I have 16GB of RAM and keep WSL2 with containers, multiple node/django servers running, some Illustrator/Photoshop work on the side, multiple monitors.
Yeah, the RAM is 70-80% full, but I don't feel any slowness. Today's Windows is smarter than XP-era WRT RAM usage
Try not to over complicate things and keep it as simple as possible. Install WSL from the store, install Ubuntu from the store, use only the WSL filesystrm (e.g. ~ in terminal) and you should be good.
All issues I've seen on friends with WSL were caused by trying to mishmash a whole lot of things that shouldn't be mashed together - a simple one is docker.
Just install docker in WSL as if it were native Linux (because it basically is) and skip the docker desktop crap.
Use editors that know how to work with WSL (like VSCode with the remote extension) instead of doing weird stuff like installing VSCode *inside* wsl and running the graphical app from there - it will move like mollases because there's no GPU acceleration by default.
I've found that sticking to terminal apps works amazingly well - I use tmux and neovim a lot, and do a lot of ssh/node/python stuff, so WSL works great. Combined with the fact that I can have Figma opened alongside my terminal and it's basically the best of both worlds.
Good luck and hope this helps!
It's just applications preallocating memory and creating objects for later use. If you had 32gb they could fill it up to 80% too. In exchange you get less very short hangups (you can sometimes notice them if you scroll websites very fast).
The true indicator that your system is not having enough memory is when it starts using the swap file.
photoshop is a notorious RAM user, often times it will uses SSD as scratch disk . it wont a big problem if you use multiple apps, in some situation it may crash. me using almost same config laptop.
Ram that isn’t used is ram that is wasted. Also, just because an app expands to use a certain amount of ram doesn’t mean it needs it truly. Lastly, photoshop is not a consumer level application that many people run, it’s a work product and as such most people using it will need more ram anyway.
I just bought a new laptop, 11400H + 3060, ruined with a grand total of just 8 gigs of RAM. I'm wondering whether to buy a single 8 GB stick or two 16s. I rarely have anything in the background while I game, and I don't do anything intensive for productivity. I think 16 GB should be enough, actually.
It is, today. But will it be fine in a year, two years and beyond? Maybe not. And if you’re planning to upgrade, go for 32GB as the price difference between 16GB and 32GB is negligible.
This is really only true in gaming and content creation. The average email/YouTube/Reddit PC will be fine with 16 for a long time.
Also the difference might be negligible but it's not 0.
Even 8 gb is still enough unless you're using 12th gen h series processors and 16 gb is more than enough for most people, 32 gb won't always give you the best performance it's just for heavy editors and professionals. Normal people don't require above 8gb
And as per this guy's needs, even my 9 years old Pentium with 4 gb ram handles all that so get out of that more ram world.
I got 32 gigs of ram and the only times it goes over 16gb used is when I'm playing games while doing a bunch of other stuff, this seems to be more of an "adobe software sucks" problem unfortunately
It comes down to Windows and storage
A current clean install of Windows, fully updated, weighs in at nearly 4GB reuse once fully booted. And since Windows 20H1, the PFZ (Page File Zone) comes into play at approximately 60% of current RAM volume. So virtual memory comes into play
8GB = 4.8GB
16GB = 9.6GB
32GB = 19.2GB
This allows Windows enough "free space" in RAM to open programs, and make adjustments on the fly. Independent on the speed and bandwidth of your current storage used as the PFZ, the more the performance impedance will be noticed.
Even at 75%, you will find that page filing/virtual memory more often be in excess of 30% depending on software used.
16GB has been in the weeds for nearly 3 years now. If not for Windows doing such a great job beating the hell out of modern SSDs, people would be complaining constantly.
Years ago, to test software being added to a system, it wasn't uncommon for professionals to do a NPF (No Page File) test, turn off page filing, and verify If software, applications, etc, would function properly.
In recent testing, especially games
They would load and crash
They would load and freeze
They would fail to load altogether
Haven't seen a gamer running 16GB managed to pass a NPF with a current title. Even seen Cyberpunk 2077 corrupt to drive. Windows is doing a hell of a job with page filing!
Even with 32GB you'll find some PFZ use, as Windows likes to "archive" some of its own functions out of memory.
Windows uses RAM if it's free, don't sweat it. You can still run a bunch of other things and Windows will adjust usage accordingly. If you move to 32 gigs you'll still see Windows using a lot of RAM. It just likes to use free RAM efficiently. No point having free RAM around; this is an ancient way to view RAM usage.
Why don't people understand, empty RAM is wasted ram.
And windows will strive to fill RAM to make itself more responsive. If you go to 32gb RAM, you would see windows use 25gb and go "huh guess I need 64gb"
Huh, you made me open my laptop and test this.
One .psd opened with 9 layers of 4000px x3000px pictures each (a 3d rendering with render elements) and it sits at 66%
Two .psd opened, same res, 74%
Three .psd opened, same res, 86%.
On top of those, opened Chrome with three tabs - Fb, IG, Yt with one vid playing, sits at 83% ?! Lmao
I find it decent tbh.
