XPS 8940, should I max out the RAM?

Question

I have an XPS 8940 with 64GB of RAM, i7 processor, 2.90GHZ, 2904MHZ 8 cores

I'm considering maxing out the RAM. Do I need the max amount? Probably not - at the moment

However I always max out my RAM as a way of future-proofing my devices in order to give them the longest operating life possible and to meet any challenges or usage I might have down the line

I would use Crucial RAM of course but according to Bing ChatGPT there may be performance or stability issues at the max amount and with non-Dell RAM

The device is designed to max out at 128GB. However,

Has anyone had any issues maxing out the RAM for this device?

Thanks.

ispalten · Accepted Answer

Well, ALL good info, and I see you discovered you had to be in the Root of C: to see the swap file:

It is NOT the Browsers per se., well, Firefox is using more resources.

What IS the problem is the CPU USAGE!!! 66%, 2/3rd's, and it probably spikes higher.

Here is what my Task Manager Processes is like with 5 apps open:

Firefox has TWO tabs open, the rest are add-ons and normal stuff it also opens: Just expand the list, and this is what I see:

However, you need to discover WHAT is using the CPU... so on the CPU column header, double click twice and that would put the CPU users in order of most usage at the top:

As you can see, at the time I took the screen capture it was 8% used, but different a few minutes later:

For instance I left Task Manager sorted to show me the most, and started a real resource hog, MS's Flight Simulator. Probably mirrors what you have is the ability to do anything (other than the game in my case), well close to it:

Still, only 1/2 my 32GB's. If I play longer, it will get to use more RAM depending on the detail of the scenery and what else is moving on the screen.

So, your problem is NOT RAM per se, but what is loaded and taking up CPU resources. Sorting the CPU usage should help you discover that, and for some reason, it could be something you know you are doing and continue to need?

All I think you've done is prove RAM is not the issue.

Do what you want, but I for one, would not think adding RAM will do much but cost you money? Until more is know what is running, and why, I don't know what else to suggest?

A rough add of the screen shot you posted for RAM shows about 14GB's of RAM used, close to the 43%. Somewhere else you'd find by sorting the CPU is using a LOT of CPU because your 7 apps are using next to nothing.

JOcean · Answer

If you are using the system for video editing or CAD for example then more RAM is beneficial. But for every day use and gaming, 128GB is pretty much overkill. Future proofing is a fine idea but for quite some time now 16GB is pretty much a standard for gaming and every day use. 32GB is better and at 64GB you are well into future proofing territory already. But if you want to put your mind at ease and are concerned about future proofing then choose Crucial RAM as it is the most compatible RAM for Dell systems and if you have problems with their RAM it can be returned for a refund.

lancelee2022 · Answer

In my humble opinion: (1) No need (2) Your money your call.

ispalten · Answer

@jmgbooks

Unless you have situations where you need 128GB, it is a waste of money.

How would you know you need 128GB? Actually it might be easy. The way Windows works, it has a memory manager. First of all, no matter how much RAM you have, over time, it will be filled. Once filled, that is how you'll know if you need more. You see when RAM is allocated to a program, it is not freed until it is needed. When the program is closed, the RAM is marked free. As new programs are opened, Windows will try and find the 'slot' big enough to handle it and and data area requests. If ALL you ACTIVE programs are using up ALL the RAM, then Windows resorts to swapping. Enough RAM is written to disk (probably a fast SSD if you boot from it) and its RAM is then reused for the new program. So, you'll notice a 'slow down' when that program starts, or when you switch to the one swapped out, and the process is the same, find space needed to bring the program back (swaps are done on the oldest program in RAM that had been last accesses), write that to disk and read back in the swapped out program.

Depending on what you use, this might never happen (swapping). You could check the size of your SWAP FILE and it would tell you if you had swapped since the PC was turned on.

I have 32GB's, and this is my Swapfile:

The Setting for my SwapFile:

I should tell you this morning I had run MS Flight Simulator 2020 that probably took up most of that 32GB's. Swapfile has NOT increased over the Min. value. However, I don't keep a lot open as I use the PC. Not even now with a few windows open:

Check the values, but I would not think with 64GB's you'd be swapping many times, that is unless you have a program that does use a huge amount of RAM to hold data.

EDIT: I am USING all Crucial RAM. XPS came with 16GB Dell RAM, but it was Single Rank, replaced it with 2 16GB Crucial Dual Rank RAM. Works fine.

jmgbooks · Answer

Thanks for the reply and the information!

jmgbooks · Answer

Thanks for the reply.Will 'overkill' cause problems for the system?

jmgbooks · Answer

Thanks for the reply It might not be needed but will doing so cause problems for the device?

ispalten · Answer

@jmgbooks ,

Devices and problems for devices, only 2 come into play in my mind. One would be the SSD (assuming that is where you put the SwapFile) and it 'could' depending if you are swapping, save read/writes to the SSD that does have a limited life (rarely reached). The other is additional POWER usage to power the RAM (minimal).

If you don't swap with 64GB's, you don't need it and there is little value having it. Even if you did swap, how often is that, and do you even notice it happened?

JOcean · Answer

By overkill I mean overdoing it...no need to go that direction.

jmgbooks · Answer

Thanks for the reply and the information.

In reading it, I'm not sure I understood all the technical stuff in its entirety (IDK where the swapfile is, I didn't put it anywhere specific or move it - it's probably wherever it would be when the computer shipped) but I have noticed a slowing down of the computer. I have multiple browsers and I keep ALOT of windows/tabs open. My Edge Browser alone has 125 windows open. The Dell Tech working on my computer noticed windows and tabs taking awhile to open. About 47% of my memory is in use. So I don't have alot of programs running but tons of windows and tabs among multiple browsers.

At the end of the day the device is designed to have 128GB and as long as there are not any performance issues it shouldn't be a problem. Crucial is reputable (I've used their RAM for a long time) and they stand by their products

ispalten · Answer

@jmgbooks

Well, since you never modified the Swapfile it would be a system hidden file on C:.

Open a CMD prompt, and enter DIR SWAP* /ASH and you'll see it:

--------------

C:\>dir swap* /ash
Volume in drive C is OS
Volume Serial Number is 9A97-C0F4

Directory of C:\

02/27/2023 06:28 AM 16,777,216 swapfile.sys
1 File(s) 16,777,216 bytes

-----------------

Only 47% RAM used, less than 32GB's. Go up to 128GB's, that will drop to 24% used and you will gain nothing. Problem is probably CPU usage. Check that with Task Manager, click on the CPU column and have the heavy usage on the top... probably Edge I'd think...

Adding RAM will probably only reduce the amount of money in your pocket.

Again, feel free to do what you want.

jmgbooks · Answer

To Clarify: That is not the volume serial number I saw but I did see a volume serial number

jmgbooks · Answer

Thanks for the reply and infoI entered the instruction for finding the swap fileThis info is what I saw:  Volume in drive C is OSVolume Serial Number is 9A97-C0F4 Directory of C:\Users\jmgbo File not found Attached is a task manager screenshot - with ALL the browsers I currently use (similar windows/tab usage for all) The memory percentage fluctuated to 66% earlier today

jmgbooks · Answer

Thanks for your reply and the information

Today the CPU usage has stayed between 6 and 17% with Firefox consistently using up the most resources

I'm going to go over all your posts and give this some thought

Thanks again for your help!

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XPS 8940, should I max out the RAM?

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