Can Intel Optane memory compensate for less RAM?
I currently have a laptop that is about two years old, and has 8 GB of RAM. I use my laptop for internet browsing, productivity applications, and programming, including data science within Spyder or RStudio. I'm running Windows 10.
I usually sit around 65% memory usage, or 5 GB roughly.
I recently purchased, but haven't yet received, a laptop which has 4 GB of standard RAM, and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory. The laptop was marketed as having 20 GB of RAM, but after reading more about Optane memory, it seems that it serves more as a low-latency cache than as RAM.
For the purpose of running several memory-intensive programs simultaneously (e.g. browser with many tabs, data science IDEs) which average 5 GB of RAM usage, will decreasing RAM from 8 GB to 4 GB but adding 16 GB of Optane memory cause a performance slowdown?
Here's a snapshot of my current memory profile if it's helpful:
Update: if you're curious, I was able to cancel the order without issue. The answers helped me realize that the new purchase would have most likely been slower than my current laptop.
windows-10 memory hardware-rec optane
New contributor
|
show 8 more comments
I currently have a laptop that is about two years old, and has 8 GB of RAM. I use my laptop for internet browsing, productivity applications, and programming, including data science within Spyder or RStudio. I'm running Windows 10.
I usually sit around 65% memory usage, or 5 GB roughly.
I recently purchased, but haven't yet received, a laptop which has 4 GB of standard RAM, and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory. The laptop was marketed as having 20 GB of RAM, but after reading more about Optane memory, it seems that it serves more as a low-latency cache than as RAM.
For the purpose of running several memory-intensive programs simultaneously (e.g. browser with many tabs, data science IDEs) which average 5 GB of RAM usage, will decreasing RAM from 8 GB to 4 GB but adding 16 GB of Optane memory cause a performance slowdown?
Here's a snapshot of my current memory profile if it's helpful:
Update: if you're curious, I was able to cancel the order without issue. The answers helped me realize that the new purchase would have most likely been slower than my current laptop.
windows-10 memory hardware-rec optane
New contributor
5
I'm no expert, but your question made me curious, so thanks! There's a helpful article about this here. It suggests to me that 4gb RAM + 16gb Optane memory wouldn't be ideal as compared to 8gb RAM.
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
From reading on how it works, Optane makes sense if your machine don't use SSD but your workload needs to do a lot of disk access. If your workload needs a lot of RAM, then Optane will be much slower compared to adding real RAM. AFAICS, Optane is meant to fill a gap for budget systems that don't use SSD but requires the performance of SSD. I'd suggest that if you're going to reinstall a new system on a new hard-disk but thinks that going full SSD is too expensive for your storage requirement, you might as well get a Hybrid SSD+HD, it's simpler and have much of the same benefits.
– Lie Ryan
yesterday
4
@Maw Arrghh. Sorry, here's the new improved here: howtogeek.com/317294/what-is-intel-optane-memory
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
@N4v Good work on the edits. Voting to re-open.
– Twisty Impersonator
23 hours ago
2
The memory requirements depend hugely on your OS, and you tagged this Windows 10 but didn't mention it anywhere. Windows requires more memory than Linux/MacOS
– smci
8 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
I currently have a laptop that is about two years old, and has 8 GB of RAM. I use my laptop for internet browsing, productivity applications, and programming, including data science within Spyder or RStudio. I'm running Windows 10.
I usually sit around 65% memory usage, or 5 GB roughly.
I recently purchased, but haven't yet received, a laptop which has 4 GB of standard RAM, and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory. The laptop was marketed as having 20 GB of RAM, but after reading more about Optane memory, it seems that it serves more as a low-latency cache than as RAM.
For the purpose of running several memory-intensive programs simultaneously (e.g. browser with many tabs, data science IDEs) which average 5 GB of RAM usage, will decreasing RAM from 8 GB to 4 GB but adding 16 GB of Optane memory cause a performance slowdown?
Here's a snapshot of my current memory profile if it's helpful:
Update: if you're curious, I was able to cancel the order without issue. The answers helped me realize that the new purchase would have most likely been slower than my current laptop.
windows-10 memory hardware-rec optane
New contributor
I currently have a laptop that is about two years old, and has 8 GB of RAM. I use my laptop for internet browsing, productivity applications, and programming, including data science within Spyder or RStudio. I'm running Windows 10.
I usually sit around 65% memory usage, or 5 GB roughly.
I recently purchased, but haven't yet received, a laptop which has 4 GB of standard RAM, and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory. The laptop was marketed as having 20 GB of RAM, but after reading more about Optane memory, it seems that it serves more as a low-latency cache than as RAM.
