So, if you are out there buying a gaming PC today, you will be troubled with several questions. And, one of them is how much RAM do you need? Although the main buzz is around 16GB these days, a lot of people would say, get 32GB if you want longevity. Some people would even walk the extra mile and put 128GB of RAM in their systems because that is the maximum amount supported by their processors. And, some laptop and pre-built PC manufacturers will also ship their systems with just 8GB RAM installed in them.
So, how much do you exactly need? Well, the answer varies.
How Much RAM Do You Need for Gaming in 2022 (8GB, 16GB, 32GB, or 128GB)
8 GB of RAM: Its Pros and Cons
8 GB of RAM was the industry standard until a couple of years ago and was widely recommended. Nowadays, systems with 8GB RAM are facing performance hiccups. The change from 8 GB of system RAM was very fast, and game developers and system integrators started recommending 16GB of RAM blindly to anyone within a month of 8GB giving hiccups.
That is why If you are building a media PC or a casual kitchen PC even today, 8GB of system memory will suffice. Also, the price of decent 8GB memory modules has fallen recently due to the increased availability of memory chips and DDR5 coming into the market. So, one 8GB memory stick is going to cost you a little less than 40$, while if you want to go dual-channel, two 4GB sticks will cost you around 35$.
So, 8GB of RAM is cheap, and although you can do everyday tasks and play some less intensive games like CS: GO or Valorant on such a system, don’t try playing the latest AAA titles on them. While it is not that the games won’t launch, your memory will act as a serious bottleneck that you won’t always like.
Also, if you have a video card that has 6GB of VRAM or less, you would want to go for at least 12GB of RAM or more. This is because as you have less VRAM, your system will have to use your DRAM more. And, if you starve your system off DRAM as well, the performance will suffer to quite an extent.
16 GB of RAM: Its Pros and Cons
16GB of RAM is the market trend these days. This trend began in late 2019, and it seems like 16GB is going to be the market standard for another couple of years before the market moves to 32GB. As mentioned earlier, the introduction of DDR5 in the market, and the increased availability of chips have reduced the price of DDR4 memory by quite a margin. But, DDR4 memory still performs as well as DDR5 which is still in early adoption. This makes affording 16GB DDR4 a breeze, and you can get a decent dual-channel setup for as low as 80$ to 100$. These will have the best in class frequencies up to 3600 MHz, and timings as low as CL16.
16GB of system memory will get you through any game available on the market. Also, the most intensive games are peaking around 11500MB to 12000MB of memory usage, so you will have some headroom if you pick up 16GB memory.
But, if you are a creator or use your computer for productivity workloads besides gaming, 16GB can give you some hiccups. Several professionals have reported that their systems run out of memory during heavy multitasking, and using multiple software at once.
32 GB of RAM: Its Pros and Cons
As games get more and more demanding, we have seen the industry jump from one memory standard to another. Following this trend, we can confirm that 32GB of RAM will become the next standard within a couple of years.
Around 2024, the PS5 and the Xbox Series will get a mid-cycle refresh. This will push the baseline of the gaming system further up in the market, and the minimum requirements slab will go up once again. This has happened in the past when the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X were released, and this will happen when the PS5 and the Xbox Series consoles start to show their age within a few years.
Although having 32GB of RAM will not give you an edge in games today, picking up two shiny 16GB sticks from your local Microcenter might not be the best idea due to another reason.
DDR5 is already in the market. By the end of this year, DDR5 will start becoming the new standard, and DDR4 will start to get phased out slowly. Thus, unless you are buying the overpriced DDR5 sticks for some weird reason today, sticking to 16GB DDR4 is the best idea until DDR5 pricing and availability come down to normal.
But, if you are a professional who needs the extra resources to run the intensive apps, you can opt for 32GB of RAM. Most common productivity apps like Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender, and Unreal Engine love more RAM, as it will help you load up projects faster and manage mammoth creations with no hiccups.
32GB of system memory is already the standard for creative professionals, but if you are a sole gamer, refrain from upgrading right now.
128 GB of System Memory: Is It Just Flex?
Short answer, yes. Unless you are developing AAA games or running military simulations, you won’t need anything above 32GB of memory today. But, there is another peculiar use-case scenario that can benefit from 128GB of system memory. That is opening multiple Chrome tabs if that is what you do for a living.
Most of the modern high-end processors support a maximum of 128GB of system memory these days. Thus, people with infinite budgets end up going for the absolute best not realizing that they are simply wasting money, and they won’t need that much memory for anything. While 128GB of system memory will become the norm sometime in the future, we are at least a decade away from it.
Although you can waste your money behind such tremendous amounts of system memory, for God’s sake, don’t do it.
If you want to check out the differences between having various amounts of system memory in a well-made and accurate video, check out this post from YouTuber Testing Games: