How much RAM does your computer really need?

Whether you are considering buying a new laptop, pre-built computer or upgrading your current computer, the amount of Random-Access Memory (RAM) is an important factor.

IS 4GB ENOUGH?

Most budget computers come with 4GB preinstalled and if you are using a laptop there are limited upgrade options. Common tasks such as using Google Chrome are known to be a bit of a memory hog. This leaves you with limited resources if you want to multitask. The system requirement just to run Windows 10 is 2GB alone.

While 4GB should be fine for a student who just needs to use their computer for Microsoft Word and light internet use, I’d advise shelling out the extra money for at least 8GB of RAM if you are planning on doing any other resource heavy tasks.

WHAT ABOUT GAMING?

Modern games recommend 16GB of memory, but this can be misleading. Often system requirements for games are not validated well enough. In fact, you can get by with just 8GB of RAM. While there might be a minuscule performance drop, it will hardly be noticeable on most current big budget gaming titles. However, as games get more complex and even more demanding, this may not be the case in the near future. Some games do make use of more than 8GB of memory.

Another downside of only having 8GB of RAM, is that running any background tasks, while gaming, will hinder overall performance as most of the RAM will be used by the games. If your Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) are good enough and in no need of an upgrade, 16GB of ram will have you good to go and keep you on the safe side.

WHAT ABOUT EDITING?

If you are working with large photosets, editing high resolution videos or multitasking and doing both, then at least 32GB would be recommended. It could be a long wait until your content is done rendering, so you may want to use your computer for other tasks while your content is rendering in the background. This is where having 32GB of memory or even more can really come in handy. The memory requirements of animators, 3D modelers or scientists are basically limited by the size of the scenes or the datasets being worked on.

There are a few other factors to consider when upgrading your RAM. From what kind of RAM is compatible with your system, what speed rates you want, to what brands you want. While some of these are up to preference and budget, you will need to make sure of the compatibility of not just your motherboard, but your CPU as well. If you are having a professional build your computer or are buying a laptop, just knowing how much you need will give you peace of mind.

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