I'm choosing between 32GB and 64GB of RAM for a gaming PC. I mostly play games, but I also tend to keep a huge number of browser tabs and other applications open while gaming. At what point would 64GB make a noticeable difference instead of being unnecessary overkill?
4 Answers
64GB starts making more sense for heavy development work, multiple virtual machines, large video editing projects, 3D rendering, or music production with big sample libraries. Simply leaving browser tabs open usually isn’t enough unless your measured memory usage is already close to the limit.
Most games run perfectly well with 32GB, and even heavily modded games usually don’t require 64GB. Some unusually demanding titles, large simulations, flight simulators, or poorly optimized games can use much more, but those are exceptions rather than the normal case.
The best way to decide is to monitor total memory usage while everything is open. If your system is regularly using around 30GB or more, 64GB could help prevent slowdowns or forced app closures. If you’re well below that, upgrading probably won’t change anything.
That makes sense. I’m going to check the actual usage with my son before buying anything instead of guessing.
For normal gaming and everyday multitasking, 32GB is generally plenty. I’d only move to 64GB if you have a specific workload that regularly pushes past 30GB, since RAM is expensive and unused capacity won’t make the system faster.
Some heavily modded games and large simulation titles can use over 32GB, so checking the specific games being played is worthwhile. For ordinary gaming, though, 32GB remains the safer value.