For the purpose of running several memory-intensive programs simultaneously (e.g. browser with many tabs, data science IDEs) which average 5 GB of RAM usage, will decreasing RAM from 8 GB to 4 GB but adding 16 GB of Optane memory cause a performance slowdown?
Here's a snapshot of my current memory profile if it's helpful:
Update: if you're curious, I was able to cancel the order without issue. The answers helped me realize that the new purchase would have most likely been slower than my current laptop.
windows-10 memory hardware-rec optane
windows-10 memory hardware-rec optane
New contributor
New contributor
edited 24 mins ago
New contributor
asked yesterday
N4v
33436
33436
New contributor
New contributor
5
I'm no expert, but your question made me curious, so thanks! There's a helpful article about this here. It suggests to me that 4gb RAM + 16gb Optane memory wouldn't be ideal as compared to 8gb RAM.
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
From reading on how it works, Optane makes sense if your machine don't use SSD but your workload needs to do a lot of disk access. If your workload needs a lot of RAM, then Optane will be much slower compared to adding real RAM. AFAICS, Optane is meant to fill a gap for budget systems that don't use SSD but requires the performance of SSD. I'd suggest that if you're going to reinstall a new system on a new hard-disk but thinks that going full SSD is too expensive for your storage requirement, you might as well get a Hybrid SSD+HD, it's simpler and have much of the same benefits.
– Lie Ryan
yesterday
4
@Maw Arrghh. Sorry, here's the new improved here: howtogeek.com/317294/what-is-intel-optane-memory
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
@N4v Good work on the edits. Voting to re-open.
– Twisty Impersonator
23 hours ago
2
The memory requirements depend hugely on your OS, and you tagged this Windows 10 but didn't mention it anywhere. Windows requires more memory than Linux/MacOS
– smci
8 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
5
I'm no expert, but your question made me curious, so thanks! There's a helpful article about this here. It suggests to me that 4gb RAM + 16gb Optane memory wouldn't be ideal as compared to 8gb RAM.
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
From reading on how it works, Optane makes sense if your machine don't use SSD but your workload needs to do a lot of disk access. If your workload needs a lot of RAM, then Optane will be much slower compared to adding real RAM. AFAICS, Optane is meant to fill a gap for budget systems that don't use SSD but requires the performance of SSD. I'd suggest that if you're going to reinstall a new system on a new hard-disk but thinks that going full SSD is too expensive for your storage requirement, you might as well get a Hybrid SSD+HD, it's simpler and have much of the same benefits.
– Lie Ryan
yesterday
4
@Maw Arrghh. Sorry, here's the new improved here: howtogeek.com/317294/what-is-intel-optane-memory
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
@N4v Good work on the edits. Voting to re-open.
– Twisty Impersonator
23 hours ago
2
The memory requirements depend hugely on your OS, and you tagged this Windows 10 but didn't mention it anywhere. Windows requires more memory than Linux/MacOS
– smci
8 hours ago
5
5
I'm no expert, but your question made me curious, so thanks! There's a helpful article about this here. It suggests to me that 4gb RAM + 16gb Optane memory wouldn't be ideal as compared to 8gb RAM.
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
I'm no expert, but your question made me curious, so thanks! There's a helpful article about this here. It suggests to me that 4gb RAM + 16gb Optane memory wouldn't be ideal as compared to 8gb RAM.
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
2
From reading on how it works, Optane makes sense if your machine don't use SSD but your workload needs to do a lot of disk access. If your workload needs a lot of RAM, then Optane will be much slower compared to adding real RAM. AFAICS, Optane is meant to fill a gap for budget systems that don't use SSD but requires the performance of SSD. I'd suggest that if you're going to reinstall a new system on a new hard-disk but thinks that going full SSD is too expensive for your storage requirement, you might as well get a Hybrid SSD+HD, it's simpler and have much of the same benefits.
– Lie Ryan
yesterday
From reading on how it works, Optane makes sense if your machine don't use SSD but your workload needs to do a lot of disk access. If your workload needs a lot of RAM, then Optane will be much slower compared to adding real RAM. AFAICS, Optane is meant to fill a gap for budget systems that don't use SSD but requires the performance of SSD. I'd suggest that if you're going to reinstall a new system on a new hard-disk but thinks that going full SSD is too expensive for your storage requirement, you might as well get a Hybrid SSD+HD, it's simpler and have much of the same benefits.
– Lie Ryan
yesterday
4
4
@Maw Arrghh. Sorry, here's the new improved here: howtogeek.com/317294/what-is-intel-optane-memory
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
@Maw Arrghh. Sorry, here's the new improved here: howtogeek.com/317294/what-is-intel-optane-memory
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
2
@N4v Good work on the edits. Voting to re-open.
– Twisty Impersonator
23 hours ago
@N4v Good work on the edits. Voting to re-open.
