how much ram is a good amount of ram?

wandering journalist wrote on 11/5/2012, 8:28 AM

Hey - sorry if this has been asked before (i did do a quick search) but I was wondering what difference I would see if I was to do a bit of an upgrade in RAM on my notebook I use for editing. I currently have 4 and wondering what improvements in performance I would notice If I bumped up to 8 for ram? I am running VegasPro 11 on a Vaio notebook i7 processor with NVIDIA GEFORCE video card. Currently working on a 90 minute documentary. Normally projects are 45 minutes maximum and often shorter.

Thanks,

Dale.

Comments

paul_w wrote on 11/5/2012, 8:39 AM

Generally speaking, a RAM upgrade to any computer is always a good move. Your operating system will need to pagefile less meaning less sharing of memory with the hard drive = faster. So as a quick answer, i'd say yes go for it. You should see a general better performance in Windows.
However specifically with Vegas, i have never seen it access more than 3-4 gig any any one time. So adding more memory may help a little but not dramatically. But there is an area in Vegas that would benefit and thats the Preview to Ram function. Shift +L.
You can setup your Preview RAM to a few gigs and get good previewing if you need it.

Paul.

dxdy wrote on 11/5/2012, 9:19 AM

With V12 I am seeing Win 7 use up to 5GB while I am editing and rendering. I also have Adobe CS5, and it seems to use more as well. You will probably be surprised at how many of your 64 bit applications use more RAM well. You will also be surprised at how few of your applications are 64 bit.

Laurence wrote on 11/5/2012, 9:31 AM

I have 16GB. It cost me less than a hundred dollars to go from 12 to 16. I would max out your mother board or laptop's memory. Yes, your software will use it.

On the negative side, I have all this RAM but Vegas is only stable if I set the preview memory to 0. This bug has been around since V11 and I really wish it would be fixed!

wandering journalist wrote on 11/5/2012, 10:28 AM

thanks for all the quick replies - I appreciate the feedback. Looks like I would get a bit of a bump from a bit more ram! And, as you say, never hurts to have more ram for Windows. So, think I will pick up more ram when I go to town next.

Thanks,

Dale.

Maverick wrote on 11/5/2012, 10:44 AM

I recently doubled my RAM from 8GB and it whizzes along quite nicely compared to prior to the upgrade. Also, renders seem to be a little faster.

Byron K wrote on 11/5/2012, 12:23 PM

I'd recommend at least 12 gigs, My DA/V workstation regularly utilizes over 12+ Gigs when rendering.
http://i648.photobucket.com/albums/uu208/bk-vegas/12gigRAM.jpg

wandering journalist wrote on 11/6/2012, 11:25 AM

good to know... I was wondering what difference I would see in rendering. That is the process that seems to bog down right now and was hoping to get a little lift if I put in more ram!