How much RAM does your PC really need?

Figuring out how much RAM your PC needs is something that, as with most computer components, doesn’t have a very simple or straightforward answer, and the Internet isn’t much help. Some people claim that 4GB is perfectly fine even for gamers, some say 8GB is a  bare minimum, and some say you HAVE to have 16GB, but how much do you REALLY need?

Are you building a new PC and want to know how much RAM you need? Techspot has done some investigating, running a series of tests to find out whether you should invest in 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB. As we’ve previously written, 8GB is still the optimal for a hearty rig, but the big surprise is just how little impact (read: basically none) dropping down to 4GB has on gaming performance. They used a high-end PC to perform the tests, with a new Intel Core i7-6700K (4.0GHz – 4.2GHz) Skylake processor, a GeForce GTX 980 graphics card and DDR4-2666 RAM, in 4GB, dual channel 8GB, and dual channel 16GB configurations. First of all, Techspot tested out some everyday desktop work, and RAM usage maxed out at around 70 percent using 4GB RAM. They note that “once you have enough memory for all your applications to run, having more memory won’t increase performance any further.” So keep that in mind if you know your computing habits won’t exceed the 4 or 8GB mark.