16GB of RAM - is it that bad? (/for me)

[Rayz]

Hi. looking for some help and advice. I ordered a new laptop and got a 16gb ram version. now I'll have to wait a very very long time to get a 32gb ram config, and it will be like a year before I would be able to upgrade my RAM to 32 (long story...).
Question is, and I would like to hear from 16GB RAM users here mostly: is 16GB RAM that bad? in my desktop PC I have 32GB RAM.

Background tasks open in most heavy scnario, on my desktop:

* chrome with average of 10-8 tabs open, sometimes more.
* Coding editor (IDEA Intellij)
* While working, Photoshop is open (up to 3K resolution pixels, not something biggy)
* Discord, Google Drive, and some background softwares (Corsair iCUE/Logitech G Hub/etc').
When playing video games (2K resolution) i'm closing heavier things like Photoshop and some "more demanding" tabs, like YouTube tabs.
This is how I use my desktop comuter with my 32GB RAM. usage is about 60% - but it's not a good indication as Windows tends to fill up the remaning RAM. video games - I've seen alot of 16GB VS 32GB RAM videos and it seems like there's almost no differences in FPS, maybe A BIT in 1% low, sometimes, nothing too problematic.
Editing- not gonna do some on my laptop, only on my desktop. and while i'm at it, those are mostly 1440p\1080p videos recorded by OBS (screen capture).

So yeah... question is, will a 16GB RAM laptop be a real issue for me?
Thank you in advance.

 

[JWNoctis]

16GB should be enough for all that you use your laptop for. Windows tends to fill up the remaining RAM to use it as disk cache, as all modern OSes do. It'll do fine.

 

[Rayz]

Thank you, I appriciate your respond.

 

[DaemonForce]

Unless you're a serious content creator, VR gamer or some combination of work that involves streaming/videos, don't worry about it.

Usual night of watching streams:

Funny Ryzen 3600 and 64GB goes BRRRRR.

Was also the case on my FX box when it was my primary VR system.
Unless you're loading into a bunch of stuff that EATS tons of memory, it's fine.
The world isn't 2018 anymore where we can get by on just 4-8GB, I get it.
Overthinking this won't do you any favors.

 

[Rayz]

Thanks, it is indeed a good news for me.

 

[silentbogo]

So yeah... question is, will a 16GB RAM laptop be a real issue for me?

16GB is more than fine. I do have 24GB of slow ECC memory in my system right now, and at this very moment I have Steam downloading/uncompressing a 100GB game, and around 20 tabs open in Brave, including YT stream, and I barely broke the 10GB mark. It's also worth remembering that the more RAM you have, the more OS will try to cache(in order to speed up the "apparent snappiness" of your system)

 

[Zyll Goliat]

Yes if you not doing some significant work on your PC like editing you are probably fine but also for example if you are like me lazy SOB who wants to have hundreds of open browser tabs while playing Game and watching video on other screen then you might need more ram.....Personally I like to stretch my legs and lay down not thinking about ram shortage that's why I have 192Gb in my desktop configuration but yeah sure I always adapt with the hardware I use it's that simple.....

 

[ARF]

Hi. looking for some help and advice. I ordered a new laptop and got a 16gb ram version. now I'll have to wait a very very long time to get a 32gb ram config, and it will be like a year before I would be able to upgrade my RAM to 32 (long story...).
This is how I use my desktop comuter with my 32GB RAM. usage is about 60%
So yeah... question is, will a 16GB RAM laptop be a real issue for me?
Thank you in advance.

Hi,

Yes, since 60% of 32 GB is 19.2 GB, yes, 16 GB will not be enough for your typical use cases..

What is the model of the said laptop?
If optional, just open it and upgrade the RAM modules with 2 x 16GB.

 

[arbiter]

Hi,

Yes, since 60% of 32 GB is 19.2 GB, yes, 16 GB will not be enough for your typical use cases..

What is the model of the said laptop?
If optional, just open it and upgrade the RAM modules with 2 x 16GB.

yea most laptops you can just upgrade and most "upgrades" sellers give you would end up costing near same anyway

 

[fevgatos]

Hi. looking for some help and advice. I ordered a new laptop and got a 16gb ram version. now I'll have to wait a very very long time to get a 32gb ram config, and it will be like a year before I would be able to upgrade my RAM to 32 (long story...).
Question is, and I would like to hear from 16GB RAM users here mostly: is 16GB RAM that bad? in my desktop PC I have 32GB RAM.

