How Much RAM Do I Need? 8GB, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB

The short answer for each kind of use

Buy 16GB if your PC is mainly for the web, email, Office and the occasional game. Buy 32GB if you game seriously, edit photos or keep dozens of tabs and apps open at once. Go to 64GB only when your work needs it. If you first want to know what memory actually does and how it differs from your SSD, start with our guide to RAM.

The tiers below follow Newegg's 2026 buying guide. Next to each one is the cheapest DDR5 desktop kit of that size we found in UK shops this week.

Not sure where you fall? Measure instead of guessing. Run your heaviest normal workload, open Task Manager with Ctrl+Shift+Esc and look at the Memory figure on the Performance tab. If it sits close to full, the next size up will make a difference you can feel. If there is plenty to spare, more RAM will not speed anything up.

Is 8GB RAM enough for gaming?

For older and lighter titles, it can be. For anything recent, 8GB is tight. Microsoft lists 4GB as the minimum to install Windows 11, and that number is about getting the system to run, not about running it comfortably. Once Windows, a game launcher, a browser and a chat app have taken their share, a modern game has little room left and the PC starts swapping data to the SSD. That shows up as stutter and slow loading.

Newegg's 2026 guide does not even give 8GB a tier of its own: its list starts at 16GB. We would only buy 8GB today for a second PC that does nothing but web and documents, or as a temporary fix until you can afford more. If you are building or upgrading a gaming PC, skip it and look at 16GB kits instead.

Is 16GB RAM good for gaming?

Yes, for most players. Newegg places most 1080p gaming in its 16GB tier. Where 16GB starts to pinch is everything around the game. A browser with a guide or a video open, Discord, a launcher in the background and perhaps capture software for clips all compete for the same memory.

So the honest answer depends on how you play. If you close everything and just launch the game, 16GB is fine. If you stream, record, or alt-tab between the game and a browser all evening, plan for 32GB. On a desktop, get 16GB as two 8GB modules rather than one 16GB stick, so the memory runs in dual channel.

Is 32GB RAM enough, and who needs 64GB?

32GB is enough for nearly every home user and for any gaming setup. It is also becoming the norm: in Valve's Steam Hardware Survey for September 2026, 32GB is the most common amount of system memory, at 42.22% of Steam users. If you are building a new gaming PC now, that is the size to plan around. Newegg also lists photo editing, light video work and the odd virtual machine in this tier.

64GB is a tool for specific jobs: serious video editing, 3D rendering, large datasets, or AI models you run on your own machine. If none of that describes your week, the money does more good on a faster processor, a bigger SSD or a better graphics card. If it does, compare the kits on our 64GB RAM price page.

When you go past 32GB, use two large modules, not four small ones. AMD's specification for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D lists DDR5 5600 with two modules and only DDR5 3600 with four, so 2x32GB keeps more speed than 4x16GB.

How much laptop RAM do I need?

The same tiers apply: 16GB for everyday work and 32GB for editing or gaming. The difference is that on many laptops you only get one chance to choose. A lot of thin models use LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X memory soldered to the board, which cannot be upgraded later. Read the spec sheet before you buy: if it says soldered or onboard memory, the amount you pick at checkout is the amount you keep.

Laptops that do have slots use SO-DIMM modules, which are shorter than desktop sticks. Kingston gives 69.6 by 30 mm for its FURY Impact DDR5 SO-DIMM, and desktop and laptop modules are not interchangeable. Upgrade modules for laptops are listed on our laptop RAM page.

Apple silicon Macs leave no room for second thoughts at all. Apple states that on these Mac mini models the memory is part of the M-series chip package and cannot be upgraded, and every Apple silicon Mac uses the same design. Pay for the amount you expect to need in three or four years, not the amount you need today.

How much is 16GB RAM in the UK?

We check prices every week at Amazon.co.uk, AWD-IT, Box, CCL, Laptops Direct, Overclockers UK and Scan. The last check was on 2 November 2026, and every price here is including VAT. The table puts the common sizes side by side, so you can see what the step from 16GB to 32GB costs you.

Look at the median as well as the cheapest kit. The cheapest one is often a slower or plainer kit, and the median tells you what a typical kit of that size costs. DDR4 only makes sense if your motherboard takes DDR4. Change in the median price per GB across the market over the last 12 weeks: not measured yet.

To compare every kit by speed, shop and stock, go to our 32GB RAM prices or the full UK RAM price list.

Common mistakes

• Paying for 64GB to game. Games fit in 16GB or 32GB. Spend the difference on the parts that set your frame rate.
• Adding a second kit to an old one. Two kits bought separately were never sold as a set and may not run together at their rated speed. Replace the pair instead.
• One big stick in a desktop. A single module gives up dual channel. Buy a matched kit of two.
• Saving a little on a laptop with soldered memory. You cannot add RAM later, so too little can shorten the laptop's useful life.
• Comparing only the total price. Check the price per GB too. A larger kit is sometimes better value per gigabyte.