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32 GB of memory are suddenly not enough: Why you should not choose less than 64 GB for AMD Strix Halo

Started by Redaktion, Yesterday at 11:45:08

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Redaktion

Just a few years ago, 32 GB were a luxury, but no more. With memory-hungry AI applications, 32 GB are slowly but surely becoming the new acceptable minimum. And for AMD's Strix Halo platform, 32 GB may not even be the acceptable minimum anymore.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/32-GB-of-memory-are-suddenly-not-enough-Why-you-should-not-choose-less-than-64-GB-for-AMD-Strix-Halo.1053132.0.html

Li

Tell that to Asus that decided that some regions will get only 32 GB versions of Strix Halo Flow Z13.

citral

Yes you absolutely need 64G, or preferably more, so that AI can advise you to play Expedition 0-32 before 33.

Bruce

QuoteWith only 32 GB, you can not really increase the VRAM. The next option would be 16 GB, meaning the laptop would only have 16 GB of memory for other tasks.

Is that actually true? Don't programs dynamically use the amount of video memory they need and there's no fixed separation between system and vram?

TruthIsThere


antalpoti

Quote from: Bruce on Yesterday at 12:41:53
QuoteWith only 32 GB, you can not really increase the VRAM. The next option would be 16 GB, meaning the laptop would only have 16 GB of memory for other tasks.

Is that actually true? Don't programs dynamically use the amount of video memory they need and there's no fixed separation between system and vram?

It's not quite true. In the BIOS (or the AMD control software) you can set the MINIMUM amount of VRAM reserved for the iGPU. I have been using an XMG Evo 15 with 32GB of RAM, I never needed to mess with those settings. I have 512MB allocated by default. The system knows how much RAM to allocate to be used as VRAM. If you set that amount to 8 or 16 gigs, you just needlessly limit the system's functionality since the CPU can't use the RAM you just assigned as VRAM. If you play a game, for example, which needs 12GB, but you reserved 16, those 4 gigs are just sitting idly. Just leave it as is.

Observing

Sitting here on a 16 GiB system with only 4.5 GiB in use.  MAYBE it gets as high as 9 GiB?

Use AI frequently.

I think the last time I used a system that was memory constrained was in the late 90's.

George

Quote from: TruthIsThere on Yesterday at 12:43:56You cannot mask poor coding by trying to fix it by adding more memory. 😏
Well put.
Lazy "coders" have been pushing out poorly written code for years 

Shawn M.

Quote from: TruthIsThere on Yesterday at 12:43:56You cannot mask poor coding by trying to fix it by adding more memory. 😏

There are also limitations to coding yourself out of memory usage. If my choice is a data structure with higher time complexity for common operations but lower memory usage, I may need the higher RAM usage to hit frame time targets.

JLLLalsjdowne

Yeah it must be nice to be able to afford 64GB RAM. This is why I game on console. PCs are for rich hoyteetoytee losers

A

Quote from: Bruce on Yesterday at 12:41:53
QuoteWith only 32 GB, you can not really increase the VRAM. The next option would be 16 GB, meaning the laptop would only have 16 GB of memory for other tasks.

Is that actually true? Don't programs dynamically use the amount of video memory they need and there's no fixed separation between system and vram?

Depends on platform. On Windows for AMD, you have VGM. That forces you to set how much ram you set aside for vram and how much as ram. There is also an option in bios to set reserved amount of vram.

On Linux, with newer kernels there is GTT which can do it dynamically as needed.

PCMedia

#11
Not enough... I just updated my new laptop order to the max 96GB RAM.  Since it's soldered in this worries me so I hope nothing destabilizes and they perfectly match new RAM's timings to the system.

powermatt

Quote from: A on Yesterday at 21:07:32
Quote from: Bruce on Yesterday at 12:41:53
QuoteWith only 32 GB, you can not really increase the VRAM. The next option would be 16 GB, meaning the laptop would only have 16 GB of memory for other tasks.

Is that actually true? Don't programs dynamically use the amount of video memory they need and there's no fixed separation between system and vram?

Depends on platform. On Windows for AMD, you have VGM. That forces you to set how much ram you set aside for vram and how much as ram. There is also an option in bios to set reserved amount of vram.

On Linux, with newer kernels there is GTT which can do it dynamically as needed.

So much this. Windows is, as usual, the real problem. Strix Halo lives its best life on Linux, where you don't need to take away arbitrary amounts of RAM from your OS.

I've been running my Z13 on Bazzite playing some of the more notorious VRAM hungry games like The Last of Us, and I've had zero issues.

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