As someone who has been doing desktop support for close to 30 years I can say that as of 2023 whether PC or Mac it is best for everyone to go with 16g of RAM. Even casual users have a habit of creating very complex situations for their machines and having that added memory really helps in not seeing sluggish behavior. Especially because both the MacOS and Windows are eating up more system memory than ever with all the work they are constantly doing in the background. A very basic scenario I see at work is a user with Outlook running, a web browser running, and Word running will be pushing the limits of what 8g of RAM can manage easily. Now a virus scan kicks in, or an update starts to install in the background and suddenly that 8 g feels very sluggish. Or you ask one of those three apps you have open to suddenly do something more demanding and again you're stressing the level of memory. For a long time 4g was fine, then 8g, now it is 16g.
@@JustJoshTechhey Josh need your help. I am going to be studying law probably for the next 4-6/7 years. What laptop is best for me. And I don't care about gaming.
One thing Josh didn't mention is that some iGPUs can steal away system RAM for use by the iGPU. This is usually dynamic and may rarely be taken away when needed for something other than the GPU. However it's usually a BIOs setting And can just be a static amount that is always reserved for the iGPU whether needed or not
Soooo.... i have a i3 3520 base model 2023 latitude 15 8gb can i throw another stick of same ram into it and should i? i am emulating old games playing lotro and some vallorant. runs great no gpu.
@@Beforedeth Not only do you want a second stick for more memory but a 2nd stick will turn your memory from Single Channel to Dual Channel. More memory bandwidth .
I like explain RAM like it’s physical desk/table space. More ram = larger desk/table. You can always working on more things than the desk/table has space for, but completing multiple activities *can* take more time on a smaller desk/table as you may have to shuffle things on and off as needed (eating dinner before playing a board game Vs eating dinner while playing a board game). Depends on the tasks of course, but playing a board game can take up a lot of space.
it's also a good analogy because it gets the point across to people that more ram won't necessarily make your process go faster. Having a giant table won't help you eat dinner faster, but you can have more dinner on the table at once.
On the SSD memory swapping point for those curious on the impact, I currently have a Windows 11 laptop with 8GB RAM that I bought just under 2 years ago. Due to the insufficiency of the RAM for my needs I have a 12GB page file to remove hiccups and system halts I'd get otherwise. The swapping does make an appreciable blow on drive health but not necessarily a concerning one in my opinion unless you want to keep your hardware for beyond 10 years. I'm currently at 82% lifespan left, 26 TBW / 150 TBW for 23 months of use, and this laptop is mostly office centric for the most part in terms of workload, does homework, multiple chrome tabs, some gaming here and there, 1080p video edits on rare occasions, nothing special. Comparing that to my desktop that has sufficient 16GB of RAM and no page file at all, I have 95% lifespan for over 4 years of usage on that one. Hope that helps with any purchasing decisions
Is ur ssd tiny or just really bad. Ive got a 2tb ssd with 23 terabytes written and it's at 99% write life lmao. Regardless with ssd pricing plummeting u can be even more safe by buying a bigger drive as the TBW spec scales linearlly with capacity. ie the same 1tb model with 600tbw would have 1200tbw at 2tb capacity.
Just met you today Josh. WOW! This was enlightening with its concise/precise information, eloquently put. "'On'ya mate!" And yeah, I'm sure it works for your mum, but you'd make most Aussies proud. Well done Josh. Cheers from Sydney.
you can custom order some brands of lapptops so you get what you need right away never buy base model systems from stores unless you know for a fact you can upgrade ram and storage your self whcih would be a but cheaper how ever with apple yup storage and ram are solderd but you can pay for the ram becuase well you have no choice but you should pay for 512 gigs min , so you know the drive is fast and will last now you can use an external thunderbolt build it your self drive i built 2 of them and i can use 1tb or even 4tb in each case and they run at 2557 read and write i built them each exactly the same drives and cases and i use 1 as an external boot drive this way i leave my internal alone this way when i sell it it wont have much or any real use on it which will retain some of the computers value more so then a 1.2 or more wron down built in SSD and 32 gig ram is almost the min for basic use 64 gigs min now for gamming..
My Mac Pro from 2010 has had 128GB since I bought it on eBay in 2017. Twin Xeon X5690's, 24 threads (3.5GHz), nVidia RTX 2080, modern I/O, NVME SSD and internal RAID5, so she still rips pretty well. I plan on keeping her for a while longer too. Running Garuda Linux as primary OS. I haven't considered a new PC since, won't for a while either.