– Twisty Impersonator
23 hours ago
2
2
The memory requirements depend hugely on your OS, and you tagged this Windows 10 but didn't mention it anywhere. Windows requires more memory than Linux/MacOS
– smci
8 hours ago
The memory requirements depend hugely on your OS, and you tagged this Windows 10 but didn't mention it anywhere. Windows requires more memory than Linux/MacOS
– smci
8 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
Intel Optane "memory" is a misnomer. It is just a cache memory card that can turn
a simple hard disk into a hybrid disk, by adding a RAM cache that can work at the
speed of an SSD disk.
Optane memory isn’t a random-access computer memory, or RAM.
Instead, it's meant to work as a cache memory bridge between RAM and storage,
allowing for faster data transfer between the memory, storage, and processor.
As such, it's magnitudes faster than a spinning hard drive and can work at the
speed of a budget SSD. And like SSD, it doesn’t erase itself when powered off.
Conclusion: You did make a mistake by falling for a commercial hype.
In addition, 4 GB of RAM is ridiculously low in our current state of hardware
and software. I would advise canceling the order for this laptop,
if you still can.
13
@BloodPhilia: Like what?
– harrymc
yesterday
4
Good answer. +1. Additionally, I would like to suggest this article, which compares access speeds to human reference scale, from 1 clock cycle -> 1 second, RAM -> 4 minutes and Optane -> 7 hours. This really shows how much scale difference there is between for example L1 cache and disk access speeds...
– agtoever
yesterday
5
It's not actually a misnomer, since there's a version that uses DDR4 interface and replaces actual RAM arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/…
– phuclv
yesterday
4
@iBug It is. For a new device, which is what this question is about. Especially if, as in this case, the older laptop had twice as much RAM.
– Kakturus
yesterday
4
Advertising that laptop as having 20GB of RAM isn't 'commercial hype', it's a blatant lie.
– patstew
21 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
The other answers cover the gist of the situation but I'd like to add some context.
For a long time, RAM has been often called 'memory' in laptops targeted at the layperson. This is usually helpful and hasn't caused issues, until recently. The same companies that started this practice are now lumping Optane cache and RAM under the same name 'memory' with the intention of tricking you into thinking that the laptop has more RAM than it actually has. Optane technology is still relatively new and unknown so this deception is very easy to fall for. Looking deeper into a product listing will usually reveal the truth.
Optane cache doesn't, and wasn't meant to, replace RAM. They both help speed up a computer, but operate differently and in different situations. Having Optane won't alleviate the heavy slowdown of only having 4GB of RAM when normal use requires at least 5GB.
You've fallen victim to intentionally deceptive marketing. I recommend purchasing a different laptop (with 8GB or more of RAM) to satisfy your use case. Perhaps one from a more upfront manufacturer.
New contributor
add a comment |
Only 4 GB? I hate to break it to you, but to the full extent of my knowledge (which isn't much) Intel Optane is not like memory aka RAM; it's like an SSD that takes the applications you use most and puts them on a faster drive so they load faster.
So an Intel Optane drive might eliminate the need for an SSD (please feel free to correct me on this). Your manufacturer probably put an Optane drive in your laptop and marketed it as RAM because 20 GB of Intel Optane is cheaper than 20 GB of RAM*, but maybe you can manually change the RAM to 8 GB for about $80.
*24 GB of laptop RAM $182
24 GB of laptop RAM
4 GB of laptop RAM and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory $87
laptop RAM
Intel Optane memory
New contributor
add a comment |
To be pedantic, a Windows 10 system will run okay on 4 GB of system RAM. Between paging (with Optane, would be less painful than plain HDD) and RAM compression, you have somewhere between 6-8 GB of RAM you can use before you'd notice any slowdown at all, and Optane can cache several gigabytes of commonly used files to improve swapping performance. It's possible that you'd not notice any loss of performance if you're simply writing code all day.
You'd still notice some obvious slowdown compared to a system with 8GB of system RAM, but not as much as you'd think, so long as you're not doing anything too memory intensive. I have 12 GB in my system, and I rarely hit even 7 GB used, even with 2GB for chrome and 1GB+ for my development tools. If all you're doing is development, 4GB should actually be plenty for your use case, but if you plan on playing games or editing video, then you'd definitely need an upgrade.
Sorry, but that's just not correct and your numbers confirm that. 2 GB for Chrome + over 1 GB for other tools and you already have less than 1 GB left for the OS, not to mention filesystem caching etc. Paging with Optane just won't replace reasonable amount of RAM because Optane is 2 orders of magnitude slower.
