The Steam Hardware and Software Survey has delivered yet another update, showing us where the general PC gamer is headed. This time, the sector shows an interesting growth is system memory, particularly among users with 32 GB of RAM. While 16 GB of RAM is still the most common configuration, account...
Ok, the VMs make sense, I guess. Out of curiosity what are you running in them?
Have you considered using FF instead of chrome as your daily driver?
RAM is pretty cheap right now. We’re in that weird spot where last gen (DDR4) is getting more expensive and DDR5 has gotten way cheap. Regardless of your setup it’s a good time to buy if you want to upgrade. Saw another post where you talked about getting a dedicated server. Sounds like that’s optimal but RAM is cheap.
Not sure what you’ve got running that’s virtualized but a cheap mini PC could likely handle all that for not much more than the RAM, or the same cost if you find a good deal. And then you’re not stuck with a ton of RAM that won’t serve you super well in the long run (I don’t think we’ll be looking at 64GB RAM as a standard until we’re well into DDR6, but I definitely could be wrong).
The vms are for home assistant and a linux distro with a gui. Docker is hosting a bunch of workflow, database, and ai related stuff.
I’m using a laptop, so swapping to 64GB means a pair of 32gig sticks for like $300. It’s likely a better choice to offload the work to a dedicated server, I can probably put together something for less than twice that cost.
Without knowing specifically what your AI requirements are I wouldn’t swear on my following, but you can set up something easily for the same cost of your RAM with new components, and way cheaper if you go used.
32GB mini PCs are right around $300 on Amazon with lazy searching, which means you can find them in the $250 range if you look, and they’re cheaper if you want to go lower RAM and no OS. If you have a TV then all you’d need is an HDMI cord and a keyboard+mouse, or none if you go headless. You won’t need a monitor because you wouldn’t be gaming on it.
But if you’re going to set up dedicated hardware I’d suggest buying some server gear for better reliability in the long term. You’ll still be in the $200 range to start, it’s so cheap to get your first rig and make mistakes and figure out what you want later. This link has tons of lists of hardware you could put into a very capable server with price estimates. It’s primarily NAS/service hosting focused so again, ymmv with AI requirements, but for base hardware that you can spin up some VMs and containers you’re in business with 8-16GB and a mobo that supports ECC.
https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/guide-nas-killer-4-0-fast-quiet-power-efficient-and-flexible-starting-at-125/667/13