Back in Feb 2017, I ordered 32 GB for my 7700K-based rig 'just because', which although unnecessary at the time, will help the rig transition to TrueNAS or ProxMox duties.; next time I build a replacement, I will likely get 64 GB for the same reason! :)
:-). So true. Always good when you can drop some credentials. Even myself it worked as reassurance as I’m an 8GB man that for a while started to doubt I got it right! 😅
One of the few reviews that did a good job explaining memory requirements. After 42 years of IT experience, I always said more memory is better UP TO A POINT. His explanation of how a machine uses memory was dead.
I find that if you need to use Excel and use multiple vLookups and cross reference different sheets, etc., then 16GB may not be enough at times if you are dealing with large data sets.
@@falkenvirYes, it is real. But we're talking about large datasets. Something like the sales data for a large corporation for the past calendar year, for example, and cross joining it with shipping data.
I don't think you or your company should still be using Excel for *that large* data set you're talking about. Sometimes it's not the RAM but the program isn't just as powerful as those that are designed to handle that.
I got my laptop at a great deal with 16GB of RAM. I generally just use 'office' or 'light' usage tasks, but hate closing windows and tabs unless I'm completely finished with the task. I run Linux, and have turned Swappiness entirely off, and unless I launch Minecraft, I almost never go over 8GB of RAM. I'm glad I got 16GB of RAM, but if it wasn't for the occassional Minecraft session, I wouldn't need more than 8GB at all. People go way overkill with RAM imo.
I have more than 8 GBs used up on Windows 10 atm and all I have is 10 opened tabs+email+steam idling. And I want to play videogames too. Yeah you deffo need at least 16 GB.
@@edyslavico3761 👍Totally agree - Windows 10 has always struggled with 8GB RAM. 16GB should be the bare minimum. My gaming PC will often use 17-20GB if it can. About to build a new Windows 11 PC which will have 32GB to start with and space to go up to 64GB (or 128BG if I sell the original 32GB but I can't see needing any more than 32GB for now).
As always, a thorough and detailed explanation of RAM. My conclusions are not always the same as yours due to personal preference but I always appreciate you going into detail and sharing exactly why you made the conclusion you have come to. Thank you!
I built a Threadripper 3960X system with 24 cores, 48 threads, a little over a year ago. MOBO (ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha) has 8 RAM slots on the mobo, each can take up to a 32 GB DIMM. But unfortunately, the AIO cooler I bought for it kind of blocks two of the 8 slots (nearest slot on each side of the cpu). So I have 6 slots * 32 GB = 192 GB of RAM. And quite frankly, I love it. Most modern OSes will utilize all of that RAM as disk cache unless and until it needs to release some for application usage. So basically, after bootup, your drives will only need to read a hard drive block once until next reboot, unless RAM gets low, or you are doing something on the machine that necessitates reading MORE than 192 GB of drive data between reboots. Subsequent reads of that same block will come straight from RAM, rather than asking the HD for it. If/when memory fills with disk cache, most OSes will keep track of which blocks of data are more in demand, and will flush the drive data of blocks that are less frequently requested. Long story short, your drives will last much MUCH longer with lots of free RAM. But as soon as you reboot the machine, it has to start back over caching everything again. So it's best to avoid unnecessary reboots.
18 months ago I built my AMD R9-5950X system with 128GB DDR4 and an RTX-3080. I thought 128GB would be enough. This summer I built an Intel Xeon W7 workstation with 512GB of DDR5 memory and an RTX-3090. Now I'm closer to what I need. I do Unreal Engine 5 video game design and I also work with large terrains with the software I develop called TerreSculptor.
At first I thought this was overkill But if your trying stuff on unreal 5 fair enough .... got to ask for curiosity (and If you don't know, not sure or don't have a opinion no harm done) I'm curious for the future of raytracing cause I haven't noticed much when I've used it And sometimes it doesn't make a difference in graphics
@@levibull6063- I use Unreal Engine 5 and TerreSculptor 3 to create massive open worlds that are 260km x 260km and larger. This simply cannot be done efficiently with less memory. I do large terrain work for various clients in the media industry. TerreSculptor 3 supports creating terrains up to 1 billion x 1 billion meters, which requires 18 exabytes of memory. With UE5 and only 128GB of RAM I was always getting out of memory crashes. Personally, I think that AMD and NVidia will probably improve their raytracing capabilities in their GPUs. And as computers get more powerful, we will get raytracing with more bounces etc, and the real-time quality will just go up. Things like reflections and such will be affected the most. In 5 years we will probably look back at the video quality now and see a big difference.