– gronostaj
53 mins ago
@gronostaj The way Windows 10 works, 4GB of RAM isn't 4GB of RAM. It's closer to 6-7GB of RAM because of compression. The OS itself doesn't even need 1GB of RAM. Also, a side note, I consider myself a "heavy user" of chrome; I would imagine most users probably use closer to 1-1.2GB of RAM. There's a lot of factors that go in to figuring things out, but the bottom line is that 4GB isn't as unreasonable as most people think it is.
– phyrfox
42 mins ago
add a comment |
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4 Answers
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4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
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votes
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oldest
votes
Intel Optane "memory" is a misnomer. It is just a cache memory card that can turn
a simple hard disk into a hybrid disk, by adding a RAM cache that can work at the
speed of an SSD disk.
Optane memory isn’t a random-access computer memory, or RAM.
Instead, it's meant to work as a cache memory bridge between RAM and storage,
allowing for faster data transfer between the memory, storage, and processor.
As such, it's magnitudes faster than a spinning hard drive and can work at the
speed of a budget SSD. And like SSD, it doesn’t erase itself when powered off.
Conclusion: You did make a mistake by falling for a commercial hype.
In addition, 4 GB of RAM is ridiculously low in our current state of hardware
and software. I would advise canceling the order for this laptop,
if you still can.
13
@BloodPhilia: Like what?
– harrymc
yesterday
4
Good answer. +1. Additionally, I would like to suggest this article, which compares access speeds to human reference scale, from 1 clock cycle -> 1 second, RAM -> 4 minutes and Optane -> 7 hours. This really shows how much scale difference there is between for example L1 cache and disk access speeds...
– agtoever
yesterday
5
It's not actually a misnomer, since there's a version that uses DDR4 interface and replaces actual RAM arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/…
– phuclv
yesterday
4
@iBug It is. For a new device, which is what this question is about. Especially if, as in this case, the older laptop had twice as much RAM.
– Kakturus
yesterday
4
Advertising that laptop as having 20GB of RAM isn't 'commercial hype', it's a blatant lie.
– patstew
21 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
Intel Optane "memory" is a misnomer. It is just a cache memory card that can turn
a simple hard disk into a hybrid disk, by adding a RAM cache that can work at the
speed of an SSD disk.
Optane memory isn’t a random-access computer memory, or RAM.
Instead, it's meant to work as a cache memory bridge between RAM and storage,
allowing for faster data transfer between the memory, storage, and processor.
As such, it's magnitudes faster than a spinning hard drive and can work at the
speed of a budget SSD. And like SSD, it doesn’t erase itself when powered off.
Conclusion: You did make a mistake by falling for a commercial hype.
In addition, 4 GB of RAM is ridiculously low in our current state of hardware
and software. I would advise canceling the order for this laptop,
if you still can.
13
@BloodPhilia: Like what?
– harrymc
yesterday
4
Good answer. +1. Additionally, I would like to suggest this article, which compares access speeds to human reference scale, from 1 clock cycle -> 1 second, RAM -> 4 minutes and Optane -> 7 hours. This really shows how much scale difference there is between for example L1 cache and disk access speeds...
– agtoever
yesterday
5
It's not actually a misnomer, since there's a version that uses DDR4 interface and replaces actual RAM arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/…
– phuclv
yesterday
4
@iBug It is. For a new device, which is what this question is about. Especially if, as in this case, the older laptop had twice as much RAM.
– Kakturus
yesterday
4
Advertising that laptop as having 20GB of RAM isn't 'commercial hype', it's a blatant lie.
– patstew
21 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
Intel Optane "memory" is a misnomer. It is just a cache memory card that can turn
a simple hard disk into a hybrid disk, by adding a RAM cache that can work at the
speed of an SSD disk.
Optane memory isn’t a random-access computer memory, or RAM.
Instead, it's meant to work as a cache memory bridge between RAM and storage,
allowing for faster data transfer between the memory, storage, and processor.
As such, it's magnitudes faster than a spinning hard drive and can work at the
speed of a budget SSD. And like SSD, it doesn’t erase itself when powered off.
Conclusion: You did make a mistake by falling for a commercial hype.
In addition, 4 GB of RAM is ridiculously low in our current state of hardware
and software. I would advise canceling the order for this laptop,
if you still can.
Intel Optane "memory" is a misnomer. It is just a cache memory card that can turn
a simple hard disk into a hybrid disk, by adding a RAM cache that can work at the
speed of an SSD disk.
Optane memory isn’t a random-access computer memory, or RAM.
Instead, it's meant to work as a cache memory bridge between RAM and storage,
allowing for faster data transfer between the memory, storage, and processor.
As such, it's magnitudes faster than a spinning hard drive and can work at the
speed of a budget SSD. And like SSD, it doesn’t erase itself when powered off.
Conclusion: You did make a mistake by falling for a commercial hype.
