Stop wondering how much RAM I need and find the answers in this post focused on individuals and professionals. Know the settings you need to enjoy your PC and a good experience on Windows or Mac.

RAM memories play a very important role in the user experience because all applications consume resources, especially RAM. In this way, it is very useful to know how much RAM memory we are going to need specifically, especially for those who use multitasking and have several programs open at the same time.

Gaming: 16GB is the new standard

You already know the meme that circulates on the net: in 2014 you were the «King» with 8 GB, but in 2021 we start with 16 GB as the optimal configuration. This is because videogames have advanced a lot at the graphic level, as in their own dimensions: there are more and more open worlds (sandbox) that are bigger and bigger.

In the end, this translates to higher CPU, VRAM (graphics cards) and RAM consumption . To give you a quick example, The Division 2 is a sprawling open world that requires 16GB of RAM at its recommended requirements. I lived it in their flesh, and the gaming experience can be greatly diminished; in fact, there are games that quit unexpectedly due to insufficient RAM.

Those cases are more exceptional, but games have been closed to me having 8 GB of DDR4 RAM, although that goes more for the game and for the graphic settings that we have.

Can you play with 8GB ? Yes, but with everything else closed. It is a minimum configuration and I recommend starting from 16 GB without having to reach 32 GB (it is not necessary at the moment). Anyway, if you have questions about a specific game, we recommend you go to the Can You Run it website .

Professionals with multitasking: 16 GB

Here I do not doubt because professionals work with heavy tools (3D modeling, photo and video editing, renders, etc.), but not only do they have these applications running, but they surely use the PC for other purposes. This is what is known by multitasking , and that is to see what Chrome consumes me with only 2 tabs : 617 MB, so imagine if I had several windows with several tabs, 1 GB minimum!

If you don’t use Chrome, nothing happens, I have verified that Opera, Safari, Firefox or Edge consume practically the same with the same extensions installed. See what happens just by opening Adobe PhotoShop without any branded project , 4.4 GB of memory in use ! The rest of the programs that I have in the background are Chrome and Slack.

Imagine how much the figure can be with Sony Vegas, Lightroom or Illustrator running simultaneously, 6 GB easily! Not to mention 3D rendering programs, which consume a spectacular amount of resources, not just RAM.

So, if you wonder how much RAM I need to handle heavy professional tools : at least 16 GB , 32 GB being advisable in certain cases.

Streaming: 32GB

It is true that the 16 GB starting point may be enough, but multitasking here is powerful because we will have the game , the platform (Steam, Uplay, Battle.net, etc.), Discord , OBS or StreamLabs and Google Chrome open. Resource consumption is brutal, so I would recommend going for 32GB .

Before, 32GB seemed like an astronomical figure when it comes to RAM, mostly because of its high price. With the rise of DDR5 RAM , 32 GB will become a standard in gaming and professional fields because we will see 16 GB modules without problems. Now, the 32GB packs are priced similarly to the 16GB packs about 5 years ago.

In addition, the consumption of RAM memory is not only important in this scenario, but you have to take into account that of the CPU and GPU : add cores and VRAM memory to the matter. I would recommend starting with 8 cores, while with the GPU … as long as it is modern (from RTX 2000 onwards), it may be enough.

Total, from here to that you can stream in 1080p … you will have to gain subscribers, followers and the Twitch Partner , cheer up, you will surely achieve it!

How much RAM do I need if I use the PC just enough: 8 GB

This is one of the main scenarios: the use of the PC for office automation and little else . Honestly, 8 GB will be enough for you to perform tasks of all kinds without professional or specific pretensions. With 6 GB you can work perfectly, although this configuration is more complicated to see in laptops or pre-assembled PCs.

Once again, I take myself as an example: I have a laptop with 4 GB of RAM (Windows 10) and I have no experience problems. It is true that things get ugly when I open Adobe PhotoShop or some more or less heavy program, but to navigate with Google Chrome while using Word or Excel I have no problem.

The difference in these scenarios is marked by the processor and the hard drive: at least 4 cores and an SSD . If with these two ingredients, we add 8 GB of RAM , we will have a computer for light use for many years if we take care of it as it deserves.

Why not start at 8GB? If your budget allows, of course: the more sugar, the sweeter. The purpose of this post is to really define how much RAM I need and to avoid paying more for a component that I am not going to take full advantage of.

In the same way, I find it useless to have an Intel Core i7 or a Ryzen 7 to do completely light tasks and without a brutal transcendence in the OS. I usually resemble cars with PCs: there are small ones and there are powerful ones. The question is not which car is better, but which is the most suitable for your needs.