Well that was basically always the question I ended up asking myself the whole time I was hopping around looking at gaming laptops. I had no clue about it, all I knew was that my last Laptop that melted down always said the memory was running at 100% a lot of the time when I was trying to game or even just do basic stuff on the computer. Now that wasn’t a gaming laptop but I didn’t want to immediately have a repeat of that situation by choosing the wrong amount of memory, so this video really helped inform me! I’m a freshman in college and having spent days looking at laptops, finally finding one that I really liked that was also reasonably priced with the help of my sister, and it having soooo many customization options I was worried what features would be worth it to tag on more money for as this is my first gaming laptop ever. Thanks so much for your help in the this process!
Ahhh a good few 4 maybe 6 even years ago I had a 4gb ram laptop Playing unturned and having Skype up will heat that thing so much you'd think the bottom of the laptop was on fire
Have been on 16gb on desktop for last few years and found it has been more than adequate. Finally pulled trigger on an additional 16gb today as it was a pretty good deal. Sometimes it's nice to treat yourself. Got to say system feels that little bit snappier with the additional ram. Amazing how windows finds a way to eat it up!
I would like to know how much difference is the cost between 8Gb and 16Gb memory to a manufacturer to buy wholesale. It is ridiculous that they are still producing some low end computers with 4Gb memory when the cost difference is so little
Paying anything more than 100 bucks for 8gb of ram in a prebuilt should be an illegal upcharge at this point where you can get even ddr5 16gb for 70 or less.
For a basic, general purpose office PC, 8gb of DUAL CHANNEL RAM is usually adequate, but anything beyond that use case needs at the very least 16gb of dual channel RAM and in most cases some sort of separate GPU. 32gb and up is not really overkill anymore. Especially with an oinker of an OS like Windows 10 or 11.
If you run adblock and only very few tabs and don't run other programs you could live with 8gb, barely. 32gb is cheap and very safe, esp if using unified memory.
@@bnolsen Unified memory increase memory usage not decreases it. Unified literally means both ur cpu and gpu are sharing one memory pool where as non unified would mean ur cpu gets all that memory to itself. I guess apple can market this complete lie becuase macOS (being linux) is wayyy more efficient at using memory than the bloatware that is windows 11 lmao.
00:00 📚 Explanation of RAM: The speaker clarifies how much memory you should get for your next laptop, based on what RAM is and how it works. 00:35 🖥️ Role of Memory: Memory (RAM) is crucial for a computer’s speed, especially when handling multiple tasks or large data sets. 01:49 🔄 Swapping: When RAM is full, the computer swaps data with storage, which can cause slowdowns if done repeatedly in quick succession. 03:03 📈 Performance Impact: More RAM is needed for intensive tasks like video editing or programming, especially as data complexity increases. 05:28 🔍 Personalized Advice: The amount of RAM you need depends on your specific usage; no general recommendation fits all. 05:51 🌐 Casual Use: 8GB of RAM is sufficient for basic tasks like web browsing and office work. 06:06 🎮 Moderate Use: 16GB is recommended for tasks like gaming, programming, and editing, especially if you plan to keep your computer long-term. 06:22 🧑💻 Professional Use: 32GB is ideal for professionals handling complex projects or running multiple intensive applications. 06:55 🚀 High-End Use: More than 32GB of RAM is rarely needed, except in very specific high-demand scenarios. 07:38 🖱️ How to Monitor: Check your current memory usage to decide if you need an upgrade by using tools like Activity Monitor (Mac) or Performance Monitor (Windows). 08:28 ⏳ Future-Proofing: Consider getting more RAM if your laptop’s memory isn’t upgradable, but don’t over-invest in future-proofing unnecessarily. 09:15 🛠 Upgrade Priorities: Prioritize upgrading non-upgradable components like soldered memory before upgrading storage, which is often more flexible.
