New Computer Question

[Tharmas]

I’m in the market for a new desktop computer. My old one is starting a slow death, after six years of daily use, including 3 ½ years of working from home.

I’ve pretty much settled on a Dell XPS and I can afford a few bells and whistles, but I’m not sure which ones. It’s come down 32 GB of RAM vs 16, or a 10th generation Intel i9 chip vs an i7. Any advice?

 

[rousseau]

32 GB of RAM is overkill unless you're doing some heavy processing on it. A few years ago 16gb RAM and an i7 processor would be considered top of the line, and in my opinion it still is. No real need for more unless you're doing something pretty excessive.

 

[Tharmas]

32 GB of RAM is overkill unless you're doing some heavy processing on it. A few years ago 16gb RAM and an i7 processor would be considered top of the line, and in my opinion it still is. No real need for more unless you're doing something pretty excessive.

Well actually I just looked up the i7 chip that's included and it's the latest one, and not that far off the i9 they offer, so I'm inclined to agree with you. I guess I'll save my money and put it towards a new monitor, but that's another story.

 

[rousseau]

32 GB of RAM is overkill unless you're doing some heavy processing on it. A few years ago 16gb RAM and an i7 processor would be considered top of the line, and in my opinion it still is. No real need for more unless you're doing something pretty excessive.

Well actually I just looked up the i7 chip that's included and it's the latest one, and not that far off the i9 they offer, so I'm inclined to agree with you. I guess I'll save my money and put it towards a new monitor, but that's another story.

I think it's one of those situations where the specs need to keep going up to justify a higher price, but where the high-end isn't really necessary. I'm currently running an i5 with 8 GB of RAM and that's plenty. With how bulky Windows and internet browsers are these days you wouldn't want to go less than 8gb, and 16gb is probably a wise choice. But I can't imagine what any basic user would need with more (outside of those who play video games).

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

32 gigabytes of memory are good if one runs virtual machines. Or if one wants to run your Linux OS entirely from memory with lots of memory hungry programs.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

32 gigabytes of memory are good if one runs virtual machines. Or if one wants to run your Linux OS entirely from memory with lots of memory hungry programs.

Yup--do heavy stuff and gobs of memory are important. I've got 64gb and while I don't actually use all of it the memory used routinely goes above 32gb--it would be thrashing badly if I hadn't put 64gb in.

However, I doubt someone who is asking about 8gb vs 16gb is in such a situation.

 

[Tharmas]

32 gigabytes of memory are good if one runs virtual machines. Or if one wants to run your Linux OS entirely from memory with lots of memory hungry programs.

Yup--do heavy stuff and gobs of memory are important. I've got 64gb and while I don't actually use all of it the memory used routinely goes above 32gb--it would be thrashing badly if I hadn't put 64gb in.

However, I doubt someone who is asking about 8gb vs 16gb is in such a situation.

The only thing I do that would use a lot of ram is video editing, but I'm thinking 16 should probably be enough. If not, I can always add more later.

 

[excreationist]

Yeah you could add more RAM later (which is no longer possible with Macs)
BTW the cutting edge game Cyberpunk 2077 recommends 12 GB of RAM
https://support.cdprojektred.com/en...issue/1556/cyberpunk-2077-system-requirements

 

[Treedbear]

Bought a Lenovo I5 with 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD back in March. I'm just running Windows 10 Pro 64 bit but I can open 4 or 5 internet windows with 10 or 20 tabs each and it's very snappy. I especially appreciate how fast it boots up. For a desktop it's amazing that it's so tiny, quiet, and cool running. (Actually it's sitting on my desk 18 inches from me and it makes no discernable noise and is barely warm to the touch.) Of course all the peripheral devices are external so there's about 10 cables running from it plus the ethernet antenna. But that means it's versatile. It also has Bluetooth connectivity. But I think the best bang for the buck is the SSD drive. Currently they go for about $570 US. Towers are passé.

 

[ZiprHead]

32 GB of RAM is overkill unless you're doing some heavy processing on it. A few years ago 16gb RAM and an i7 processor would be considered top of the line, and in my opinion it still is. No real need for more unless you're doing something pretty excessive.

Well actually I just looked up the i7 chip that's included and it's the latest one, and not that far off the i9 they offer, so I'm inclined to agree with you. I guess I'll save my money and put it towards a new monitor, but that's another story.

I think it's one of those situations where the specs need to keep going up to justify a higher price, but where the high-end isn't really necessary. I'm currently running an i5 with 8 GB of RAM and that's plenty. With how bulky Windows and internet browsers are these days you wouldn't want to go less than 8gb, and 16gb is probably a wise choice. But I can't imagine what any basic user would need with more (outside of those who play video games).