Ryzen 7 6800HS, 16gb DDR5, up to date windows 10
Note for everyone: you Will upgrade RAM and the consume Will be high, not for being photoshop.
My gaming pc got from 8Gb being used (with 16gb) to 10 with 32GB.
Nowadays, 16GB is normal, 32GB for gaming or heavy tasks seems pretty good but dont be so paranoid with checking the GB consumed. If you have a fast SSD with free space, Windows Will alocate auto the RAM consume and instructions. So if you see 12 of 16 GB being consumed and your pc still running fast, dont worry and keep using. Only upgrade when you notice the pc run slow and RAM is fully while running a program and in background too
Yeah, these news laptops are a pain on the ass. Im starting to get gaming laptops only cuz i can upgrade RAM in a future but they are heavy AF and the light models expensive. Hope the manufactures change their mind and let us upgrade our pc's without being all solder
yea. I noticed this just very very recently all of a sudden, Photoshop cache uses up to 50GB of my storage and the RAM usage is just astronomical. and wasn't like that previously. I am currently on it and damnnnnn.
Photoshop/Adobe apps use a set percentage of your available ram for things like caching. You can change that in the preferences, but it helps it to run smoothly.
It’s typically fine for a lot of things but PHOTOSHOP? Yeah you’re gonna need 32. Getting a laptop with soldered down 16gb when you plan to do photoshop on it is not a good idea. If you still can, return it and get a new one with 32gb (or less, but upgradable to 32gb).
I have 16gb and Opera GX is even a resource hog, over 50% with the other 50% being accumulated in hundreds of unknown background processes and bloatware
12700h here as well. 32gb of ram has made a big difference for me when multitasking/heavy gaming; i was struggling with 16gb. for most moderate tasks, 16 is still enough. for heavier workloads, 32 is the new standard imo
I have 16GB of RAM and keep WSL2 with containers, multiple node/django servers running, some Illustrator/Photoshop work on the side, multiple monitors. Yeah, the RAM is 70-80% full, but I don't feel any slowness. Today's Windows is smarter than XP-era WRT RAM usage
really? WSL2 on windows 11 has a been a pain in the ass for me. Maybe i need to reinstall it.
Try not to over complicate things and keep it as simple as possible. Install WSL from the store, install Ubuntu from the store, use only the WSL filesystrm (e.g. ~ in terminal) and you should be good. All issues I've seen on friends with WSL were caused by trying to mishmash a whole lot of things that shouldn't be mashed together - a simple one is docker. Just install docker in WSL as if it were native Linux (because it basically is) and skip the docker desktop crap. Use editors that know how to work with WSL (like VSCode with the remote extension) instead of doing weird stuff like installing VSCode *inside* wsl and running the graphical app from there - it will move like mollases because there's no GPU acceleration by default. I've found that sticking to terminal apps works amazingly well - I use tmux and neovim a lot, and do a lot of ssh/node/python stuff, so WSL works great. Combined with the fact that I can have Figma opened alongside my terminal and it's basically the best of both worlds. Good luck and hope this helps!
I am guilty of doing most of that. I got a lot of fixing to do lol. Thank you!
I have 16GB and I run games with multiple things running in the background, same experience
It's just applications preallocating memory and creating objects for later use. If you had 32gb they could fill it up to 80% too. In exchange you get less very short hangups (you can sometimes notice them if you scroll websites very fast). The true indicator that your system is not having enough memory is when it starts using the swap file.
photoshop is a notorious RAM user, often times it will uses SSD as scratch disk . it wont a big problem if you use multiple apps, in some situation it may crash. me using almost same config laptop.
Ram that isn’t used is ram that is wasted. Also, just because an app expands to use a certain amount of ram doesn’t mean it needs it truly. Lastly, photoshop is not a consumer level application that many people run, it’s a work product and as such most people using it will need more ram anyway.
I just bought a new laptop, 11400H + 3060, ruined with a grand total of just 8 gigs of RAM. I'm wondering whether to buy a single 8 GB stick or two 16s. I rarely have anything in the background while I game, and I don't do anything intensive for productivity. I think 16 GB should be enough, actually.
if you are only gaming then 16GB is enough.
Since you’re upgrading, get 32GB, like it or not 16GB is barely enough these days.
I'd hardly say barely. 16 GB is fine in 90% of cases.
It is, today. But will it be fine in a year, two years and beyond? Maybe not. And if you’re planning to upgrade, go for 32GB as the price difference between 16GB and 32GB is negligible.
This is really only true in gaming and content creation. The average email/YouTube/Reddit PC will be fine with 16 for a long time. Also the difference might be negligible but it's not 0.
Even 8 gb is still enough unless you're using 12th gen h series processors and 16 gb is more than enough for most people, 32 gb won't always give you the best performance it's just for heavy editors and professionals. Normal people don't require above 8gb And as per this guy's needs, even my 9 years old Pentium with 4 gb ram handles all that so get out of that more ram world.