In addition, 4 GB of RAM is ridiculously low in our current state of hardware
and software. I would advise canceling the order for this laptop,
if you still can.
answered yesterday
harrymc
254k13265565
254k13265565
13
@BloodPhilia: Like what?
– harrymc
yesterday
4
Good answer. +1. Additionally, I would like to suggest this article, which compares access speeds to human reference scale, from 1 clock cycle -> 1 second, RAM -> 4 minutes and Optane -> 7 hours. This really shows how much scale difference there is between for example L1 cache and disk access speeds...
– agtoever
yesterday
5
It's not actually a misnomer, since there's a version that uses DDR4 interface and replaces actual RAM arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/…
– phuclv
yesterday
4
@iBug It is. For a new device, which is what this question is about. Especially if, as in this case, the older laptop had twice as much RAM.
– Kakturus
yesterday
4
Advertising that laptop as having 20GB of RAM isn't 'commercial hype', it's a blatant lie.
– patstew
21 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
13
@BloodPhilia: Like what?
– harrymc
yesterday
4
Good answer. +1. Additionally, I would like to suggest this article, which compares access speeds to human reference scale, from 1 clock cycle -> 1 second, RAM -> 4 minutes and Optane -> 7 hours. This really shows how much scale difference there is between for example L1 cache and disk access speeds...
– agtoever
yesterday
5
It's not actually a misnomer, since there's a version that uses DDR4 interface and replaces actual RAM arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/…
– phuclv
yesterday
4
@iBug It is. For a new device, which is what this question is about. Especially if, as in this case, the older laptop had twice as much RAM.
– Kakturus
yesterday
4
Advertising that laptop as having 20GB of RAM isn't 'commercial hype', it's a blatant lie.
– patstew
21 hours ago
13
13
@BloodPhilia: Like what?
– harrymc
yesterday
@BloodPhilia: Like what?
– harrymc
yesterday
4
4
Good answer. +1. Additionally, I would like to suggest this article, which compares access speeds to human reference scale, from 1 clock cycle -> 1 second, RAM -> 4 minutes and Optane -> 7 hours. This really shows how much scale difference there is between for example L1 cache and disk access speeds...
– agtoever
yesterday
Good answer. +1. Additionally, I would like to suggest this article, which compares access speeds to human reference scale, from 1 clock cycle -> 1 second, RAM -> 4 minutes and Optane -> 7 hours. This really shows how much scale difference there is between for example L1 cache and disk access speeds...
– agtoever
yesterday
5
5
It's not actually a misnomer, since there's a version that uses DDR4 interface and replaces actual RAM arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/…
– phuclv
yesterday
It's not actually a misnomer, since there's a version that uses DDR4 interface and replaces actual RAM arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/…
– phuclv
yesterday
4
4
@iBug It is. For a new device, which is what this question is about. Especially if, as in this case, the older laptop had twice as much RAM.
– Kakturus
yesterday
@iBug It is. For a new device, which is what this question is about. Especially if, as in this case, the older laptop had twice as much RAM.
– Kakturus
yesterday
4
4
Advertising that laptop as having 20GB of RAM isn't 'commercial hype', it's a blatant lie.
– patstew
21 hours ago
Advertising that laptop as having 20GB of RAM isn't 'commercial hype', it's a blatant lie.
– patstew
21 hours ago
|
show 8 more comments
The other answers cover the gist of the situation but I'd like to add some context.
For a long time, RAM has been often called 'memory' in laptops targeted at the layperson. This is usually helpful and hasn't caused issues, until recently. The same companies that started this practice are now lumping Optane cache and RAM under the same name 'memory' with the intention of tricking you into thinking that the laptop has more RAM than it actually has. Optane technology is still relatively new and unknown so this deception is very easy to fall for. Looking deeper into a product listing will usually reveal the truth.
Optane cache doesn't, and wasn't meant to, replace RAM. They both help speed up a computer, but operate differently and in different situations. Having Optane won't alleviate the heavy slowdown of only having 4GB of RAM when normal use requires at least 5GB.
You've fallen victim to intentionally deceptive marketing. I recommend purchasing a different laptop (with 8GB or more of RAM) to satisfy your use case. Perhaps one from a more upfront manufacturer.
New contributor
add a comment |
The other answers cover the gist of the situation but I'd like to add some context.
For a long time, RAM has been often called 'memory' in laptops targeted at the layperson. This is usually helpful and hasn't caused issues, until recently. The same companies that started this practice are now lumping Optane cache and RAM under the same name 'memory' with the intention of tricking you into thinking that the laptop has more RAM than it actually has. Optane technology is still relatively new and unknown so this deception is very easy to fall for. Looking deeper into a product listing will usually reveal the truth.
Optane cache doesn't, and wasn't meant to, replace RAM. They both help speed up a computer, but operate differently and in different situations. Having Optane won't alleviate the heavy slowdown of only having 4GB of RAM when normal use requires at least 5GB.
