8GB RAM vs 4GB.. is it really worth it?
Yo,
(My lord I haven’t been active on here for a while! But glad to be back 
)
Just a quickie if anyone with experience can enlighten me.. is it really worth upgrading my RAM to 8GB, or is the actual difference not noticeable enough when performing? Are other things such as HDD vs SSD and processor speed more important..? It’s a new Macbook Pro 2.7GHz by the way.
Cheers dudes!
If you like to multitask a lot, you’d be best upgrading your RAM/CPU.
And welcome back, sir! 
Although i don’t use a mac I noticed a difference. Was well worth upgrading.
haha thanks dude. I usually just run Traktor and Osculator at most so might just kick it with 4GB.
Does RAM translate into CPU capacity? (i had never thought of it like that..)
From what I’ve read, not really. This laptop of mine could use an upgrade of both, though. Ableton’s getting a bit sluggish with so many damn clips. 
i’ve been wanting to upgrade my to 8gb as well, but the only program i have that really makes use of 64bit system is cubase 6, and in 64 bit some stuff dont work, so im still using 32 bit cubase 6, traktor is also still runs in 32 bit mode, so i dont really see a reason to upgrade to 8GB
unless somehow Traktor can make use of 8Gb rams in 32 bit mode which is kinda impossible? Hmm, curious!
I wonder if anyone actually upgraded to 8GB ram and notice improvements even though they are not making use of 64 bit versions of software?
yeah, that’s the problem with djing with ableton i guess!
I only have 3gbs of ram in my HP laptop, and I can run my Serato and adobe audition all at once with no problems at all. I think you should be perfectly fine with the 4gb
on a 32bit windows (xp,vista,7) get 4 GB. Windows can only see 3.8GB, and every program can use 2GB max
on windows 64 bit, get up to 8 as more cant be used
on a MAC, get as much as you can cramp in there, theres no limitation i think
^^ once read a detailed article on microsoft.com regarding this issue, thats where i got this info from
The motherboard sets the limit.
You should be fine with 4gb. You might get better overall usage (depending on how you use your computer) with 8gb but it’s overkill for Traktor atm.
8gb is overkill for anything really..
It will do absolutely nothing for performance unless you manage to use up all of your current 4gb..
which is quite an accomplishment.
If you do that on a regular basis then you shouldn’t even be asking and you should have already upgraded.. but it would be pointless to throw it in just for the sake of it.
Then 4GB is plenty
No
Your computer has two places that it stores data for the applications that it runs. One is the RAM and one is the hard drive. The Hard drive serves as the giant database of everything that you have on your computer. All of your files, documents, applications, system files etc. The RAM is where your computer stores data and information for processes, applications, documents etc for whatever is currently running.
In this way you can compare the hard drive to a filing cabinet below the desk in an office with everything crammed into a small space. Thinking like that also means that RAM would be like the workspace on top of your desk. Everything that your office has is stored in the filing cabinet, and when you want to use something you take it out of the filing cabinet and put it on your desk for faster access. This is like how a computer works.
You know how it sometimes takes ages for a program to load? What the computer is doing in this time is taking the data from the hard drive and putting it all onto the RAM so it can access the data faster when you’re using your application. If the computer didn’t have RAM then everything would be INCREDIBLY slow, because every time you wanted to do something within the program you’re running, it would have to reference whatever you’re doing from the hard drive which is incredibly slow. This is why it offloads data from the hard drive to the RAM. RAM is virtually instantly accessible memory, so when you’re running a program and doing things with it, RAM enables data to be read and processed very fast.
RAM runs at the same speed no matter how much memory is stored on it, which is why having more RAM does not mean that your computer will run faster. 4Gb of RAM is very suitable, any more RAM than that is usually only for either professionals who use really high-end applications that require a lot of ‘workspace,’ or gamers and people that like to run stuff like Crysis, oblivion, traktor, ableton, Itunes, 200 tabs in chrome, and whatever other shit all at the same time. Having more RAM in that case would allow them to do more stuff at the same time although it would put in incredible strain on the CPU.
When you’re running traktor there is actually a RAM meter. I have a shitty computer and mine is always low anyway. RAM storage on any decent computer tends to fluctuate between 0.5 and 2.5Gb of stored data if you use it heavily, at least that’s what I noticed back in my gamer days. You should technically always be in the safe zone. You only need more RAM if your computer RAM meter ever needs to go over it’s limits, which I can’t imagine any DJ ever needing. I’m on a 2Gb system right now and never seen it get even near half way in Traktor.
If you want your computer to be faster, your best bet is to upgrade the CPU, because it’s the primary link between all the other components in your computer. Lagging isn’t usually a problem with speed of accessing the data the computer needs (RAM), more often it’s the speed of processing of that data that slows your computer and that’s your CPU’s fault. If you want stuff to load faster, the hard drive needs to be faster, if you’re running really high-end applications in a professional environment or super-high-spec video games and want them to run smoother and you’re a freak about computer perfomance, then you can get faster RAM but the main culprit of lagging is usually just the CPU.
As amidoinitrite said, it’s quite an accomplishment to use over 4Gb of RAM. You won’t ever need more than 4Gb for Traktor. Just get a faster CPU if it’s slowing you down.
You really really really do not need more than 4gb of ram. Hell I doubt you’d use 2gb doing what you’re doing.
This is not true at all. Fuck man if I’d seen this a few hours ago I’d have a ton of articles about this. I was actually reading about this stuff earlier. It’s perfectly possible to get a 32 bit system to play with more then 4gigs with a little hacking and such… Though I’m not sure I see the point. The limit for RAM in windows 7 64bit is 192 GB. I bet the server editions go even higher.
Interesting side note, you heard of the IBM roadrunner? It’s one of the top ten most powerful computers in the world. It has 103.6 Tebibytes of RAM. That’s over 106,086 gigs.
now that is a polite answer! dont come at me with the f-word!
yo, just check these facts. dont give us a ton of articles, here´s the one that matters:
every x86 windows is maxed at 4GB. And dont argument with “a little hacking” thats not consumer grade or dj level or whatever. Also, every process is maxed out at 2 GB on x86
On x64 192GB are max (pro versions), as you stated correctly. However, a process can only use up to 8GB.
So, please show me where the bonkers i said something that is not true at all.
Thank you, and have a nice day
Whoa chill bro, not swearing at you, I just say fuck a lot.
Yeah I was just talking from a theoretical standpoint, I find it interesting. I’m a bit of a geek you see. For DJing it’s not possible and it’s not needed either. Not really even worth discussing.
ok cool, see, with language barriers sometimes not all comes across as intented I´m good and do hope you are too
In our modern world so much is possible with the nescissary knowledge. I like the theoratical standpoint too, as in a few years it will be costumer reality. Just not now. And we´re all somehow geeks, one more the other less
I like your posts alot, just didnt see that lot of swearing to know that sometimes thats your “normal” behaviour to express something
why does it always turn into this?
one dude who thinks he’s right and the other dude that waxes poetic about how smart he is…
condescending…both of you…
hmm.. i dont know, i dont think your post adds something productive to the discussion
Let me get this straight, so you think both us are condescending, which means basically something like " looking down on some one from a superior position"… ?
well but i do like the phrase " waxes poetic about how smart he is"