Background tasks open in most heavy scnario, on my desktop:

* chrome with average of 10-8 tabs open, sometimes more.
* Coding editor (IDEA Intellij)
* While working, Photoshop is open (up to 3K resolution pixels, not something biggy)
* Discord, Google Drive, and some background softwares (Corsair iCUE/Logitech G Hub/etc').
When playing video games (2K resolution) i'm closing heavier things like Photoshop and some "more demanding" tabs, like YouTube tabs.
This is how I use my desktop comuter with my 32GB RAM. usage is about 60% - but it's not a good indication as Windows tends to fill up the remaning RAM. video games - I've seen alot of 16GB VS 32GB RAM videos and it seems like there's almost no differences in FPS, maybe A BIT in 1% low, sometimes, nothing too problematic.
Editing- not gonna do some on my laptop, only on my desktop. and while i'm at it, those are mostly 1440p\1080p videos recorded by OBS (screen capture).

So yeah... question is, will a 16GB RAM laptop be a real issue for me?
Thank you in advance.

16 is fine but honestly it depends on the rest of the hardware on your laptop. If it's super high end laptop that could actually take advantage of more ram then yeah, it would be beneficial to go for 32

 

[Wirko]

The RAM in your desktop is probably 2 x 16 GB so you can try to remove one stick and see what you can and can't do with only 16.

 

[Rayz]

The RAM in your desktop is probably 2 x 16 GB so you can try to remove one stick and see what you can and can't do with only 16.

I did it, actually, a few months ago. I felt no difference nor slowing down. but it was for like a few mins. I would think that on the long run it may be felt?

 

[Frick]

I did it, actually, a few months ago. I felt no difference nor slowing down. but it was for like a few mins. I would think that on the long run it may be felt?

Not really no, for the stated uses, unless the Photoshop stuff includes some pretty hefty files. I used to be on 16GB on the desktop (donated those sticks and bought 32GB) and the only times I was close to starting to run out of memory was when I was DMing and had like 50 tabs open across six windows, Zoom, a huge Inkscape file and dozens of big PDFs open at the same time. I do think I properly hit a wall with all of that open and then I launched something big on Tabletop Simulator... But that was an extreme case.

Plus you'll have a NVMe drive in that laptop, so paging is not the same thing as it was back in the HDD days. Plus you've already ordered the laptop, just use it and be happy. What make and model is it btw? Some modern laptops have soldered RAM.

Hi,

Yes, since 60% of 32 GB is 19.2 GB, yes, 16 GB will not be enough for your typical use cases..

What is the model of the said laptop?
If optional, just open it and upgrade the RAM modules with 2 x 16GB.

That's not how it works. As stated before, modern OS's like to load as much as it can into RAM, in case you need it.

 

[GamerGuy]

I did it, actually, a few months ago. I felt no difference nor slowing down. but it was for like a few mins. I would think that on the long run it may be felt?

You might notice more slowdowns when you game, or use programs that suck a lot of memory bandwidth I believe. A single stick can't leverage the advantage of dual channel (that is, 2x same size/speed RAM)....hence, why most go with 2x 8GB or 2x 16GB and so forth.

 

[Lost_Troll]

I did it, actually, a few months ago. I felt no difference nor slowing down. but it was for like a few mins. I would think that on the long run it may be felt?

It really depends on the applications that your run day to day and what they use in RAM. If you game and play Hogwarts, I would go 32 since Hogwarts will push your RAM use to 18GB or over when playing. I have seen the same for Solid Edge and Expedition when I use them in big designs.

I would run your desk to PC with the resource monitor on and see how much RAM you use throughout a normal day. If you see mor them 14GB being used, then I would go with 32GB especially if it LPDDR in the notebook that you plan on buying.

 

[Rayz]

Thank you all, thank you very much.
The laptop i'm going with is indeed LPDDR5 one, soldered RAM. but, in a year i'll have an opportunity to replace its MB for a 32gb version (with a few more perks). hence the question, trying to figure out if 16gb RAM for a year will be a big issue, and judging from your was you say and what I see, it looks good. thanks.

@Lost_Troll I understand that Hogwarts and TLOU takes more than 16GB RAM. but I saw some benchs on youtube showing that beside a little lower 1% everything runs pretty much perfect.

 

[Frick]

Thank you all, thank you very much.
The laptop i'm going with is indeed LPDDR5 one, soldered RAM. but, in a year i'll have an opportunity to replace its MB for a 32gb version (with a few more perks).

No offense, but I've never heard of anyone doing this. Is it a Framework laptop? But they don't have soldered RAM to my knowledge.

 

[ARF]

That's not how it works. As stated before, modern OS's like to load as much as it can into RAM, in case you need it.

This is exactly how it works.
Maybe you can't know that even if your programmes and operating system use "only" 15 out of the 16 GB, you will see slow downs..

The laptop i'm going with is indeed LPDDR5 one, soldered RAM.

Poor you..

