Is 16GB of RAM necessary yet?

[WildW]

Perhaps like many folks my computer is still running DDR3. I have 16GB at the moment, which only happened because it wasn't super expensive at the time. I keep looking at an upgrade, looking at the current price of DDR4 and asking myself "Do I really need 16GB?"

Is 8GB still enough for a general purpose / gaming computer? When does 16GB become worthwhile? Are there any games or use cases that truly benefit from more than 8GB?

 

[mikeymikec]

As usual, it depends on what you're using it for, and "games" is not very specific. The only time in the last seven years I've hit up against a RAM capacity issue on my own PC was after StarCraft 2 went 64-bit and I had 4GB RAM in my system temporarily to troubleshoot a hardware stability issue.

I have 12GB DDR3 at the moment, from 4GB. I think I took the opportunity to pick up 2x4GB on the cheap, and partly to investigate whether if I had more RAM then more might get used in general. It didn't (excluding caching, for which there isn't an easy way to definitively determine whether there's a performance improvement). IIRC the days when Win7 Windows Update used a lot of RAM might have contributed to the purchase decision as well.

I'd be surprised if there weren't any games that utilised 8GB effectively even on a streamlined system. Some people like to leave all their apps plus 64 browser tabs running during a game whereas I don't (because IMO it's silly to invite potential game performance issues then have to change one's habits greatly to work around it). Some people run an awful lot of stuff in the background like extra utilities or "Internet Security" packages, I don't. There's a lot of room for widely varying answers, so unless people qualify their responses with all of that information (and possibly more), or only quote game RAM usage, then the potential for particularly useful answers to your question is pretty low.

 

[XavierMace]

Is 16Gb necessary? No. Is it useful, generally yes.

 

[whm1974]

As long memory prices are reasonable, then it doesn't hurt to have more then you need now, you never know when you might be able to make use of it.

 

[Crono]

8GB is usually enough outside of professional or prosumer applications (video editing, high resolution image editing with a lot of layers, running virtual machines, etc). 4GB definitely can be limiting, but I haven't seen 8GB of usage under normal circumstances, including gaming.

It's better to go for 16GB just for the headroom, but if you know you don't have heavy memory usage even in your worst case scenarios, I wouldn't worry too much about going for less. A RAM upgrade or swap isn't too difficult down the road if needed.

If you are a heavy multitasker (typical case is the person who has 100 tabs open in Chrome while running other applications and gaming), you probably already know if you need more than 8GB of RAM.

 

[WildW]

There's a lot of room for widely varying answers, so unless people qualify their responses with all of that information (and possibly more), or only quote game RAM usage, then the potential for particularly useful answers to your question is pretty low.

I'm interested in folks' experiences, particularly if they find 8GB limiting for the way they use their computer. Right now I think 8GB is enough for a new build, and I'm interested in good reasons why I may be wrong.

 

[XavierMace]

There's a handful of games out there that will use 8Gb+ of RAM by themselves. Therefore 8Gb is limiting. Does that mean you can't get by with 8Gb? No. Depending on software/games you run, you may not even notice. That said, even with current prices 16Gb of DDR4 3000 is $200. 8Gb is $110 (Corsair LPX for the sake of argument). If you're spending $1000 on a build, is that $90 price difference really a deal breaker?

 

[Campy]

I'd consider 8GB the bare minimum today. Some games are using a lot of memory, such as PUBG creeping into the 5-6GB range. If you want some kind of multi tasking and longevity from the build I recommend 16GB, but of course you could upgrade later when prices decrease. Personally I prefer to get two sticks at the capacity I want and rest easy knowing it will be good for many years.

 

[Mr Evil]

I'm interested in folks' experiences, particularly if they find 8GB limiting for the way they use their computer. Right now I think 8GB is enough for a new build, and I'm interested in good reasons why I may be wrong.

I sometimes have a virtual machine open, which might use 4GB. Various apps and the OS might use 3GB in total. That leaves only 1GB for a game, which is definitely not enough.

Bear in mind that even if you never see all your RAM allocated, the "free" RAM will still be used by the OS as disc cache, which can make a big difference to loading times.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

After upgrading to Windows 10 a couple years ago, I started getting OoM errors while playing SWTOR, if I had Firefox open as well.

Upgraded to 16GB and all is well. So while 8GB might be ok depending on your OS and which games you're playing, I would consider 16GB a minimum for any new hardware purchase. (And, realistically, 32GB if you want to build a 5-year rig.)

 

[DaveSimmons]

After upgrading to Windows 10 a couple years ago, I started getting OoM errors while playing SWTOR, if I had Firefox open as well.

Upgraded to 16GB and all is well. So while 8GB might be ok depending on your OS and which games you're playing, I would consider 16GB a minimum for any new hardware purchase. (And, realistically, 32GB if you want to build a 5-year rig.)