I have an M2 Max, with the unified memory the 64gb option seemed well positioned for future proofing. If you watch any of the tech RUclipsrs updating Mac’s released 10 years ago, one of the most common moves is to upgrade the ram to as high as the system was designed for, generally doubling from 8 to 16gb. The big question is: what will be the average amount of RAM be on laptops a decade from now? Or will some other device take its place?
Future proof is good, my M1Max laptop has 64 gig, I keep my machines a long time. I'm typing this on a 2017 Intel iMac. I put 40 gig of ram in myself a few years ago. It still works to a point. It is kind of slow for editing Z9 photo and video files, so I use the M1 Max for that.
I was hoping for more detail on any differences (if any) for different os like Linux or windows vs macOS. But omg thank you for explaining to people that they should check swapping and memory pressure over allocation, I’m sooo tired of people looking at allocation and getting things wrong.
I plan to buy Macbook M3 Pro 16 inch. I am confused between 18GB and 36GB RAM. It is a bit pricey but I want to keep this laptop for so many years. Maybe even 10 years or till it will not be useful anymore. I am not any programmer, coder, editor. I will just use it for daily use such as browsing Internet, watching movies and occassionally trying to play in games like Star Wars, Minecraft or Arkham series etc. I feel like 18 GB is enough but I am worried about future if maybe 36GB is future proof for any updates or games or anything like that. I will be happy for honest advices
The games part I'd be a little unsure about. I'm not familiar with the other two games you mentioned apart from Minecraft, however if you do want to game more, don't get a Mac. Otherwise the 18GB would likely be just fine for all the other tasks
Exactly for same purposes I am running 4GB based Windows machine. No lags, no delays. I think, 18GB is already kind of super-cool, while 36GB is just fancy stuff.
18 GB It is more than enough RAM for those games you mentioned. In ten years maybe the GPU will be what may need to be upgraded so that means a new laptop to get the most from future games I suposse. In 2034 I guess Envidia will be producing their 90 or 120 series perhaps...
I have my workstation fitted with 64gb RAM and use 32gb of that memory as a dedicated Photoshop RAM scratch disk. Works very well for my purposes. Sometimes I use smaller RAM disks for open/save batch processing of files. When everything is operating purely within RAM, it becomes very fast and is very stable. This is my reasoning, although entirely willing to be proved wrong.
Ur right, the access latency of an ssd is just way too large to be used a lot with higher performance applications. When ur cpu updates about every 0.2 nano seconds, having to wait 100 microseconds for data from the ssd is a lot of wasted cpu clock cycles. We're talking a 500,000x difference here lmao. Ram on the otherhand is about 100 nanoseconds.
This felt more like a lecture to teach us, rather than a video to entertain us, Man here raising standards for tech infotainment videos, We don't need flashy editing, we need useful info 🗣🗣
Nice video, I run linux, and after reading and testing a lot I came up with some tweaks to improve memory usage on linux. Zswap/Zram are pretty magical, Zswap is better though. I can use a lot of memory thanks to that. 12GB of ram + 18GB swap file (that is barely touched but lets me have a lot of compressed memory!)
Same here. I usually have to change a weird config file in fedora to get the zram to be bigger. I wish there was a way to change it graphically like in windows :[. at least linux doesnt guzzle up 5GBs on idle comapred to 1.6G on fedora
Great video as always!! I am considering getting a MacBook M1 or M2 for work. I mainly use Excel, Google's online Suite (Sheets...), Python coding and Tableau. I was considering getting the base model with 8GB of RAM. Would you recommend it or should I bump it to the 16GB model?
If you want a future proof device Active/ heavy user get 32gb. Even if it's just having open endless tabs. Light/ normal user 16gb. 8gb only if you want to save every last penny and just use a word and excel window and one chrome tab. I regret very much not having gotten 32gb. Just having a lot of pdfs and chrome tabs open.
Partially correct. I am running Win7 4Gb RAM based laptop and all regular tasks - browsing, RUclips, anti-virus, online shopping, comments, movies, casual games - all without any lag or delay. Would i be some computer guru or hacker - then maybe would check if i need more RAM or CPU.
Idk where you saw/heard that quad channel will replace dual channel? While I think it should become standard for desktops I don’t see AMD nor Intel hinting at supporting it for mainstream consumers.