It's my understanding that Windows can't address anything more than 8 gigs unless that's changed in recent versions.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I think it's one of those situations where the specs need to keep going up to justify a higher price, but where the high-end isn't really necessary. I'm currently running an i5 with 8 GB of RAM and that's plenty. With how bulky Windows and internet browsers are these days you wouldn't want to go less than 8gb, and 16gb is probably a wise choice. But I can't imagine what any basic user would need with more (outside of those who play video games).

It's my understanding that Windows can't address anything more than 8 gigs unless that's changed in recent versions.

If memory serves it isn’t unaddressed, it isn’t needed. There are so many more component things to consider like memory speed, processor, ability to keep the rig cool, hard drive verses SSD, and how much crap is running in the background.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I think it's one of those situations where the specs need to keep going up to justify a higher price, but where the high-end isn't really necessary. I'm currently running an i5 with 8 GB of RAM and that's plenty. With how bulky Windows and internet browsers are these days you wouldn't want to go less than 8gb, and 16gb is probably a wise choice. But I can't imagine what any basic user would need with more (outside of those who play video games).

It's my understanding that Windows can't address anything more than 8 gigs unless that's changed in recent versions.

8GB was the limit for Win 7 Home Basic and Win Vista Home Basic.

For Win 10 the lowest memory limit is 128gb (other than the 4gb limit of 32 bit editions.)

I'm running Win 10 Pro (upgraded from Win 7 Pro), 64 gb installed. I'm currently using 29gb of that with just the stuff I have open all the time.

 

[ZiprHead]

Okay, so it has changed. Thanks for the update.

 

[barbos]

I'm running Win 10 Pro (upgraded from Win 7 Pro), 64 gb installed. I'm currently using 29gb of that with just the stuff I have open all the time.

May I ask what exactly are you doing on it?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I'm running Win 10 Pro (upgraded from Win 7 Pro), 64 gb installed. I'm currently using 29gb of that with just the stuff I have open all the time.

May I ask what exactly are you doing on it?

There are three virtual machines open all the time, they're what is taking up so much memory.

 

[barbos]

I'm running Win 10 Pro (upgraded from Win 7 Pro), 64 gb installed. I'm currently using 29gb of that with just the stuff I have open all the time.

May I ask what exactly are you doing on it?

There are three virtual machines open all the time, they're what is taking up so much memory.

What are you doing with 3 virtual machines?
And even then, 16G per machine (including host) is an overkill.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

There are three virtual machines open all the time, they're what is taking up so much memory.

What are you doing with 3 virtual machines?
And even then, 16G per machine (including host) is an overkill.

Tasks I want isolated from the main system, or have to separate (one's running XP!) One of those virtuals is running this browser--if something evil did get in it would just be a matter of restoring it from backups.

 

[J842P]

I think it's one of those situations where the specs need to keep going up to justify a higher price, but where the high-end isn't really necessary. I'm currently running an i5 with 8 GB of RAM and that's plenty. With how bulky Windows and internet browsers are these days you wouldn't want to go less than 8gb, and 16gb is probably a wise choice. But I can't imagine what any basic user would need with more (outside of those who play video games).

It's my understanding that Windows can't address anything more than 8 gigs unless that's changed in recent versions.

No, it definitely much larger than that on 64-bit architectures (and 64 bit Windows installations). On 32-bit architectures, you have a theoretical maximum of 2^32 == 4294967296 bytes ~4 gigs total address space. However, Windows by default there's a 2 gigabyte limit for user space. But it's 2020, why would you use a 32-bit PC?

 

[barbos]

There are three virtual machines open all the time, they're what is taking up so much memory.

What are you doing with 3 virtual machines?
And even then, 16G per machine (including host) is an overkill.

Tasks I want isolated from the main system, or have to separate (one's running XP!) One of those virtuals is running this browser--if something evil did get in it would just be a matter of restoring it from backups.

I guess you don't want to answer.
You don't need 16G for browsing. 4-8G is just fine.

 

[barbos]

I think it's one of those situations where the specs need to keep going up to justify a higher price, but where the high-end isn't really necessary. I'm currently running an i5 with 8 GB of RAM and that's plenty. With how bulky Windows and internet browsers are these days you wouldn't want to go less than 8gb, and 16gb is probably a wise choice. But I can't imagine what any basic user would need with more (outside of those who play video games).

It's my understanding that Windows can't address anything more than 8 gigs unless that's changed in recent versions.

No, it definitely much larger than that on 64-bit architectures (and 64 bit Windows installations). On 32-bit architectures, you have a theoretical maximum of 2^32 == 4294967296 bytes ~4 gigs total address space. However, Windows by default there's a 2 gigabyte limit for user space. But it's 2020, why would you use a 32-bit PC?

32 bit systems can use more than 4GB just fine with PAE.