I agree that 16 GB is the new 8 GB, but I'd argue you only need more than 16 GB if you plan to keep many tabs open in Firefox or Chrome while you game, or want to run some other memory-hungry applications at the same time. Both are RAM hogs, and one Facebook tab can chew up 1 GB of RAM, but that by itself isn't a problem. Open 10 more tabs like that and it becomes one.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I agree that 16 GB is the new 8 GB, but I'd argue you only need more than 16 GB if you plan to keep many tabs open in Firefox or Chrome while you game, or want to run some other memory-hungry applications at the same time. Both are RAM hogs, and one Facebook tab can chew up 1 GB of RAM, but that by itself isn't a problem. Open 10 more tabs like that and it becomes one.

Don't think you are going to be using 32GB of RAM sooner rather than later?

 

[UsandThem]

I've had 16GB in my systems since I think 2008ish. With the high price of RAM right now, I bought an 8GB (2 x 4GB) kit recently. I've noticed zero issues so far with my use. But after seeing what I use for gaming and browsing (3GB - 7GB), professionals (editing, AAA gaming, etc) would want 16 GB. Outside of enthusiasts and a very small group of power users, most will not need 32GB anytime soon.

Just my .02c

 

[bbhaag]

Man this one's a hard question to answer. It really depends on your usage and that's the honest to gods truth. Every enthusiast is going to tell you that 16gb is the minimum for a new build but is it?
It really just depends on how and what you use your pc for. General surfing and some light gaming now and then. 8 should be fine.
Got some vm's going while gaming and using OBS to encode your live stream while yesterdays vid is color correcting in the background and don't forget Chrome is open to check out Twitch. 16gb might be what you want.

So the question you need to ask yourself is "what do I use my computer for and is 8gb enough to do that?".

 

[HutchinsonJC]

Aside from a small handful of games, 16GBs is not needed for most people's home computer.

If you're already on an 8GB system, you may find it's great for another year to three years depending on your use, but new buyers should probably be more closely examining their needs to really determine if they should go with 8 or 16GBs as there are increasing use-scenarios where having 16GBs is beneficial.

In the past it's been so easy for me to just say that if you have to ask... you probably only need 8GBs. People who would've been using programs that eat up a lot of RAM would have been knowledgeable about those requirements and wouldn't have had to ask; this is slowly shifting toward 16GBs being the new auto-recommendation, but frankly, it's not my auto-recommendation, yet. If you want to ensure you're good for most home use-cases, 16GBs is the easy way to ensure that for most, but that doesn't mean most people need it or will use it.

 

[shortylickens]

How many times are we gonna have this question?

As for me: Yes, but only so I can properly play the latest and greatest games as well as mods for them. Fallout 4 has lots of cool homebrew stuff but much of it sucks up memory like crazy.

Forza 7 is especially demanding, I think. As is Project Cars 2.

 

[piasabird]

When you build a computer, you cant use the bare minimum for what you want to do today, because you use a computer for XX years. I have built a computer and never used the full potential of a Hard Drive. It always seems like you need more RAM. This is more true the longer you keep your computer. If you look at the CPU's Intel is coming out with like the quad core i-3's and the 6 core i-5's one thing these types of CPU's will want is More RAM. 16gb is quickly becoming the minimum.

 

[HutchinsonJC]

If you look at the CPU's Intel is coming out with like the quad core i-3's and the 6 core i-5's one thing these types of CPU's will want is More RAM

Just because new CPUs come out with more cores... doesn't mean the CPU wants more RAM.

Software and the prevalence/popularity of that software, is what pushes RAM requirements.

 

[ultimatebob]

I have 8GB of memory in my gaming rig, and I'm starting to run into low memory issues with certain games now that I've upgraded to Windows 10. I'd go with 16 GB unless your budget is under $500.

 

[ch33zw1z]

any new build for me is min 16gb.

standard users could get by with 8gb

 

[William Gaatjes]

8GB is fine for now. I have 8GB DDR3 at the moment and it is never fully used up.
For my new system i will have 8GB of DDR4, because of the current high RAM prices and because at the moment i do not see any need for 16GB.

 

[piasabird]

Is 16 gb of DDR RAM needed? Maybe not.

Is it preferred? Yes.

Just my opinion.

I have often wished I had more RAM. Usually this is the time the computer is 5 years old and they quit making the RAM I need and it has become even more expensive.

 

[whm1974]

Is 16 gb of DDR RAM needed? Maybe not.

Is it preferred? Yes.

Just my opinion.

I have often wished I had more RAM. Usually this is the time the computer is 5 years old and they quit making the RAM I need and it has become even more expensive.

That why I went with 16GB of DDR3 and and a i5-4670 back in 2013 when I built my rig. It's better to have it and not need it instead of needing it and not having it.

 

[Captante]

8gb's is still enough for most applications ... having said that my primary system has 32gb's.

 

[whm1974]

TBH, I'm holding off building another rig due to my current build being good enough for now and also because of the higher prices of DDR4 and GPUs. I'm hoping by time I build another system prices on those two items will be lower.