Sure it's tough on memory; had about 31 million springs. I had to reduce the settings and sub-d to one - it was at 2 which is why I initially had issues; I discovered that sub-d could be an issue. :)

I think it was this hair that worked better with sub-d at one, and not zero.

http://www.daz3d.com/taia-hair-for-genesis-3-female-s

I set it up in VWD default (use vertices neighbourhood), but I had to reduce the Distance; probably 3 or 4. If you change any settings just remeber to apply the settings not just click on the hair.

When selecting the verts in, when doing hair parameters, I go for around 800-1000. (I use G3F/M btw.) It seems to be working for me so far.

What takes the time is letting it run; hair seems to generate a lot of springs; using a different hair as I'm typing and that has 19,814,575 springs. Once it's started to settle I start dragging pieces about to get the shape I want. There is a little lag so takes a few minutes.

And as I get parts to the shape I want, I use Fixed Vertices under Verices Groups to stop them moving when I'm adjusting other parts.