You've fallen victim to intentionally deceptive marketing. I recommend purchasing a different laptop (with 8GB or more of RAM) to satisfy your use case. Perhaps one from a more upfront manufacturer.
New contributor
add a comment |
The other answers cover the gist of the situation but I'd like to add some context.
For a long time, RAM has been often called 'memory' in laptops targeted at the layperson. This is usually helpful and hasn't caused issues, until recently. The same companies that started this practice are now lumping Optane cache and RAM under the same name 'memory' with the intention of tricking you into thinking that the laptop has more RAM than it actually has. Optane technology is still relatively new and unknown so this deception is very easy to fall for. Looking deeper into a product listing will usually reveal the truth.
Optane cache doesn't, and wasn't meant to, replace RAM. They both help speed up a computer, but operate differently and in different situations. Having Optane won't alleviate the heavy slowdown of only having 4GB of RAM when normal use requires at least 5GB.
You've fallen victim to intentionally deceptive marketing. I recommend purchasing a different laptop (with 8GB or more of RAM) to satisfy your use case. Perhaps one from a more upfront manufacturer.
New contributor
The other answers cover the gist of the situation but I'd like to add some context.
For a long time, RAM has been often called 'memory' in laptops targeted at the layperson. This is usually helpful and hasn't caused issues, until recently. The same companies that started this practice are now lumping Optane cache and RAM under the same name 'memory' with the intention of tricking you into thinking that the laptop has more RAM than it actually has. Optane technology is still relatively new and unknown so this deception is very easy to fall for. Looking deeper into a product listing will usually reveal the truth.
Optane cache doesn't, and wasn't meant to, replace RAM. They both help speed up a computer, but operate differently and in different situations. Having Optane won't alleviate the heavy slowdown of only having 4GB of RAM when normal use requires at least 5GB.
You've fallen victim to intentionally deceptive marketing. I recommend purchasing a different laptop (with 8GB or more of RAM) to satisfy your use case. Perhaps one from a more upfront manufacturer.
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answered yesterday
sm9sn1
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Only 4 GB? I hate to break it to you, but to the full extent of my knowledge (which isn't much) Intel Optane is not like memory aka RAM; it's like an SSD that takes the applications you use most and puts them on a faster drive so they load faster.
So an Intel Optane drive might eliminate the need for an SSD (please feel free to correct me on this). Your manufacturer probably put an Optane drive in your laptop and marketed it as RAM because 20 GB of Intel Optane is cheaper than 20 GB of RAM*, but maybe you can manually change the RAM to 8 GB for about $80.
*24 GB of laptop RAM $182
24 GB of laptop RAM
4 GB of laptop RAM and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory $87
laptop RAM
Intel Optane memory
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add a comment |
Only 4 GB? I hate to break it to you, but to the full extent of my knowledge (which isn't much) Intel Optane is not like memory aka RAM; it's like an SSD that takes the applications you use most and puts them on a faster drive so they load faster.
So an Intel Optane drive might eliminate the need for an SSD (please feel free to correct me on this). Your manufacturer probably put an Optane drive in your laptop and marketed it as RAM because 20 GB of Intel Optane is cheaper than 20 GB of RAM*, but maybe you can manually change the RAM to 8 GB for about $80.
*24 GB of laptop RAM $182
24 GB of laptop RAM
4 GB of laptop RAM and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory $87
laptop RAM
Intel Optane memory
New contributor
add a comment |
Only 4 GB? I hate to break it to you, but to the full extent of my knowledge (which isn't much) Intel Optane is not like memory aka RAM; it's like an SSD that takes the applications you use most and puts them on a faster drive so they load faster.
So an Intel Optane drive might eliminate the need for an SSD (please feel free to correct me on this). Your manufacturer probably put an Optane drive in your laptop and marketed it as RAM because 20 GB of Intel Optane is cheaper than 20 GB of RAM*, but maybe you can manually change the RAM to 8 GB for about $80.
*24 GB of laptop RAM $182
24 GB of laptop RAM
4 GB of laptop RAM and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory $87
laptop RAM
Intel Optane memory
New contributor
Only 4 GB? I hate to break it to you, but to the full extent of my knowledge (which isn't much) Intel Optane is not like memory aka RAM; it's like an SSD that takes the applications you use most and puts them on a faster drive so they load faster.
So an Intel Optane drive might eliminate the need for an SSD (please feel free to correct me on this). Your manufacturer probably put an Optane drive in your laptop and marketed it as RAM because 20 GB of Intel Optane is cheaper than 20 GB of RAM*, but maybe you can manually change the RAM to 8 GB for about $80.
