Since when did PC memory get so pricey? If you don’t follow the computing world closely, here’s the deal, in a nutshell: An ongoing memory shortage, spurred by booming investments in AI data center hardware, has driven up the prices of both laptop and desktop components. Memory factories, or fabs, can’t keep up with the demand. If you have been following this story, then you know how dire it is, and that it’s far from over.
SSDs are getting more expensive, too (for the same reasons), which is also making every PC purchase more expensive. As a result, it’s more important than ever to know precisely what you’re looking for in a PC, spec by spec, starting with RAM.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
So, how much memory do you need, exactly? For a long time, 8 gigabytes (8GB) was the recommended minimum. Today, you might still be able to scrape by with 8GB for basic tasks. Demands have changed, though, and 16GB is now the more common baseline—if not an outright requirement—for many PCs. Plus, depending on your computing tendencies, you might benefit from 32GB or more these days.
Having built, tested, and reviewed laptops and desktops for more than a decade, I’m here to help you save as much as possible on your next PC purchase. Here’s a breakdown of RAM requirements and recommendations for you to follow, no matter what you need from your PC.
How Much RAM Do You Need in a Budget System?
Let’s start at the entry level. Bargain seekers often end up in the aisle for the simplest, cheapest PCs. For laptops, that’s systems close to the $500 mark (and lower). As for desktops, many budget towers cost well less than $1,000. Naturally, you’ll have to make some concessions on specs and features at these prices, but you still deserve a functional system.
Not long ago, 8GB of RAM was the default for these kinds of general-use laptops and desktops. And in the true budget tier, 8GB is your sweet spot, even now. In a Windows PC, go no lower in 2026.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
That’s not to say you’ll never find a 16GB PC in the budget range, as you’ll see a smattering of them when you get a bit above $500. Just don’t be surprised to see 8GB systems there, too, as that amount is still enough for the most basic tasks. Technically speaking, Windows 11 has a 4GB minimum memory requirement, so Microsoft’s latest operating system will run at that scanty level, but 8GB is indeed the practical minimum for usability. Avoid just 4GB for a Windows system, full stop.
If you just need to access the internet and check your email, you don’t need anything fancy. An 8GB system will suffice for basic stuff like word processing, web browsing, playing videos, and sorting through photos. You may encounter slowdowns if you run too many browser tabs or apps at once, but generally, 8GB is enough for light, casual computing.
I should also mention Chromebook laptops here. While a “premium” class of Chromebooks—once an oxymoron—still exists, the whole idea of a Chromebook revolves around inexpensive systems running ChromeOS rather than Windows. Google’s web-based operating system needs less RAM than Windows does to run efficiently, and so 8GB is far more common across Chromebooks. Indeed, it’s a requirement of Google’s Chromebook Plus program: Models with a “Plus” in the name must meet certain hardware and feature minimums, including having at least 8GB of RAM. A 4GB Chromebook indicates a true budget Chromebook, while a 16GB one is decidedly a luxe model. An 8GB allotment will serve most users very well, under ChromeOS; 4GB will merely suffice. It’s all down to how heavily you multitask.
Our Top Tested Budget Laptops
How Much RAM Do You Need in a PC for Everyday, Mainstream Use?
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Don’t settle for less than 16GB here, especially for AI PCs or PCs used for light content creation work.
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32GB becomes more common only beyond $1,200.
If you have a little more means, you likely want something a little faster than the budget models above. Mainstream laptops and desktops cost between roughly $800 and $1,200, representing many of the PCs occupying home offices, bedrooms, and college dorms.
In the past, you could happily get by with just 8GB of RAM in this tier, but trends have pushed this baseline to 16GB. While you don’t need 16GB to function, it will create a quicker and less frustrating experience with today’s apps. You can never fully future-proof a PC, but you can certainly define its future (for the worse) with an insufficient baseline of memory.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Modern computing has simply become more demanding: Windows 11 already consumes significant memory, and browsers like Chrome gladly gobble up gigabytes of RAM to keep dozens of tabs open. In fact, 16GB is the minimum RAM requirement for a system to qualify as a Copilot+ PC, Microsoft’s designation for AI-ready computers that work with its local AI tools. (Ditto for Macs to fully support Apple Intelligence.) While most of you likely aren’t paying a premium for locally-run AI features on your PC yet, we can be grateful that this AI push drove the new 16GB baseline. The extra memory handles Windows 11’s demands well and leaves overhead for heavy multitasking, browsing without closing tabs, and light media editing.
