Laptop how much memory do i need

Alternatively, you can dig into your system for the necessary information. If you have any questions about your CPU, you can find that information here as well. How much RAM you can fit on your laptop is determined by your motherboard. RAM comes shaped in physical strips. Each strip has a set amount of memory storage space ranging from 2GB to 32GB. Do you need 16GB of memory?

The only person who knows how much RAM you need is you. Average users might get by with entry-level RAM, but it might not be enough to get the job done for more advanced applications.

When faced with doubt or uncertainty, bigger is always better. Instant Chat with Agent. Not all features are available in all editions or versions of Windows.

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For HP supplies inks and toners , disclaimers apply. The newer term DDR5 indicates the latest RAM generation, although compatible devices may not appear in the wild for a while. You can stay up to date on what to expect with our guide to DDR5. The operating system and the web browser typically consume the most RAM, though some applications and games can use more than everything else combined.

In addition, more complex websites use more RAM than others. For example, a simple text news story is relatively light on memory, while something like Gmail or Netflix uses a lot more.

The same goes for offline programs. A chat program or a game like Minesweeper will use almost no RAM, while a gigantic Excel spreadsheet, a huge Photoshop project, or a graphics-intensive game like Wolfenstein: Youngblood may use gigabytes by themselves. Outside of games and general browsing, professional applications tend to hog the most RAM.

Tablets are not expected to deal with heavy-duty software tasks, so their RAM needs tend to be pretty low — similar to a lot of smartphones.

However, as multi-tab browsers and more complex software continue to make the transition, tablet needs are becoming more and more similar to laptop needs. Current spec options typically range from 2GB to 16GB of RAM, with other considerations like battery life and processor speed often being of greater consideration. Remember, tablets are generally complementary devices that reside between your smartphone and your PC. As previously mentioned, tablet and laptop needs are converging, but most users feel comfortable running more complex programs on laptops, which means RAM has a more important role here.

Most of the best laptops come with 16GB for good reason. If you are doing a lot of graphic design work or are planning on dabbling in some higher-end gaming, you may want to consider increasing that to 16GB. In , prices of all components, including RAM, are heading upwards.

We list some of our top recommended kits that money can buy in our roundup of the best RAM. People tend to keep their desktop computers around longer than tablets or laptops, so planning for the future is worthwhile. An upgrade to 32GB is a good idea for enthusiasts and the average workstation user. In these titles, the amount of RAM used in total ranges from 6.

Even the low-end 6. So if you are a gamer, you may be able to get away with 8GB, but we recommend going for at least 16GB. You can do plenty of productivity work without swapping out to the page file, but if you plan on running something memory intensive and doing another task at the same time, you could end up exceeding your limit. Today, 16GB is the sweet spot between price and capacity for most enthusiasts and gamers. That amount gives you the headroom to do a couple of things at once, without having to close tabs or applications to exceed your available RAM.

This is getting close to the 16 GB limit, but how often are you really leaving all your work open and playing a game? My personal system has 32 GB in total and I find it difficult to go over even 16GB with my use model. Net and keeping a dozen or more Chrome browser tabs open. Those who are rendering large files or doing other memory intensive work, should consider going with 32GB or more.

But outside of those kinds of use cases, most of us can get by just fine with 16GB. None of the games I tested used close to 16GB, let alone Some users on the productivity side of things who manipulate large files, or more than one at once, should consider 32GB or more. Certainly, there are situations where more than 16GB can be used, which would of course push the user to the next tier of 32GB.

That drive can then be used as a scratch disk for projects, which is notably faster than having it on a traditional drive--even a very past PCIe SSD.