College is asking for 16gb RAM. Do I need?

[ivDeTox]

My college is asking for a laptop with 16gb of RAM, at least an i5 6300u processor, along with pen technology that is either wacom or n-trig.

I understand the processor and pen technology they're asking for and I can afford that. The problem is with the 16gb of RAM they're asking for. many students have said this is likely just to future proof the device. Is 16gb of RAM going to be necessary any time in the near future (4 years) as an engineering student???

I must note that the laptop I'm looking to get is a surface book with 8gb ram, i5 6300u, and an nvidia 940m. These specs all match my college's minimum requirement except for the RAM.

Most laptop configurations with 16gb of RAM make the price skyrocket and I would like to just go with 8gb if that is possible.

 

[dexxterlab97]

8GB should be enough. What engineering class are you taking?

 

[ivDeTox]

8GB should be enough. What engineering class are you taking?

I'm a rising freshman so its a general engineering education class. No idea what it entails but thats what they're asking for on the laptop.

 

[tom_spinach]

hehe, there are college advices and college advices. The question is where those advices really come from. Either companies that want sell their stuff. Or you are running specific applications that really use a lot of RAM.

 

[ivDeTox]

8GB should be enough. What engineering class are you taking?

Its a first year general engineering class. You choose your specialty after the first year.

Lots of people think the requirement is BS and its really just to future proof your device. Lots of my friends are going with just 8gb but I'm just afraid that if they're wrong its gonna be a pain in the butt to upgrade later if my RAM ends up bottenecking in some way. You can't really upgrade RAM on a laptop like on a PC.

Is there any engineering program AT ALL that could possibly require 16gb of RAM now or in the near future? I would think that any CAD program would be more GPU intensive, and the surface book covers that with a discrete graphics card if I would ever use something like that. My school doesn't even require a discrete GPU, simply 16gb of RAM (wtf?).

 

[dexxterlab97]

Get a laptop with expandable RAM so you can increase it in the future

 

[ivDeTox]

hehe, there are college advices and college advices. The question is where those advices really come from. Either companies that want sell their stuff. Or you are running specific applications that really use a lot of RAM.

Exactly. I'm just wondering if anyone out there knows if such applications exist that engineers will need to run that require this much RAM.

 

[spentshells]

Upgrading ram in a laptop is as easy as pie. just go with 8 until your computer chokes then upgrade when required.

 

[jsmithepa]

The answer is amazingly simple, ask a senior?

 

[rgd1101]

The answer is amazingly simple, ask a senior?

tech change all the time, what works today, might not works 4 years later.

 

[dexxterlab97]

The answer is amazingly simple, ask a senior?

tech change all the time, what works today, might not works 4 years later.

Because in 4 years he will be a graduate and will build his desktop

 

[R4DIO4CT1VE]

buy one with 8gb and an open ram slot (most have one). Ram is generally pretty cheap so if you run into a program that somehow chews up more than 8gb of ram you can just throw in another stick for a few bucks.