This is specifically aimed at the developers, but many people are wondering whether or not the game will work with 6gb of ram since there are many rumors on the internet stating that the game will be unplayable with any less then 8gb of ram.

I'd be surprised if there is any official commentary other than the minimum specs speaking for themselves.

"Minimum

8 GB RAM"

Whether it would kind of passably stutter by or be simply unplayable is something that would surely need to be assessed post-launch,

as internet 'rumours' aside, no-one yet has the game.

It does seem odd that the minimum and recommended spec are both 8 GB

Possibly a result of the game's programming- they can't force the game to run on anything lower than 8GB RAM with "good" performance, but that 8GB is enough to handle everything the game throws at it, as-is.

There is some speculation that to get optimal results you want more than 8gb due to Windows and background programs.

Have you looked at your computers insides? I find it very unlikely you have only 3 bays for Ram Sticks, there's gotta be a fourth bay open.

If you really do want an answer from a Beth person I suggest throwing this question there way on Twitter.

The game will probably still run fine with 6GB.

To suggest 8 GB of ram is a secure choice.

First of, the game doesn't need 8GB of ram. Otherwise it wouldn't work well, as Windows needs Ram too. (not to mention from other background processes)

So obviously Bethesda did it that way:

How much ram needs a computer with an modern operating system, to work without problems ???

Short answer: 2GB. With 2GB or ram Windows works just fine. What remains are 6GB of ram.

Even then, i don't thing Fallout 4 needs the whole 6GB system memory to work, that's insane.

My bet is, it may needs 4GB depending on the situations or even a bit more. All the rest goes (or should go) through the frame buffer of the GPU. (It's much faster than the system memory anyway)

So, they couldn't say 4GB of ram for obvious reasons. Also they couldn't say 6GB of ram. So 8GB of ram is a secure number.

I hope it doesn't mean you will encounter problems with 6GB of ram.

And 8Gb means 8GB of system ram, not that Fallout will need 8GB of ram, that's obvious i guess...

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However, there is another explanation.

Bethesda may chosen to go that high with system ram, for the reason that some people doesn't have GPUs with more than 2 GB of ram.

So the game will store some additional data on the main system ram.

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However, there is one BIG problem. !!!

How the game will decide how much usable remaining system memory you have, and how much GPU memory it should take, for storing data.

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That's very easily done. !!!

If the game is well programmed it will run a routine at the beginning of the game (short of a benchmark)

He calculates the remaining system ram, takes to account the GPUs VRAM, and suggests a viable resolution.

That's the first step.

The second step: after the benchmark is completed and after the user confirms those changes, some graphical details should be grayed out for non high end systems.

That way anyone will have the change to play the game the best possible way.

If the user doesn't agree, he can choose his own detail configuration, but with an negative impact on the games performance.

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Actually, not something like Skyrim....

On Skyrim, It doesn't matter how fast or how slow your PC works (to an extend), all mid range CPUs and GPUs and of course above that....

...have the same results. Suggested game settings: ULTRA SETTINGS !!!

Is there a reason why you can't upgrade to 8 GB or more?

Have you ever tried to find a specific piece of computer that dates 3 + years old? It's never for sale anymore. You gotta go on the second hand market. Ebay? Last time I checked a graphic card I wanted to put in SLI, only one was sold ; supposed to be 80 dollars new, it was sold for 327, 46 dollars. Yep. That's right. Welcome to Ebay.

See, Ebay is more akin to a MMORPG auction house than a proper flea market. People can take a 10 $ object and sell it for 523, 68 dollars if they want to. And they wait until a mentally ill person buys it. But back in the days, those shady "dealers" had to place that said 10 $ object on a table, sit next to it and waste days, weeks! But today, with Ebay, nobody needs to do that anymore! Just type in any kind of number, fire and forget!

Get a new set of RAM instead of trying to match your old sticks then.

BGS has said that the minimum required to play is 8 gb.

While it may be playable on less there is no chance in hell a developer will contridict official requirements.

BGS says 8 gig and thats it. If you want to know if it runs on less wait till it releases and search the net for people who have tried.

But devs might have different definitions of minimum specs. The absolute minimum to play the game is different from the tolerable minimum to play the game. So it is the difference of the game playing on modern graphics vs. graphics from the 90s.

Perhaps you don't understand, of course they may have their own opinions.

But when is the last time a BGS Dev got on here and gave information about the game that was contradictory to what the official information was?

This is a foolish request and a BGS employee would be foolish to answer it because it would open him up to angry [censored] saying he lied if the game does not work.

I wasn't talking about devs within Bethesda, but devs between various game companies. If Bethesda decided to go with the minimum required to enjoy the game without dealing with poor graphics and other issues, then obviously no Bethesda dev would contradict that info. However, that is not what a customer is seeing. It is the minimum required to play the game. There is also the difference between necessary requirements and suggested requirements. Necessary requirements would be the 64-bit operating system and the 30 GB Hard Drive. However suggested requirements would be the Intel Core i5-2300 2.8 GHz/AMD Phenom X4 945 3.0 GHz or equivalent and Nvidia GTX 550 Ti 2 GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2 GB or equivalent. If I used a AMD Phenom X4 810 with a AMD Radeon HD 5850, then I still will be able to play the game, but my experience will differ from a person that meets the minimum specs. Bethesda can't test every single system so it is likely they just ran Fallout 4 on a few systems from 3 years ago and called it good.

Besides when has a Bethesda dev ever came on here to discuss the game? Twitter gets far more attention that we do and it is always certain devs that respond like Pete Hines and Todd Howard not some random Bethesda dev.