*24 GB of laptop RAM $182
24 GB of laptop RAM
4 GB of laptop RAM and 16 GB of Intel Optane memory $87
laptop RAM
Intel Optane memory
New contributor
edited yesterday
iBug
2,36941739
2,36941739
New contributor
answered yesterday
rpi-noob
501
501
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To be pedantic, a Windows 10 system will run okay on 4 GB of system RAM. Between paging (with Optane, would be less painful than plain HDD) and RAM compression, you have somewhere between 6-8 GB of RAM you can use before you'd notice any slowdown at all, and Optane can cache several gigabytes of commonly used files to improve swapping performance. It's possible that you'd not notice any loss of performance if you're simply writing code all day.
You'd still notice some obvious slowdown compared to a system with 8GB of system RAM, but not as much as you'd think, so long as you're not doing anything too memory intensive. I have 12 GB in my system, and I rarely hit even 7 GB used, even with 2GB for chrome and 1GB+ for my development tools. If all you're doing is development, 4GB should actually be plenty for your use case, but if you plan on playing games or editing video, then you'd definitely need an upgrade.
Sorry, but that's just not correct and your numbers confirm that. 2 GB for Chrome + over 1 GB for other tools and you already have less than 1 GB left for the OS, not to mention filesystem caching etc. Paging with Optane just won't replace reasonable amount of RAM because Optane is 2 orders of magnitude slower.
– gronostaj
53 mins ago
@gronostaj The way Windows 10 works, 4GB of RAM isn't 4GB of RAM. It's closer to 6-7GB of RAM because of compression. The OS itself doesn't even need 1GB of RAM. Also, a side note, I consider myself a "heavy user" of chrome; I would imagine most users probably use closer to 1-1.2GB of RAM. There's a lot of factors that go in to figuring things out, but the bottom line is that 4GB isn't as unreasonable as most people think it is.
– phyrfox
42 mins ago
add a comment |
To be pedantic, a Windows 10 system will run okay on 4 GB of system RAM. Between paging (with Optane, would be less painful than plain HDD) and RAM compression, you have somewhere between 6-8 GB of RAM you can use before you'd notice any slowdown at all, and Optane can cache several gigabytes of commonly used files to improve swapping performance. It's possible that you'd not notice any loss of performance if you're simply writing code all day.
You'd still notice some obvious slowdown compared to a system with 8GB of system RAM, but not as much as you'd think, so long as you're not doing anything too memory intensive. I have 12 GB in my system, and I rarely hit even 7 GB used, even with 2GB for chrome and 1GB+ for my development tools. If all you're doing is development, 4GB should actually be plenty for your use case, but if you plan on playing games or editing video, then you'd definitely need an upgrade.
Sorry, but that's just not correct and your numbers confirm that. 2 GB for Chrome + over 1 GB for other tools and you already have less than 1 GB left for the OS, not to mention filesystem caching etc. Paging with Optane just won't replace reasonable amount of RAM because Optane is 2 orders of magnitude slower.
– gronostaj
53 mins ago
@gronostaj The way Windows 10 works, 4GB of RAM isn't 4GB of RAM. It's closer to 6-7GB of RAM because of compression. The OS itself doesn't even need 1GB of RAM. Also, a side note, I consider myself a "heavy user" of chrome; I would imagine most users probably use closer to 1-1.2GB of RAM. There's a lot of factors that go in to figuring things out, but the bottom line is that 4GB isn't as unreasonable as most people think it is.
– phyrfox
42 mins ago
add a comment |
To be pedantic, a Windows 10 system will run okay on 4 GB of system RAM. Between paging (with Optane, would be less painful than plain HDD) and RAM compression, you have somewhere between 6-8 GB of RAM you can use before you'd notice any slowdown at all, and Optane can cache several gigabytes of commonly used files to improve swapping performance. It's possible that you'd not notice any loss of performance if you're simply writing code all day.
You'd still notice some obvious slowdown compared to a system with 8GB of system RAM, but not as much as you'd think, so long as you're not doing anything too memory intensive. I have 12 GB in my system, and I rarely hit even 7 GB used, even with 2GB for chrome and 1GB+ for my development tools. If all you're doing is development, 4GB should actually be plenty for your use case, but if you plan on playing games or editing video, then you'd definitely need an upgrade.
To be pedantic, a Windows 10 system will run okay on 4 GB of system RAM. Between paging (with Optane, would be less painful than plain HDD) and RAM compression, you have somewhere between 6-8 GB of RAM you can use before you'd notice any slowdown at all, and Optane can cache several gigabytes of commonly used files to improve swapping performance. It's possible that you'd not notice any loss of performance if you're simply writing code all day.