I got 64GB in my new desktop, just like 32GB for my last one and it lasted 6 years without having to worry about anything. And that's with virtual memory off (using SSD)
32 GB for a desktop (when it's upgradeable and not soldered ala Apple). RAM just isn't expensive. $100 for 32GB DDR5. For a laptop probably 16 GB unless you're doing something crazy. 8 GB if you just surf the web and don't mind buying another laptop sooner than later. Most laptops seem to not be upgradeable anymore anyway and what they charge for RAM is absolutely stupid. Obviously do what you need to given your situation but I'm a fairly regular user (gaming, productivity stuff, web surfing etc.) who likes to keep machines for 10 years.
i work as an IT support, using only web based apps, office task, email, maybe light audio and video editing ( 1080p only ) and small slice of design, still using my 10 years old thinkpad W540 with windows 11 and 32GB of ram and never had any issues at all. ( i know its only runs in sata 3 ssd speed, and far more comfortable with my other younger thinkpad in terms of speed, but since after 4th gen there's no devices than can use 3 drives / SSD+HDD+HDD at the same time, then i think i will stick with this )
I run a Windows VM for my desktop with PCIe gen3 NVMe storage, it's gone from 8 -> 16 -> 20Gb RAM over the last 5 years. I do run around 300 processes and I can get away with 16 as long as I leave it for 10 mins after startup to allow it to _settle down_
Best damn video covering this topic by far, and it’s not even close!! I’ve been fighting myself on which one to get for video editing M3 pro vs M3 Max, and thoughts of future proof. He just answered all my questions and concerns in one short video, I’m truly impressed! Great job Josh
I upgraded my laptop from 16gig to 32 for about 30€. It was absolutely not necessary, doesn't make a difference in performance in most cases - but there is one game that eats memory for breakfast, and other programs that are also very memory-intensive. It was an upgrade that made that laptop a little bit better - and in comparison to 900€ that i spent on the laptop some months earlier, easily worth its money.
And you are future proof. 10 years ago the recommended was 4gb or more. 10 years later its now 8gb or more. So in that way you are having more than enough memory even after 10-15 years if you use it lol
@matthiasbendewald1803 what kind of CPU are you using with 32gb RAM? I am buing a new laptop with 32 GB and 1 TB SSD. I don't know if i5-1335U is enough or if I need to upgrade with i7-13700H-processor for 245 USD (2500 SEK).
@@Reykja this totally depends on your needs. What do you want to do with it? Web browsing, Office stuff and listening to music will Not make any modern CPU sweat, other Things might...
@@ReykjaI5-1335u if you want battery life and efficiency and i7-13700h if you want performance more than anything. I have a i5-1235u and the battery life is insane it goes for 11-12 hours. Depends on your use case
@@Reykja to answer your original question: I have a ryzen 5725U, which is faster than I need for its usecase. It offers 5-12 hours battery-life, when gaming this can go down to 2 hours. As somebody said, it is always a tradeoff between many things. Price, power-consumption/battery life, performance, IO opportunities.
Depends on the use case. For me personally I can not do my work with 16GB. At the very least I need 32Gb (Currenly having 64Gb on my laptop, and 96 Gb on desktop)
Today and past few years when I get or build a computer I always put in 16 GB's of RAM, even my parents office PC. Rather just get it now than have to upgrade it later. I do have a new System76 tower with a Ryzen 9 that has 32GB of DDR5....
I have 64GB on an X299 PC and sometimes I get insufficient mem blockages. That never happened on my old 128 GB X99 machine. If you are still using DDR4, the cost has fallen so low that you should just fill all your mem slots with =>16GB sticks.
I recently updated my gaming PC and added 32GB of CL16 3600MHz DDR4 RAM, the only performance improvement I've noticed has been 1% lows, they've improved. Perhaps it makes more sense for content creators but for gaming 16GB is still the sweet spot.
7:10 Another solution instead of getting 64gb or ram: proxy the file. You can edit 8k files with a 10 year old computer and 8gb of ram if you proxy files. Just make sure your computer/external drive has enough space because proxy files tend to be larger in size (although generating proxies at half resolution helps with this!).
I was planning on purchasing an Apple MacBook Pro for M3 Pro chip with 12‑core CPU, 18‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, 18GB unified memory, and 1TB SSD, I am starting my degree in computer science and want something that would last me at least 4 years. Do you think is worth it?
