Helpful ReplyAdvice on RAM

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kevmsmith81
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2017/08/27 11:27:21 (permalink)

Advice on RAM

I'm looking to get a new laptop as I no longer have full time access to the laptop I was using previously due to personal circumstances. 
 
I know the sort of CPU I'm looking for, but my question is can I get away with getting one with only 4GB RAM?  I've previously had ones with 8GB, but the price difference is insane currently.  My music does tend to use a fair few Soft Synths.
 
Thanks in advance for any guidance. 

All my tunes are here: 
 https://www.youtube.com/user/KevSmith81/videos
New channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c...p6oc0i10BFxPUjQ/videos
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    fireberd
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    Re: Advice on RAM 2017/08/27 12:40:17 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby kevmsmith81 2017/08/27 20:29:54
    I would say 8 GB minimum.  New PC's will come with Windows 10, 64 bit OS and the 64 bit OS uses more of the basic memory than a 32 bit, thus less is left for applications.  Even 8GB may be questionable depending on how much synth files are used.  
     
    I recently bought a new PC (for on-site recordings) and looking at the ones with only 4GB, they were not really what I would call a "DAW" type laptop, more for consumer use.  The one I bought was a Dell Inspiron 15, 5577 which is sold as a "gaming" laptop.  It has a 7th gen i5, 8GB of RAM (upgradeable) and came (standard) with a 256GB M.2 SSD.  I removed what I didn't want and it runs clean with the finicky Resplendence Latency Mon.  It boots up and loads programs (visually) as fast as my desktop DAW that has an i7 6700K CPU.

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    Sanderxpander
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    Re: Advice on RAM 2017/08/27 13:35:24 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby kevmsmith81 2017/08/27 20:29:50
    8GB is a good size for a "light DAW". 16 is better but not always necessary. I wouldn't try 4, even nearly 10 years ago I ran out of RAM with relatively few softsynths on a 4GB system.
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    kevmsmith81
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    Re: Advice on RAM 2017/08/27 14:32:05 (permalink)
    Ok thanks for the replies.  Sounds like I need to bite the bullet and go with at least 8GB then. 

    All my tunes are here: 
     https://www.youtube.com/user/KevSmith81/videos
    New channel:
    https://www.youtube.com/c...p6oc0i10BFxPUjQ/videos
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    jeteague
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    Re: Advice on RAM 2017/08/27 20:11:26 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby kevmsmith81 2017/08/27 20:29:45
    I will chime in to agree with the advice to get AT LEAST 8 GB memory.  You won't be able to change memory size with  a struggle. (maybe not at all)
      PS had a listen to a few of your covers.  You have a good voice and it is good to hear some of those oddies.  I particularly liked the Everly Brothers cover of Crying in the Rain.  
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    kevmsmith81
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    Re: Advice on RAM 2017/08/27 20:29:39 (permalink)
    jeteague
    I will chime in to agree with the advice to get AT LEAST 8 GB memory.  You won't be able to change memory size with  a struggle. (maybe not at all)
      PS had a listen to a few of your covers.  You have a good voice and it is good to hear some of those oddies.  I particularly liked the Everly Brothers cover of Crying in the Rain.  


    Thanks very much :) 

    All my tunes are here: 
     https://www.youtube.com/user/KevSmith81/videos
    New channel:
    https://www.youtube.com/c...p6oc0i10BFxPUjQ/videos
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    Jim Roseberry
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    Re: Advice on RAM 2017/09/03 16:37:18 (permalink)
    A machine with 4GB RAM will easily become RAM-starved (hitting the VM-swapfile in lieu of physical RAM - which kills performance).
     
    A Win10 machine (idle) uses about 2GB RAM.
    Fire up Sonar Platinum (nothing loaded yet)... and you're at about 2.4GB.
    Load up something like Superior Drummer 2 (one of the full kits)... and you're about maxed out at 4GB.
     
     

    Best Regards,

    Jim Roseberry
    jim@studiocat.com
    www.studiocat.com
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    kevmsmith81
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    Re: Advice on RAM 2017/09/03 16:38:54 (permalink)
    Thanks all for the replies. I've got myself a laptop ordered now, with 8GB RAM. :) 

    All my tunes are here: 
     https://www.youtube.com/user/KevSmith81/videos
    New channel:
    https://www.youtube.com/c...p6oc0i10BFxPUjQ/videos
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