There was a time when RAM was one of the most important selling points for most computing devices. Every memory upgrade in the microcomputer space opened up new possibilities for what users could do with them.
The introduction of new software applications opened up new possibilities. Games, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and more went from impossible to possible as RAM capacity went up in computers.
However, along the way something changed without ever drawing much attention. RAM generally stopped adding new capabilities. You seldom find that a program simply won’t run due to your system’s RAM capacity.
But how true is that right now? How far can you go with low RAM capacity on a laptop while still having a full user experience?
Will you need to give up any capabilities or perhaps suffer from usability issues if you go as low as 8 GB? And what about the largest standard size you’ll encounter, like for example 32 GB RAM laptops?
Current RAM Standards
Understanding RAM conventions largely means understanding the common denominator for laptops – the operating system.
Various programs raise and lower the amount of RAM in use at any given time. However, the operating system that programs sit on top of will always allocate a certain amount of RAM for itself.
The more memory-intensive the operating system, the less free RAM your laptop has to run programs.
There’s a vast amount of different operating systems out there. However, you’ll only encounter a few of them on commercial laptops.
In general, these are Windows and OSX. The latter is exclusive to Apple, so if you’re buying a standard laptop rather than a Macbook it’s almost a given that it’ll come with Windows.
At the moment Windows typically requires around 4 GB to run. That number, 4 GB, is part of why current RAM standards are what they are.
If a laptop only shipped with 4 GB of RAM then the operating system would use up all of your memory before you were even able to run a single program.
As such, laptop manufacturers typically move past the 4 GB range to the next iteration of RAM. In practice that means laptops will usually come with either 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB of RAM.
Is 32GB RAM overkill for casual users?
TL&DR: For normal computer usage, like web browsing, social media activities, word processing, office work etc, a 32GB RAM laptop will be overkill. Better settle with an 8GB or 16GB RAM laptop for casual computer activity.
You can still launch programs if your RAM is fully in use. At that point, the system would use a sort of pseudo-RAM called swap.
This swap memory is essentially space on your hard drive that’s been repurposed to use as spare memory.
However, swap is notoriously slow in comparison to RAM since it uses the hard drive instead of the much faster RAM chips (called DIMMs).
As such you always want to ensure that you stay under the RAM capacity on your system whenever possible.
Using a 32 GB system seems like an obvious solution to the problem of limited memory and swap.
However, there’s a catch. Unused RAM really doesn’t do anything for you. It essentially just sits there.
So if you’re only ever using 12 GB of RAM on a 32 GB system then you’ve essentially paid a significant amount of money for a feature you don’t need. And most people won’t even see their RAM usage climb higher than 8 GB.
Consider the memory requirements for Windows again. A laptop’s operating system is typically the most memory-intensive element.
Windows currently only uses about 4 GB, or 50% of your available RAM if your laptop has 8 GB in total.
With 8 GB of total RAM, and Windows using 4 GB, you’ll have 4 GB left over for other programs. And this is the crux of the question – will 4 GB free RAM be enough?
The answer can be found by considering what the most memory-intensive programs use.
For most people that means looking at the Chrome web browser. When you first start Chrome, with no extensions and a single tab, the memory requirements are fairly low at about 1/3rd of a GB. However, that number can climb rapidly as you load websites.
The modern web uses a variety of advanced components that essentially leverage your browser as if it were a miniature operating system running on top of your main operating system.
Web apps, in particular, can even use half a GB in a single tab. However, most web apps will use a more modest if still significant amount of memory.
Programs that work with media such as video or photo editors also tend to use a large amount of RAM. A full photo editing suite can often use up to 8 GB all on its own.
However, that’s for professional-level software suites. Home users can expect to only use around 0.5 to 1 GB of RAM for general photo editing. Taken as a whole this means that an 8 GB laptop usually has more than enough RAM for the average user.
Analyzing Use Cases for 32GB of RAM
TL&DR: For power users that work with memory-hungry applications, 32GB RAM will be essential. Some applications that require high RAM capacity include 3D multimedia, 3D gaming, data science (working with huge data-sets) and also for future-proofing your computer system.
If you’ve been considering the numbers so far you might have noticed one RAM size sticks out as unusual.
8 GB is a solid number for general use and 16 GB seems ideal for people who work with multimedia editing applications.
So what about 32 GB systems? Why would anyone need twice the RAM of a system that’s already more than enough for the average person?
You’ve seen how much RAM multimedia editing can take. And the same tends to hold for multimedia in general.
Games are another common example. 3D games typically use two types of memory – RAM and VRAM. VRAM is a special type of RAM on your computer’s video system.
This is ideal for 3D games, but you don’t necessarily need it to play them. However, a lack of VRAM means that your system will use your standard RAM.
Doing so can use up your resources at a fairly rapid pace. The same goes for 3D modeling which is essentially an intersection of gaming and multimedia editing.
3D modeling essentially runs a 3D engine like you’d find in a video game while also adding the memory requirements of professional multimedia editing on top of it. As such, the more RAM the better if you’re working with 3D models.
Data science is another professional space where you’ll always want more memory. People in that field generally organize information into something known as a data set.
These are massive collections of information with additional formatting to make them useful for data analysis or training systems. It’s quite common for datasets to grow to the GB range fairly quickly. Datasets are typically loaded fully into RAM when editing or using them within an application.
32 GB laptops are also valuable for something known as future-proofing. Have you ever bought an electronic device only for a new release to make it seem antiquated? That’s a concern with most computers.
One amazing program that uses more resources than the norm can make your system feel old. That amazing program might not exist now. But future-proofing is essentially taking the possibility into account and planning accordingly.
Cost Considerations
Cost is generally one of most people’s primary considerations when buying a laptop. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the more difficult elements to pin down to a single variable like RAM.
In general, every component of a laptop is going to change its price point. For example, a laptop with 8 GB of RAM from a well-known manufacturer that also uses a huge screen might be more expensive than a model with 16 GB and a small screen.
However, it is possible to come up with rough averages. For the sake of this example, imagine that you’re mainly focused on price and RAM above anything else.
If that’s the case then you can generally buy 8 GB laptops at around $300. A 16 GB laptop might range from around $350 to $450. And a 32 GB laptop might cost between $400 and $700.
You’ll note that the 32 GB price range is quite a significant jump compared to 8 GB and 16 GB laptops.
That’s because 32 GB is still considered something of a luxury. As previously noted, RAM is just one component among many. But manufacturers often make assumptions about how people will use a laptop based on whether one element within the specs would be considered in a professional or luxury range.
If you want 32 GB RAM then manufacturers will often assume you need an equally powerful processor and large screen to go along with it. So pushing RAM up to the 32 GB range tends to bring other components up as well.
You can match high RAM with lower-tier components, it’s simply that you’ll need to shop around a bit more.
Final Thoughts
With everything you’ve seen so far, it’s time to circle back to the original question.
How much RAM do you need in a laptop? If you’re a casual user then 8 GB really should be fine. Even with a relatively heavy load from open tabs in a web browser, you’ll generally still be below the 8 GB mark.
However, if you do much work with multimedia or other professional work then you might want to consider going with 16 GB of RAM. This is also ideal if you want to ensure that you never really have to think about your RAM or how many programs you have open.
Finally, 32 GB is for people with specific usage scenarios involving RAM-hungry applications like professional-level software and high-end gaming. In short, 32 GB RAM is overkill for most people but there are individual cases where it would be appropriate.
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