How Much Ram For Windows 10

How much RAM does your Windows 10 PC really need?

RAM, or random access memory, is a vital hardware component used by your Windows x PC to store temporary information that can exist accessed rapidly by software, speeding upwards processes and keeping y'all from banging your head against the desk-bound in frustration. Substantially, the more RAM you have, the more you lot can have going on at in one case.

The amount of RAM you demand in your PC depends on what you plan on doing — gaming, for instance, takes a generous amount of RAM, and media editing tin can take a lot of RAM. Let's observe out how much RAM you currently have, what type of RAM is compatible with your system, and how much RAM you should have for specific daily tasks.

Benefits of upgrading your RAM
How much RAM exercise you really demand?
Choosing RAM speeds
Your PC's RAM configuration
Best RAM for your PC

Benefits of upgrading your RAM

Let'due south get ane thing direct: adding RAM to your computer is not a process that volition magically make everything faster. It will, nonetheless, aid your PC in multitasking and performing heavy duties like gaming and multimedia editing. More RAM doesn't make the figurer faster, only it will make it harder for it to get bogged down.

If you lot have a PC with a beefy graphics card (GPU) and fast processor (CPU) only you can't figure out why 17 browser tabs won't simultaneously load without grinding things to a halt, calculation RAM will probably assistance.

If you have an one-time PC that you want to eke a few more years out of, adding RAM could make the difference between a couple years of frustration and a couple years of addicted memories.

How much RAM do you lot really demand?

How much RAM you demand in your PC depends heavily on what you lot use your PC for on a day-to-twenty-four hour period basis and on how long you intend to proceed the figurer. If you're thinking of investing in a completely new machine in the near future, waiting things out might be the all-time bet.

If you already have a computer yous love but want to shift gears into a dissimilar daily job that requires better performance, upgrading your RAM equally office of the process is a great thought.

Productivity

If yous use your Windows 10 calculator for word processing, checking emails, browsing the internet, and playing Solitaire, y'all should have no problem using 4GB of RAM. If you are performing all of these activities at in one case, all the same, you might experience a dip in performance.

A lot of budget PCs come with 4GB of RAM as a base pick, but if you program on keeping your machine for several years, opting for 8GB of RAM is the safer bet, fifty-fifty if y'all only apply it for light duties.

Gaming

I'm not talking virtually Solitaire — heavy PC gaming at adequate performance levels requires a substantial amount of RAM. Pop esports titles like DOTA ii, CS:Get, and League of Legends will allow you lot to get abroad with 4GB, only other popular titles, like Fallout 4, Witcher three, and DOOM, will demand at least 8GB to run properly.

If y'all're a gamer and want to ensure you have enough RAM for some current titles and future titles, go with at least 16GB. If your budget allows, why not push it upward to 32GB?

Related: Best current RAM deals

Virtual reality (VR)

VR is a relatively new medium, at least in its latest incarnation, and information technology requires a good chunk of RAM to run smoothly. I'm referencing HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) here, all of which should have at least 8GB of RAM on the associated PC to run smoothly.

The Vive just recommends 4GB, merely, honestly, go with at to the lowest degree 8GB; you have to accept into business relationship the games yous'll exist playing, many of which require a decent amount of RAM to run smoothly.

Game streaming

If you'd like to join the thousands who stream video of themselves playing games or other activities, go with at least 8GB of RAM but consider opting for 16GB or even 32GB depending on the game'southward requirements. Your PC has to deal with both running the game and streaming video to the internet at the aforementioned fourth dimension.

Demand a hand getting your stream set up? Nosotros accept a guide for that!

See a beginner'south guide to Mixer streaming

Video and photo editing

This actually depends on your workload. If you lot're editing a lot of Hard disk drive video, go for 16GB or more. If you lot're working with photos and a chip of video thrown in, 8GB should become you lot through.

Editing apps volition piece of work on lower amounts of RAM, but you'll get and then frustrated with the poor operation you lot'll shortly first yearning for an upgrade. Don't skimp here.

Choosing RAM speeds

Non only do you demand to think almost how much RAM yous accept, y'all too need to think about the speed of the RAM in your PC. RAM'due south frequency affects the maximum bandwidth. If you lot want more than data to be moved back and forth at one time, you demand to go with RAM with a higher frequency. Latency, on the other hand, is how fast your RAM realizes it needs to act when the CPU calls on it.

Column Admission Strobes (CAS) latency has increased every bit the frequency of RAM has increased, but true latency has remained about the same due to a decrease in clock cycle times. That means you tin can get high-speed DDR4 RAM with near the aforementioned truthful latency equally older DDR3 RAM that'southward only about half the speed.

If you're doing whatever sort of high-operation task on your PC, opting for a higher frequency — measured in megahertz (MHz) — is the best plan of activeness.

Your PC'south RAM configuration

RAM configurations differ depending mostly on your motherboard. Some motherboards take four dual inline memory module (DIMM) slots for RAM, some take two, some have a lot more than. Hither'southward how to see how much RAM you currently have, what type of RAM is uniform with your PC, and how many slots you're currently working with.

How to check your PC's current amount of RAM

This method volition simply and quickly tell you how much RAM your PC currently has installed:

Right-click the Offset button.
Click System.
Verify the Installed retentivity (RAM) line. (In this case, you can see I have 8GB of RAM installed.)

How to cheque RAM configuration and uniform RAM using Crucial System Scanner

To have things fifty-fifty further, Crucial System Scanner is a slap-up app that will scan your figurer and testify you how much total RAM your motherboard and processor tin handle, how many slots are available for RAM, and some options for purchasing compatible RAM.

Navigate to www.crucial.com/usa/en/systemscanner.
Click the checkbox next to Agree to the terms & conditions.
Click download the scanner.
Click Relieve. The download will begin.
Click Run when the download is complete.

When the scan is complete you will come across on the left side of the window a memory section with the number of slots for RAM and the maximum amount of RAM your PC'south motherboard tin can handle. In this instance, the motherboard has two slots and can handle up to 32GB of RAM.

You will see on the right side of the window a list of compatible RAM available for purchase from Crucial. This is a clear indicator of what type of RAM your PC uses, and is a groovy tool for anyone non comfortable with buying RAM on their own. In this case, you can see that my PC is using DDR4 SODIMM RAM.

Crucial system scan results

RAM is available in two common types: DDR3 and DDR4. DDR4 is newer than DDR3 and uses a different pivot configuration to fit into your motherboard. For this reason, DDR3 RAM can't become into a motherboard designed for DDR4, and vice versa. Too, "pocket-size outline dual inline memory module" (SODIMM) RAM won't fit in a standard RAM slot — it's just too small. If you're using a laptop or an all-in-i PC, chances are you've got SODIMM RAM inside, so keep that in heed when you're buying RAM.

Related: How to install RAM in your desktop or laptop PC

All-time RAM for your PC

Once yous determined how much RAM you need for your specific PC duties and what type of RAM works with your processor and motherboard, you lot can start shopping.

If you aren't completely confident when buying RAM, worry not. Nosotros've put together an ultimate RAM buyer's guide that should answer any questions y'all might still have. Plus, bank check out our roundup of the best DDR4 RAM bachelor now for some great suggestions.

Ultimate RAM buyer's guide for Windows 10 PC users
All-time DDR4 RAM for your PC
How to pick the correct PC upgrades for you

Updated June 27, 2018: We refreshed this article to ensure yous're nevertheless getting electric current information about how much RAM you lot really need in a PC.