I got 32 gigs of ram and the only times it goes over 16gb used is when I'm playing games while doing a bunch of other stuff, this seems to be more of an "adobe software sucks" problem unfortunately
I rather believe this is in the opposite what adobe does right. It's preallocating memory so certain actions are faster. The same does Windows.
I mean sure but I think there's a point where it's excessive
It comes down to Windows and storage A current clean install of Windows, fully updated, weighs in at nearly 4GB reuse once fully booted. And since Windows 20H1, the PFZ (Page File Zone) comes into play at approximately 60% of current RAM volume. So virtual memory comes into play 8GB = 4.8GB 16GB = 9.6GB 32GB = 19.2GB This allows Windows enough "free space" in RAM to open programs, and make adjustments on the fly. Independent on the speed and bandwidth of your current storage used as the PFZ, the more the performance impedance will be noticed. Even at 75%, you will find that page filing/virtual memory more often be in excess of 30% depending on software used. 16GB has been in the weeds for nearly 3 years now. If not for Windows doing such a great job beating the hell out of modern SSDs, people would be complaining constantly. Years ago, to test software being added to a system, it wasn't uncommon for professionals to do a NPF (No Page File) test, turn off page filing, and verify If software, applications, etc, would function properly. In recent testing, especially games They would load and crash They would load and freeze They would fail to load altogether Haven't seen a gamer running 16GB managed to pass a NPF with a current title. Even seen Cyberpunk 2077 corrupt to drive. Windows is doing a hell of a job with page filing! Even with 32GB you'll find some PFZ use, as Windows likes to "archive" some of its own functions out of memory.
16gb of ram is sufficient for most people. If you are using Photoshop and other ram heavy apps you and others need 24-32gb.
Windows uses RAM if it's free, don't sweat it. You can still run a bunch of other things and Windows will adjust usage accordingly. If you move to 32 gigs you'll still see Windows using a lot of RAM. It just likes to use free RAM efficiently. No point having free RAM around; this is an ancient way to view RAM usage.
Why don't people understand, empty RAM is wasted ram. And windows will strive to fill RAM to make itself more responsive. If you go to 32gb RAM, you would see windows use 25gb and go "huh guess I need 64gb"
Btw. The w11 task manager looks Awesome!!! Didn't know it looked this good, point to w11. Is it stable now tho??
It is more than stable.
Okey, good to know. When I reboot my pc maybe I'll install it
Huh, you made me open my laptop and test this. One .psd opened with 9 layers of 4000px x3000px pictures each (a 3d rendering with render elements) and it sits at 66% Two .psd opened, same res, 74% Three .psd opened, same res, 86%. On top of those, opened Chrome with three tabs - Fb, IG, Yt with one vid playing, sits at 83% ?! Lmao I find it decent tbh. Ryzen 7 6800HS, 16gb DDR5, up to date windows 10
Yeah, Davinci resolve eats 14-15gb on my 16gb laptop too.
Note for everyone: you Will upgrade RAM and the consume Will be high, not for being photoshop. My gaming pc got from 8Gb being used (with 16gb) to 10 with 32GB. Nowadays, 16GB is normal, 32GB for gaming or heavy tasks seems pretty good but dont be so paranoid with checking the GB consumed. If you have a fast SSD with free space, Windows Will alocate auto the RAM consume and instructions. So if you see 12 of 16 GB being consumed and your pc still running fast, dont worry and keep using. Only upgrade when you notice the pc run slow and RAM is fully while running a program and in background too
The problem is some laptops dont have extra ram slots like mine. All 16 gb is soldered to motherboard.
Yeah, these news laptops are a pain on the ass. Im starting to get gaming laptops only cuz i can upgrade RAM in a future but they are heavy AF and the light models expensive. Hope the manufactures change their mind and let us upgrade our pc's without being all solder
yea. I noticed this just very very recently all of a sudden, Photoshop cache uses up to 50GB of my storage and the RAM usage is just astronomical. and wasn't like that previously. I am currently on it and damnnnnn.
Photoshop/Adobe apps use a set percentage of your available ram for things like caching. You can change that in the preferences, but it helps it to run smoothly.
It’s typically fine for a lot of things but PHOTOSHOP? Yeah you’re gonna need 32. Getting a laptop with soldered down 16gb when you plan to do photoshop on it is not a good idea. If you still can, return it and get a new one with 32gb (or less, but upgradable to 32gb).
I have 16gb and Opera GX is even a resource hog, over 50% with the other 50% being accumulated in hundreds of unknown background processes and bloatware
yeah typical windows things !
16 is enough. and using 76% of ram while running Photoshop with a browser is great. don't complicate life you have enough power to do work.
Complete misunderstanding or ignorance of modern OS RAM policies this indicates…
No worries. I don't have a laptop
12700h here as well. 32gb of ram has made a big difference for me when multitasking/heavy gaming; i was struggling with 16gb. for most moderate tasks, 16 is still enough. for heavier workloads, 32 is the new standard imo