In short, don’t settle for less than 16GB of RAM in a system that costs $800 or more. Having more (say, 32GB) would never hurt performance, but that amount is generally only in PCs north of $1,200, and it exceeds what you need in these scenarios.
Our Top Tested Mainstream Laptops
How Much RAM Do You Need in a PC for Professional Work?
Much of the above advice applies if you’re buying a system exclusively for work, but it takes it a notch higher. White-collar workers generally need a laptop or desktop (personal or employer-provided) with the memory muscle to juggle multiple browser windows, big spreadsheets, video conferencing, and apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams running beneath it all.
For that kind of everyday scenario, 16GB should be where you start. Business laptops tend to be among the most configurable kinds of laptops at the time of ordering. Some manufacturers still have 8GB as the starting point in some of their build-to-order business-PC configurations, but most preconfigured models come with 16GB.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Just remember: Business laptops tend to have higher-end builds, sharper screens, faster processors, and more security features than their mainstream counterparts, which can raise prices beyond just the RAM. Since business laptop prices are tied to quite a few other factors, you might pay more for a 16GB work laptop than a leisure model. The most basic Lenovo ThinkPads, for example, may start with 8GB, but most move to 16GB to complement other advanced features.
The RAM discussion for desktops is a bit more applicable to system builders, which I’ll get to shortly. Regardless, RAM costs will affect you with pre-built systems, too. Complete systems from manufacturers like Dell and HP that sell a high volume of business PCs have better access to memory, even if the rising RAM costs are baked into the overall price. Buying an assembled system may be your only way to reasonably attain the memory capacity you want, thanks to these companies’ economies of scale.
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As with business laptops, don’t settle for less than 16GB in any work desktop used for a heavy mix of multitasking and productivity. If you have several Excel sheets open on your dual-monitor setup during a daily video call, alongside the other apps mentioned, you’ll be happy with more memory.
Our Top Tested Business Laptops
How Much RAM Do You Need for PC Gaming?
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8GB can handle most casual and indie games.
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16GB is still the gold standard for mainstream PC gaming.
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32GB is increasingly the new normal for gamers.
Next is one of the segments most affected by the memory shortage: laptop and desktop gaming. That’s not because this category demands significantly more system RAM (see the next section for that problem), but instead the high rate of DIY system builders and upgraders who buy RAM separately for their gaming desktops.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
If you’re purely concerned with the gaming requirements and not multitasking (more on that next), developers usually list an absolute minimum amount of memory for a game to run, alongside a recommended capacity to achieve ideal performance.
One of the most common combinations for big games today—even across a range of graphics realism—is an 8GB minimum requirement for main system memory, with a recommendation for 16GB. This is the case for 2025’s most-awarded title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as well as other major games such as Civilization VII, Fortnite, Hades II, and Helldivers 2.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
In some cases, having only 8GB will no longer cut it: The infamously demanding Cyberpunk 2077 lists (an unusual) 12GB memory minimum, while two newer high-profile games, Battlefield 6 and Marvel Rivals, require 16GB. On the flip side, most casual and many independently developed games, like the recent Hollow Knight: Silksong, need only 4GB of RAM but recommend 8GB.
Now, for the hard-core gaming enthusiasts. For a long time, conventional wisdom stated that 32GB of memory was overkill for gaming, and most titles wouldn’t make much use of more than 16GB. Like with the other laptop classes discussed above, however, the baseline has risen—the January 2026 Steam survey results show that 38% of users’ systems have 32GB of RAM, a percentage that has risen steadily month by month. Steam reports that 40% of its users run 16GB, so it’s possible that 32GB will overtake it soon, though the memory-cost crisis has slowed the rise.
