How much Ram does a pc need these days?

[Totally]

Given ram-apocalypse, just checking how much ram does a pc actually need these days?

[Northernah]

Depends if it's a Welsh ram. /s
Half Welsh so I can get away with that joke

[CosmicRay40]

Windows11 needs at least 12gb for all the ai. I wouldn't go either less than 16gb but depends if you are just doomscrolling the socials or are proper gaming

[MayanHan]

As much as you can afford

[SuperPosition]

Ddr5 FTW

[ElPresidente]

That is the sensible route. Measure twice and all that, but also factor in that it always takes longer than you think.

Post a photo when it is done

[Danny_21]

Yeah that is the sensible route. Task Manager tells you most of what you need to know if you know which columns to look at.

That is how I would approach it anyway.

The hardware is usually fine, it is almost always software causing the slowdown

[Frost Orca]

The answer has changed a bit because modern PCs are doing more in the background than they used to. For a basic office machine, 16GB is still perfectly fine. For gaming, 32GB is becoming the comfortable choice, especially if you like having browsers, Discord, launchers and other things open at the same time.

The old advice of "just buy the most RAM you can afford" is not always great though. Money spent on RAM that sits unused could have gone toward a better GPU or faster storage.

[WanderingSentinel]

Task Manager is the best place to start because people often assume they need more RAM when the real issue is something else. A browser with 50 tabs and eight extensions can make any computer look guilty.

Check memory usage during your normal workload rather than opening a benchmark and panicking.

[Adam75]

For a new build in 2026, 32GB feels like the sweet spot. It gives enough room for gaming, streaming, editing photos, running virtual machines occasionally and not having to think about it.

16GB is not suddenly useless though. Plenty of people are still happily using it, especially if they mainly browse, watch videos and play lighter games.

[Gareth5]

The interesting thing is that games are slowly pushing expectations higher. A few years ago 8GB was common, then 16GB became the standard, and now 32GB is where many enthusiasts are landing.

It is less about a single game needing all that memory and more about the whole system being comfortable.

[Ria3]

A lot depends on what the PC actually does. A student laptop, a gaming tower and a workstation are three completely different answers.

Someone editing 4K video or running several development environments can chew through RAM quickly. Someone writing documents and checking email might never notice the difference between 16GB and 32GB.

[Panther21]

There is a funny cycle with RAM recommendations. Every few years people say "you will never need more than this" and then software quietly arrives and proves them wrong.

That does not mean everyone should buy 128GB though. For most people that is just expensive desk decoration.

[ShawnMichaels_99]

Gaming is where the advice gets messy because the GPU usually matters more. A balanced system with 16GB and a stronger graphics card can beat a system with 64GB and a weaker GPU.

The sensible approach is usually 32GB if building new, then upgrade later if your actual usage proves you need it.

[Sinead_47]

One thing worth mentioning is dual channel memory. Two decent sticks of RAM are usually a better idea than one huge stick because the system can make better use of the bandwidth.

People sometimes focus only on capacity and forget that configuration matters too.