 

[iameatingjam]

Up until a couple months ago I was running my laptop on 4GB of ram, which was enough to watch youtube. That old thing finally crapped the bed on me so now I have a new old laptop with 8gb, and I ordered a 16GB kit. Since the laptop doesn't do much I figure 16 is more than I need, it was more about the memory speed as this pc only has one chip which halves the megatransfers ( I hate when oems do that....)

Anyway, all that to say... Yeah, 16GB is okay. But its probably the least I would recommend in 2024 if you're planning on gaming.

 

[Wirko]

I did it, actually, a few months ago. I felt no difference nor slowing down. but it was for like a few mins. I would think that on the long run it may be felt?

Of course, I'd try it for a day or two, and do all the usual things in that time.

Poor you..

LPDDR is faster and lower power. While it's compromise, it does have its merits. However, a soldered down SSD sould be an unacceptable compromise. If it wears down in a couple years due to a lot of swapping, and you can't even replace it...

You might notice more slowdowns when you game, or use programs that suck a lot of memory bandwidth I believe. A single stick can't leverage the advantage of dual channel (that is, 2x same size/speed RAM)....hence, why most go with 2x 8GB or 2x 16GB and so forth.

I only suggested this a a test. Running out of memory will be much more painful than reducing the bandwidth.

 

[Ruru]

Thank you all, thank you very much.
The laptop i'm going with is indeed LPDDR5 one, soldered RAM. but, in a year i'll have an opportunity to replace its MB for a 32gb version (with a few more perks). hence the question, trying to figure out if 16gb RAM for a year will be a big issue, and judging from your was you say and what I see, it looks good. thanks.

@Lost_Troll I understand that Hogwarts and TLOU takes more than 16GB RAM. but I saw some benchs on youtube showing that beside a little lower 1% everything runs pretty much perfect.

Soldered RAM is just something which I never had understood (unless you count planned obsolescence).

I hope that the right to repair movement will put the end for this crap.

 

[iameatingjam]

Soldered RAM is just something which I never had understood (unless you count planned obsolescence).

I hope that the right to repair movement will put the end for this crap.

Soldered in ram and ssds are the worst. Especially when they are both so critical to the computer's function and yet so easy and cheap to replace, and when it comes to ssds, they have limited write cycles, so essentially your computer lasts only as long as your ssd, ridiculous!

Then there's apple, where you can't even solder in a new ssd unless it came out of another same model macboook, and unless my memory fails me, you can't even boot off an external drive, can't remember if that was just one model or all of them. Either way, thats insane levels of anti-consumerism.

 

[Vayra86]

Hi. looking for some help and advice. I ordered a new laptop and got a 16gb ram version. now I'll have to wait a very very long time to get a 32gb ram config, and it will be like a year before I would be able to upgrade my RAM to 32 (long story...).
Question is, and I would like to hear from 16GB RAM users here mostly: is 16GB RAM that bad? in my desktop PC I have 32GB RAM.

Background tasks open in most heavy scnario, on my desktop:

* chrome with average of 10-8 tabs open, sometimes more.
* Coding editor (IDEA Intellij)
* While working, Photoshop is open (up to 3K resolution pixels, not something biggy)
* Discord, Google Drive, and some background softwares (Corsair iCUE/Logitech G Hub/etc').
When playing video games (2K resolution) i'm closing heavier things like Photoshop and some "more demanding" tabs, like YouTube tabs.
This is how I use my desktop comuter with my 32GB RAM. usage is about 60% - but it's not a good indication as Windows tends to fill up the remaning RAM. video games - I've seen alot of 16GB VS 32GB RAM videos and it seems like there's almost no differences in FPS, maybe A BIT in 1% low, sometimes, nothing too problematic.
Editing- not gonna do some on my laptop, only on my desktop. and while i'm at it, those are mostly 1440p\1080p videos recorded by OBS (screen capture).

So yeah... question is, will a 16GB RAM laptop be a real issue for me?
Thank you in advance.

Its fine. I think laptops will run into other limits more easily. 32gb is far from required for anything. Its a nice to have in 2024 whereas a few years ago it was still pretty pointless.

 

[Ruru]

Soldered in ram and ssds are the worst. Especially when they are both so critical to the computer's function and yet so easy and cheap to replace. Then there's apple, where you can't even solder in a new ssd unless it came out of another same model macboook, and unless my memory fails me, you can't even boot off an external drive, can't remember if that was just one model or all of them. Either way, thats insane levels of anti-consumerism.

And when flash chips aren't eternal, the device will turn into paperweight in the future.

Though in the last 12 years, I've had only one SSD die on me (Kingston V+200 120GB) and modern ones are way more durable, but still...

 

[dirtyferret]

Its fine. I think laptops will run into other limits more easily

+1, did I miss someone asking if the rest of the laptop had parts that could even take advantage of 32GB of ram?