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(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
If you’re a hard-core PC gamer, chances are high you’re also a power user, heavily multitasking through much of the day, even when gaming. Often, when I play games, I also voice-chat with friends over Discord, watch a video on my second monitor, leave many browser tabs open, and have apps like Slack and Steam running in the background. Even with 32GB of memory, I often see my desktop at 70% or more RAM usage in these instances, and this is how I run my PC daily. Those Steam survey results suggest I’m far from the only one.
Finally, a moment for desktop system builders. PC gamers have long been proponents of building their own PCs and, as a result, have always been among the most prolific purchasers of individual RAM module kits. The skyrocketing prices on aftermarket memory sticks have hurt these shoppers the most. The same RAM-capacity needs apply—16GB is suggested, and 32GB is ideal—but even basic memory kits have become exorbitant.
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
DDR5 memory modules, the latest standard, are being squeezed the most, so you might think, perhaps, a PC with an older board and earlier-generation DDR4 RAM is the way to go. While this is potentially a cost-effective option, motherboards for the latest desktop processor platforms feature only DDR5 memory slots, limiting your CPU choices. Even if you go that route, we’ve seen DDR4 module prices rise, too, as more shoppers take it.
Our Top Tested Gaming Laptops
How Much RAM Do You Need for Workstation and AI Tasks?
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Some workstations might skate by with 16GB, but avoid it.
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32GB is the suggested baseline for workstations, particularly laptops.
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64GB is a more common baseline for desktop workstations.
While these are three different use cases, you’ll find a lot of crossover between the types of PC deployed for these scenarios, and they all fall under the umbrella of “power user.” Animation, software development, electrical engineering, large datasets, AI inference, and media editing or content creation are examples of workloads that mobile workstations and desktop workstations are designed to handle.
(Credit: Charles Jefferies)
By this point, you’re likely to know how much memory you need before even reading this. In these fields, exact RAM requirements vary by application and use case, but one thing’s in common: You definitely need more RAM than most folks do. It’s impossible to cover every different workflow here, but memory is essential to these tasks, and the requirements are higher than anywhere else. You’ll see some mobile workstations skate by with 16GB to start, namely Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops, but 32GB is more commonly seen as the starting amount for the category.
Of course, simply running these apps adequately isn’t enough on its own. Where acceptable speeds suffice in other categories of PC, time is money when talking about workstations and content-creation systems, and the people who use them. And for some workstation applications, the sky is indeed the limit on how much memory you could benefit from, held back only by the system’s peak RAM capacity.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
We frequently see mobile systems with top capacities of more than 64GB (most often, 128GB) and desktops capable of hosting 256GB of RAM. Workstations are a go-to for demanding workloads due to their expandability, professional feature sets, and sky-high RAM capacities.
AI model use and development also lean on vast memory stores to function. Here, the applications you run, or the size of the model, dictate the ideal memory requirements. You’ll want to consult the software maker for its minimum and recommended memory requirements for your most demanding programs.
One further aspect of workstations and memory that may help you make your memory choice is Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certifications. An ISV certification guarantees that a workstation will run a given program to a high standard of performance and stability set by the software maker. Major workstation software vendors like Adobe, Autodesk, and SolidWorks certify hardware for their flagship programs, and a configuration having sufficient RAM to run them properly is part of the ISV certification.
Our Top Tested Workstation Laptops
Knowing (How Much RAM You Need) Is Half the Battle
We trust that these guidelines and insights will help inform your next PC purchase. In today’s era of rising prices, RAM is just too pricey to gloss over when buying or upgrading a PC. Buy too little, and you’ll feel it every day in slowdowns and reduced efficiency; buy smart, and you can stretch your PC’s useful life by years.
The bottom line: Spend where it counts, skip what you don’t need, and don’t let the memory crunch catch you off guard. Now, you know exactly how much you should aim for.
About Our Expert
Matthew Buzzi
Principal Writer, Hardware
Experience
I’ve been a consumer PC expert at PCMag for 10 years, and I love PC gaming. I’ve played games on my computer for as long as I can remember, which eventually (as it does for many) led me to build and upgrade my own desktops to this day. Through my years at PCMag, I’ve tested and reviewed many, many dozens of laptops and desktops, and I am always happy to recommend a PC for your needs and budget.
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