16GB of RAM is not enough anymore?

[Kibōchen]

Are we getting to the point where RAM of more than 16 gigabytes is required for having the best graphics in PC games?

[plat]

Well, 16 GB of memory might be OK for many if not most but even if your machine doesn't "need" it right now, if it makes you feel better and doesn't cause a financial strain, why not? It might be unused potential but if you feel alright about it, hey, it's your money.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

For the more demanding games and also if you want to do any multi-tasking while game is running; yes I would highly suggest a 2x 16GB RAM config.

16GB is still fine, but if you are starting to, or about to go upgrade to a GPU with more then 8GB of VRAM, then having more then 16GB of system RAM really is a good idea. Plus your SSDs tend to tax your RAM more as well as they are used in each OS session.

[_I_]

just keep an eye on ram usage
for most games 16g is enough
very few games will get help from more

chrome can use alot of ram
along with cad/cam or 3d drawing programs

multitasking will use more, ex. chrome with 100+ tabs open and games will need more than 16g to run smooth

[Tyrion]

Where does ram come in with games? The most ram I've ever managed to use is 12GB, and that was with writing music, not playing games. I use a lot of ram heavy VST libraries. 16GB should be good enough for pretty much most things.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Escrito originalmente por Muppet among Puppets:

Wasnt the most a game recommended 12gb?
Dont remember ever have seen 16gb

There are a few demanding games that can easily use 16-24GB of RAM all on its own.

That doesn't always mean you having 16GB is not enough. Just that it may have to flush its cache much more often. That can cause in-game stuttering sometimes. But given how modern OS' handle those tasks, often times you never notice when it occurs.

[SenMithrarin85]

Escrito originalmente por Bad 💀 Motha:

Escrito originalmente por Muppet among Puppets:

Wasnt the most a game recommended 12gb?
Dont remember ever have seen 16gb

There are a few demanding games that can easily use 16-24GB of RAM all on its own.

demanding or broken with a memory leak lol

[Fajita Jim]

I've heard a few rules of thumb
4-6 cores 16
8+ cores 32

The older is 'double your VRAM.'

[Fajita Jim]

Escrito originalmente por SenMithrarin85:

Escrito originalmente por Bad 💀 Motha:

There are a few demanding games that can easily use 16-24GB of RAM all on its own.

demanding or broken with a memory leak lol

Or Cities Skylines with a bajallion assets.

[UserNotFound]

Escrito originalmente por Tyrion:

Where does ram come in with games? The most ram I've ever managed to use is 12GB, and that was with writing music, not playing games. I use a lot of ram heavy VST libraries. 16GB should be good enough for pretty much most things.

I'd played RE Village at 3840x1080, max ingame graphics + RT enabled, I see >10GB of VRAM used up, even recall (rather fuzzily though) that COD WZ chewed up >11GB of VRAM (maybe caused by memory leak). I'm talking about VRAM, not system RAM. The absolute most system RAM I've seen used is about 14GB, though I can't recall what I was doing at the time.

[Lord Flashheart]

Escrito originalmente por Kirito:

Are we getting to the point where RAM of more than 16 gigabytes is required for having the best graphics in PC games?

It will be game dependent.
I have no doubt 32GB will be a benefit for unreal engine 5 games.

[Heretic]

I'd say it's a good time to consider 32gb, especially if you're buying a twin slot motherboard. I wouldn't get more if you don't need it, though. MSI Afterburner should help you decide.

[Illusion of Progress]

Escrito originalmente por Pinky:

It's still fine for the majority of games.

Very few games will benefit from more than 16GB.

Personally agree with this (despite 16 GB being too little for me funny enough), but I also don't have a lot of experience with the cutting edge of games and what they need.

I do feel like we're moving towards more, like 32 GB being the next step, but that's at least also partly because it's more available (and especially those doing platforms overhauls now would be more buying for down the road).

I also feel like games are diverging more, as they have been for some time. The top end may be heavy on needs, but the majority is far behind what they need. I still see many games using even just hundreds of MB or a couple GB rather than closer to double digit GB.

Back when 16 GB was considered more than what almost any game needed (like 32 GB right now), I actually exhausted it ONLY running Minecraft. Granted, part of this was because I was being silly and limited my page file to a small size (like 1 GB or 4 GB I forget) so my real use was closer to 10 GB but still, it was wanting to commit that much. Extreme example, but it shows you should buy based on your needs rather than some consensus.

16 GB was becoming too little for me around two years back (I had that much since 2011), but not really because of games. For games alone I feel it's sufficient for the vast, vast majority and maybe will be for a while yet, but if your PERSONAL needs are showing it to be restrictive (maybe your running other stuff in the background, multi-tasking, etc.) then quite simply you'll need more. With browsers and other stuff people do to multi-task, I can see 24 GB or 32 GB offering more breathing room. But I feel 16 GB isn't by and large at risk of becoming too little at the bare level yet.

Escrito originalmente por littlecat20160:

waste of RAM , Windows uses it for disk cache . We should be allowed to set a limit for this .

Why though? What is actually wasted RAM is RAM that is unused. If you have more RAM than you need at a given moment, as many people sometimes do (myself, actually) since nobody typically needs their maximum RAM need amount all the time, then Windows will use it for a pretty small "maybe" improvement. Why is this a bad thing?

I mean this discussion should have been done when Windows Vista introduced this and people who didn't understand it were complaining, and people are still complaining about this? Disable the feature then (you can disable as far as I'm aware) if you want. Why you'd want to though is something I don't understand.

[nullable]

Escrito originalmente por Newborn Spawn:

It's a bit weird because, how a well-programmed game have to require that much of RAM? Graphics currently are already at the peak level, there's doesn't seem to be point in making them even better because who will notice it? It's like with this example of Horizon something where graphics are so advanced they added a small "hairs" on main character face to be more realistic, I mean who cares about such nitty detail?

You know, I thought that a few years ago. Diminishing returns and all that. So even while every new generation of games may not blow us away, improvements do add up. Older games still look decent, newer games keep pushing the boundaries. You can tell the differences between Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 side by side. It's still possible to be wowed by games.

You're kidding yourself if you think people don't want to see it, or developers don't want to do it.

16GB was never going to be the maximum amount of RAM a user will ever need.

[ZeekAncient]

No 16GB is not enough! Haven't you heard? Starting with the release Elden Ring, the new minimum for every game is 12GB. But you really should have 16GB.

Elden Ring will be the last game to have a requirement of 12GB. Every game from now on will have a requirement of 16GB.

Then, starting in the fall, every game released in the fall will have a requirement of 32GB. But 64GB should be what you need to play comfortable.

Then by the start of the new year, 2023, any gaming PC that doesn't have at least 128GB of ram will be systematically kicked off Steam. That's right! In 2023 your PC better have at least 128GB of ram or you won't even be able to start Steam. This is because of Steam's new graphical user interface they are implementing that has heavy animations, with ray tracing.

I have 32GB of ram right now but I am getting a 128GB 4 dimm set soon. If your motherboard or CPU can't handle 128GB then you are out of luck. You better start saving money for an upgrade.

Also, you will need all the Vram you can get. 24GB of Vram will soon be the new minimum. And by mid 2023, games will start requiring a whopping 32GB of Vram. I don't know how much Vram the RX 7000 and RTX 40 series cards are going to have, but I don't think they will have enough!

[76561198343548661]

@Illusion of Progress , if a process needs RAM , Windows should trigger a procedure of cleaning RAM and analysis on this . it takes time and gets sometimes hdd/ssd involved .