Will I Ever Need 64GB of RAM?

Straight up – most average users do not need 64 gigs of RAM today. But certain professionals like video editors, 3D animators and data scientists can benefit for smoother workflows. Keep reading as I‘ll explain exactly who will want 64GB RAM and why.

RAM Basics – What Is It and How Much Do You Need?

You‘re probably familiar with RAM, but let‘s quickly go over the basics. RAM, or random access memory, is a type of fast, temporary data storage your computer uses to quickly access apps, files and browser tabs you have open.

The more gigabytes of RAM you have, the more applications and browser tabs you can smoothly run simultaneously without slowdowns. 8GB of RAM used to be standard, but most new Windows PCs now come with at least 16GB RAM, while higher-end gaming rigs and workstations often include 32GB RAM or more.

When Does 64GB of RAM Make Sense?

For average users focused on web browsing, office work and basic photo or video editing, even 32GB of RAM is overkill, let alone 64 gigs. I generally recommend 16GB RAM for most mainstream laptop and desktop setups, which allows comfortable multitasking headroom.

But certain professionals and power users dealing with massive files and intensive creative workloads can benefit from a full 64GB RAM:

• Video editors working with 4K, 6K or even 8K footage in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve
• 3D animators and VFX artists building highly complex scenes in Maya or Blender
• Data scientists crunching big datasets for machine learning and AI projects
• Software developers running multiple virtual machines and containers
• Graphic designers creating giant Photoshop documents with tons of layers
• Music producers running multiple virtual instruments and audio effects plugins

For these professional workflows, having more RAM available allows keeping larger working project files actively loaded in memory instead of having to access the slower storage drive.

Let‘s look at some examples of how 64GB RAM can speed things up.

Video Editing Performance Gains

Puget Systems testing showed that upgrading from 32GB to 64GB of RAM sped up 4K video editing in Premiere Pro by around 28% on an AMD Threadripper workstation.

And for 8K RED footage editing in DaVinci Resolve, the 64GB system exported a complex 8-minute project 21% faster than the 32GB configuration.

3D Modeling and Rendering

In tests by Tom‘s Hardware, doubling the RAM from 32GB to 64GB reduced render times in Blender by up to 26% for certain 3D scenes. Viewport and physics simulations also saw boosts.

So the performance edge is real – 64 gigs of RAM can translate to big time savings for video editors and 3D artists handling complex professional projects on a daily basis.

What About Gaming?

Now for gaming, I generally don‘t recommend going beyond 32GB of RAM, even for high-end setups focused on AAA titles.

Some flight simulator fanatics with souped up rigs do enjoy having 64GB RAM for loading highly detailed scenery at maximum settings. And 4K game streamers encoding high quality video while gaming may benefit.

But for most folks, including hardcore PC gamers, 64 gigs of RAM offers little real advantage in today‘s games. The money is better spent on your graphics card, CPU and SSD storage.

Future Proofing with 64GB RAM

While 64GB RAM is overkill for today‘s mainstream computing, professional creative software keeps demanding more memory over time.

8K video editing is still emerging, but will likely become standard within 5 years. Game textures continue getting more massive – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) requires up to 250GB of drive space!

So certain high-end workstation builds focused on cutting edge creative work can benefit from 64GB RAM now for some future-proofing. But I‘d only go this route if you know your workflows will need this capacity based on your projects and clients.

Downsides of Excessive RAM

While it‘s tempting to think "more is better" when it comes to RAM, going overboard can backfire:

• Diminishing returns – Beyond a certain point, extra RAM provides little added performance benefit.
• Higher costs – 64GB DDR4 or DDR5 RAM kits can cost hundreds of dollars more than 16GB or 32GB options.
• Potential stability issues – Heavily overprovisioning RAM has been known to cause stability problems in some instances.

I suggest analyzing your current RAM usage before splurging on 64 gigs of memory. If you‘re consistently maxing out even 32GB with your normal workflow, then going to 64GB could be justified.

Otherwise, that money is often better allocated to a stronger CPU or GPU for improved overall system performance. But let‘s get into maximizing 64GB RAM if you do need it.

Tips for Making the Most of 64GB

If upgrading for a professional workload justified by benchmarks and testing, keep these tips in mind:

• Use the fastest RAM your platform supports – at least DDR4-3200 or DDR5-5600
• Ensure your motherboard and OS support 64GB before purchasing
• Get RAM with the lowest CAS latency you can find – lower is better
• Consider quad channel RAM kits instead of dual channel
• Enable XMP or DOCP in BIOS to run RAM at full rated speeds
• Close unused background apps so your workflow taps into that 64GB

Higher speed RAM with lower latency provides a nice performance boost, so don‘t leave that easy gain on the table.

Final Thoughts – Who Really Needs 64GB of RAM?

Before we wrap up, let‘s summarize my recommendations on whether you should consider upgrading to 64 gigs of memory:

I hope this detailed guide gives you a clear idea of whether investing in 64 gigs of RAM could benefit your personal or professional computing needs. Feel free to reach out with any other tech questions!