You'd still notice some obvious slowdown compared to a system with 8GB of system RAM, but not as much as you'd think, so long as you're not doing anything too memory intensive. I have 12 GB in my system, and I rarely hit even 7 GB used, even with 2GB for chrome and 1GB+ for my development tools. If all you're doing is development, 4GB should actually be plenty for your use case, but if you plan on playing games or editing video, then you'd definitely need an upgrade.
answered 1 hour ago
phyrfox
2,3091013
2,3091013
Sorry, but that's just not correct and your numbers confirm that. 2 GB for Chrome + over 1 GB for other tools and you already have less than 1 GB left for the OS, not to mention filesystem caching etc. Paging with Optane just won't replace reasonable amount of RAM because Optane is 2 orders of magnitude slower.
– gronostaj
53 mins ago
@gronostaj The way Windows 10 works, 4GB of RAM isn't 4GB of RAM. It's closer to 6-7GB of RAM because of compression. The OS itself doesn't even need 1GB of RAM. Also, a side note, I consider myself a "heavy user" of chrome; I would imagine most users probably use closer to 1-1.2GB of RAM. There's a lot of factors that go in to figuring things out, but the bottom line is that 4GB isn't as unreasonable as most people think it is.
– phyrfox
42 mins ago
add a comment |
Sorry, but that's just not correct and your numbers confirm that. 2 GB for Chrome + over 1 GB for other tools and you already have less than 1 GB left for the OS, not to mention filesystem caching etc. Paging with Optane just won't replace reasonable amount of RAM because Optane is 2 orders of magnitude slower.
– gronostaj
53 mins ago
@gronostaj The way Windows 10 works, 4GB of RAM isn't 4GB of RAM. It's closer to 6-7GB of RAM because of compression. The OS itself doesn't even need 1GB of RAM. Also, a side note, I consider myself a "heavy user" of chrome; I would imagine most users probably use closer to 1-1.2GB of RAM. There's a lot of factors that go in to figuring things out, but the bottom line is that 4GB isn't as unreasonable as most people think it is.
– phyrfox
42 mins ago
Sorry, but that's just not correct and your numbers confirm that. 2 GB for Chrome + over 1 GB for other tools and you already have less than 1 GB left for the OS, not to mention filesystem caching etc. Paging with Optane just won't replace reasonable amount of RAM because Optane is 2 orders of magnitude slower.
– gronostaj
53 mins ago
Sorry, but that's just not correct and your numbers confirm that. 2 GB for Chrome + over 1 GB for other tools and you already have less than 1 GB left for the OS, not to mention filesystem caching etc. Paging with Optane just won't replace reasonable amount of RAM because Optane is 2 orders of magnitude slower.
– gronostaj
53 mins ago
@gronostaj The way Windows 10 works, 4GB of RAM isn't 4GB of RAM. It's closer to 6-7GB of RAM because of compression. The OS itself doesn't even need 1GB of RAM. Also, a side note, I consider myself a "heavy user" of chrome; I would imagine most users probably use closer to 1-1.2GB of RAM. There's a lot of factors that go in to figuring things out, but the bottom line is that 4GB isn't as unreasonable as most people think it is.
– phyrfox
42 mins ago
@gronostaj The way Windows 10 works, 4GB of RAM isn't 4GB of RAM. It's closer to 6-7GB of RAM because of compression. The OS itself doesn't even need 1GB of RAM. Also, a side note, I consider myself a "heavy user" of chrome; I would imagine most users probably use closer to 1-1.2GB of RAM. There's a lot of factors that go in to figuring things out, but the bottom line is that 4GB isn't as unreasonable as most people think it is.
– phyrfox
42 mins ago
add a comment |
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5
I'm no expert, but your question made me curious, so thanks! There's a helpful article about this here. It suggests to me that 4gb RAM + 16gb Optane memory wouldn't be ideal as compared to 8gb RAM.
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
From reading on how it works, Optane makes sense if your machine don't use SSD but your workload needs to do a lot of disk access. If your workload needs a lot of RAM, then Optane will be much slower compared to adding real RAM. AFAICS, Optane is meant to fill a gap for budget systems that don't use SSD but requires the performance of SSD. I'd suggest that if you're going to reinstall a new system on a new hard-disk but thinks that going full SSD is too expensive for your storage requirement, you might as well get a Hybrid SSD+HD, it's simpler and have much of the same benefits.
– Lie Ryan
yesterday
4
@Maw Arrghh. Sorry, here's the new improved here: howtogeek.com/317294/what-is-intel-optane-memory
– Steve Rindsberg
yesterday
2
@N4v Good work on the edits. Voting to re-open.
– Twisty Impersonator
23 hours ago
2
The memory requirements depend hugely on your OS, and you tagged this Windows 10 but didn't mention it anywhere. Windows requires more memory than Linux/MacOS
– smci
8 hours ago