory as our performance variable, then we chose a top-tier test bench with a Core i9 CPU and an RTX 3080 TI.
We also tested each game at both 1080p and 4K to see if our RAM would affect performance depending on whether we are CPU or GPU bottlenecked.
As for our memory, we tested eight gigs of DDR4 in both single and dual-channel configurations and 16 gigs in dual channels.
So, let us kick things off with "CS: GO".
CS:GO - 1080p, Very High
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Testing Result:
8 X 1GB(DDR4) : 560 FPS (Avg)
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 673FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 667FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 646 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 654FPS (Avg)
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CS:GO - 4K, Very High
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8 X 1GB (DDR4): 459 FPS (Avg)
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 479 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 491 FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 474 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 477 FPS (Avg)
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However, the advantage of going dual channel is huge at this resolution with our single eight-gig stick of DDR4, performing terribly by comparison.
This advantage mostly disappeared, however, once we scaled up to 4K, and added more memory, hardly made a difference at either resolution.
Curiously, while our DDR5 numbers are a little lower than DDR4, we do not see the same massive drop in performance for dropping from dual to single channel.
What? Ah, that's because DDR5 is already a dual channel. Or sort of.
Instead of using a single 72-bit BUS on a dim like DDR4 with 64 bits for data and 8 for ECC, or Error Correction Code, each DDR5 module gets two 40 bits BUSes, again with eight bits on each going towards ECC.
So, you still get the same total 64-bit data width, but with each half of its operating semi-independently.
Now, some workloads, like running complex simulations, may still need at least two sticks for peak performance.
But for bandwidth light applications like games, well, the results speak for themselves.
Let's turn to Far Cry 6, which launched late last year with a minimum requirement of eight gigs of RAM, specifically dual-channel, and a recommendation of 16 gigs.
Far Cry 6 - 1080p, Very High
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Testing Result:
8 X 1GB(DDR4) : 108 FPS (Avg)
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 139 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 142 FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 115 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 135 FPS (Avg)
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Far Cry 6 - 4K, Very High
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8 X 1GB(DDR4) : 78 FPS (Avg)
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 81 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 83 FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 77 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 82 FPS (Avg)
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But curiously, this uptick applied only to average frame rates. The far more important 1% lows, were identical between the two at either resolution. Doubling our memory to a 16-gig kit, however, saw our lows skyrocket improving over 40% at Full HD.
We also saw improvements at 4K resolution with a 16-gig kit, bringing our lows from 47 FPS to 61 on DDR4.
These are the kinds of performance differences that you will feel while gaming.
Moving up a generation. Our single stick of DDR5 marginally outperforms our single stick of DDR4 at 1080p, but then does slightly worse at 4K.
However, when we add a second eight-gig DDR5 module, we see the same trend of increased capacity leading to better performance at both resolutions, lifting our 1% lows by 25% in 1080p, and 33% at 4K, getting us close to that magic 60 FPS number where most people consider animation to be exceptionally smooth.
Remember though, guys, just because a game runs at an average of 60 frames per second, that does not mean you are not going to notice hitching when you are hitting those 1% lows of 30 or 40 FPS. So, for the smoothest experience possible, you want your lows at 60 or even higher.
Wonderlands - 1080p, Very High
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Testing Result:
8 X 1GB(DDR4) : 174 FPS
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 187 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 188 FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 193 FPS
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 202 FPS (Avg)
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Wonderlands- 4K, Very High
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8 X 1GB(DDR4) : 80 FPS (Avg)
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 81 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 80 FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 100 FPS
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 99 FPS (Avg)
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"Tiny Tina's Wonderland" saw similar, if lower results at 1080p with our poor sad single stick of DDR4 underperforming by about 18% compared to our dual-channel configuration.
And here again, increasing capacity does not really net our improvements to our average FPS, but it does impact our 1% lows, though only by about 5% this time.
It is up to you to decide if a 5% gain is worth doubling up your RAM budget. When we scale up to 4K though, all three configurations of DDR4, saw identical results since our CPU usage dropped and our GPU became the limiting factor.
What is interesting about "Wonderlands," however, is that we saw the best results with DDR5. In 1080p, our single stick of DDR5 beat our single stick of DDR4 by 11%, and doubling up improved it even more.
At 4K, the story is similar to our single-channel DDR4, being the worst. Adding capacity beyond eight gigs does not really seem to help and DDR5 is the absolute king for performance in this game.
But why though?
Well, "Wonderlands" is the newest game we tested. So, it could be that newer games coming out over the next few years are going to be designed, targeting current-gen consoles, which have much faster memory than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One X Generation.
These newer games may be able to better take advantage of what DDR5 has to offer.
And here again, increasing capacity does not really net our improvements to our average FPS, but it does impact our 1% lows, though only by about 5% this time.
It is up to you to decide if a 5% gain is worth doubling up your RAM budget. When we scale up to 4K though, all three configurations of DDR4, saw identical results since our CPU usage dropped and our GPU became the limiting factor.
What is interesting about "Wonderlands," however, is that we saw the best results with DDR5. In 1080p, our single stick of DDR5 beat our single stick of DDR4 by 11%, and doubling up improved it even more.
At 4K, the story is similar to our single-channel DDR4, being the worst. Adding capacity beyond eight gigs does not really seem to help and DDR5 is the absolute king for performance in this game.
But why though?
Well, "Wonderlands" is the newest game we tested. So, it could be that newer games coming out over the next few years are going to be designed, targeting current-gen consoles, which have much faster memory than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One X Generation.
These newer games may be able to better take advantage of what DDR5 has to offer.
We also tried "Total Warhammer 3", which saw almost identical performance across the board at 4K, regardless of single, dual-channel, capacity, and even the generation of memory.
Total Warhammer 3 - 4K, Very High
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Testing Result:
8 X 1GB(DDR4) : 50 FPS (Avg)
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 50 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 50 FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 49 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 50 FPS (Avg)
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"Assassins Creed; Valhalla" saw clear improvements going from single to dual-channel, as expected. But increasing capacity only seemed to help DDR5 and not by much, regardless of resolution.
Total Warhammer 3 - 1080p, Very High
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Testing Result:
8 X 1GB(DDR4) : 174 FPS
2 X 4GB(DDR4) : 187 FPS (Avg)
2 X 8GB(DDR4): 188 FPS (Avg)
8 X 1GB(DDR5) : 193 FPS
2 X 8GB(DDR5): 202 FPS (Avg)
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We have known for years, that dual channel at the bare minimum is the way to go. And that is still clear here. But unless you are playing newer games that take advantage of more memory, you are probably better off buying a faster dual-channel configuration and dumping any extra you have left over into your CPU, and GPU combo.
Now, to be clear, there are games out there now that will utilize more than eight gigs of RAM. But if you are not playing the newest triple-A titles, it may not be worth the upgrade for you yet.
https://newsbreef.blogspot.com/is-8gb-ram-enough-or-i-need-more?.html
https://newsbreef.blogspot.com/2022/06/is-8gb-ram-enough-or-i-need-more.html
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