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When Is 16 GB of RAM Really Necessary?

Short answer - Not always.

What are the scenarios in which 16 GB of RAM is really indispensable? It doesn't hurt, of course, but is it all necessary for a good user experience? It can be an important differentiation when choosing between a notebook or PC. Let's see what cases this extra RAM is really needed.

Actual Use

The author of this article does much of his work on a Chromebook , which has simple 4 GB of RAM. Is slow? More than average, but the fault lies with the Celeron processor, not the lack of RAM. Chrome OS was designed for this, so it is not such a representative example, as with some lighter Linux distros , since 4 GB of RAM would certainly be a problem on a Windows 10 machine.

 

Heavier work is done on a Manjaro notebook with 8 GB of RAM. There are no crashes at all, and although this Linux distro is lighter than Windows, it is not a "problematic" configuration to run Windows 10, the machine's original system. However, things start to get weird when we do some tasks.

 

There is a third machine, this one with 16 GB of RAM and Windows 10. All “common” tasks run, which is wonderful. Browsers to heavy video editors such as DaVinci Resolve to GTA V . Of course, it counts on a dedicated video card to help. It may seem like a particular case, but we can draw general conclusions.

From 4 GB to 16 GB

It is practically impossible to find a current machine that does not have at least 4 GB of RAM. And this is no accident. With the exception of specific systems, such as Chrome OS (which runs relatively well with only 2 GB) and lighter Linux distros, 4 GB is really the minimum necessary for a good experience with any system.

8 GB is quite common on machines with a good cost-benefit ratio. It is enough for any modern system to run well (including macOS), open several programs at the same time and run more modern games, although you probably have to give up some filters and effects.

Moving up one level, we have 16 GB. It is a quantity needed to run high-quality games of the latest generation, edit heavier videos and perform heavier tasks. Of course, pairing with a good GPU. Machines with 8 GB start to “open the nozzle” with heavier editions of images, a task that is not feasible with 4 GB (possible, but impractical), case of the second machine, originally.

Conclusion

So is it better to get 16 GB right away? Not necessarily. 16 GB machines are at a higher price point, bringing more powerful GPUs, more advanced engineering, higher resolution screens and so on. Investing considerably more is worth it if you really need the extra RAM. But it is not worth it to be underused.