There's a detail to consider, that's related to how the OS manages memory. MacOS tends to manage memory better than Windows, and doesn't need to have a lot of drivers loaded as the machines are very similar and very specific drivers are embedded according to that, while Windows must be compatible with a wide variey of brands. As mentioned, MacOS also makes a good job compressing memory contents, which makes a different experience for the same amount of RAM; with Windows 8 GB is really borderline nowadays, but a Mac still can get away with it pretty well. I own a M2 MBP with 8 GB and use it to edit short videos, usually no longer than 3 mins, never seen a glitch. I also own a Dell Latitude, i7 and 16 GB, and that one sometimes suffers working on the same projects that won't make the Mac break a sweat. I still haven't heard the MBP fans after owning it for almost 2 years, that says a lot. Maybe related to the ARM architecture too?
there are some interesting laptops that are not sold in the US. will u be interested in checking them out? like for example the Panasonic FV series sold in Japan
One good reason for upgrading to 64GB RAM is when you want to play BATTLETECH with the RogueTech mod pack. Base game has always had a memory leak, and unless you want to restart every 30 minutes or so, you need RAM to soak up the bloat.
The thing that is tripping me up is that, on Amazon this is, they sell ddr4 16G chips for $40 but any of the PCs that have 16G want over $100 increase for the same unit with 32G. Why can't I just buy the 16 and pop in another one? But the ones I find cannot expand the ram, only the hard drives??? Like eg. the Kamuri, it's $150 16G/500ssd, N95, but N95 in any other machine with 32G is $300 min..... I feel like I should be able to get 32G for $200 with an alder lake chip... Idk
Thank you Josh! I just watched a few of your mac videos all together. I have a 2018 15" macbook pro and would like an upgrade since I'm doing more 3D work (Cinema4D & Redshift), would be amazing to hear your thoughts about the 16" Macbook M3Max on their performance if you have knowledge on that. Thanks again. :)
I think an important distinction needs to be made here. When talking about ram levels that wont tank the system this video is pretty spot on but it's way off if u dont want the still very significant slowdowns from having to swap a lot or even not having any spare ram to cache. If u want the system to go faster more ram is the way, if u want the pc to just not be a laggy mess than yes follow this guys advice.
Two options. I need a machine to last me 10 years for video editing and Twitch streaming. Looking at getting M1 Max. Should I get a 32-core 32GB RAM model, or 24-core 64GB RAM model? I know 32gb RAM sounds great but in 8 years I might benefit from more RAM if I want overlays on my stream (does that use ram?) and smooth video editing. And maybe the ability to edit thumbnails while exporting video without feeling like my computer is going to explode.
I am set on getting the M4 Pro Mac Mini with the higher processor and 1TB SSD, but I am torn between selecting 24 GB RAM or 64 GB RAM. I plan to use this machine primarily for Final Cut Pro for 4K video editing and Photoshop. Do you think I need to upgrade the RAM, or would 24 GB suffice for my needs and save me $600?
For anyone who really wants to understand this, please watch Mark Russinovich's "Mysteries of Windows Memory Management Revealed". Part II is most relevant for RAM, but Part I is also well worth watching for a deeper understand. In short, there are two options: 1) Monitor Memory/Available Byes in Perfmon. You likely need more memory if it is consistently low. 2) Start RamMap and open the Priority Summary. You need more memory if priority 6 or 7 has been repurposed.
I can get a good deal for the Legion slim 5 14 (soldered memory) but it's 16GB. If I want 32GB I need to "build" my own and that would be €230 more for just the increased memory. I'm a bit conflicted because I really would like the 32GB but €230 for just 16GB more RAM is just hard to justify
I remember getting kidded for get an extra 8k in my Apple II for a total 16k. I was in grad school and our main frame only had 16k. A few years later I was recommending 64k. 40+ years later, l recommend a minimum of 8GB. As you said, computers do change over time. 😊
awesome!!! thanks a lot!!! I work in process automation, including machine vision, integrating but not developing; but I didn't study IT nor electronics, this was big help! ( I must confess I was still using the taskmgr to check performance)
My main computer broke, so I´ve been using an old tablet with just 4GB of RAM as my only computer, paired with a 27" monitor. 4 GB: I can still open two different browsers and play video on both of them, simultaneoulsy, plus a few programs in the background. 8 GB: perfectly fine if you´re not a heavy user, but still like to experiment a little. 16 GB: the most balanced option, if you´re a gamer, do some video editing, or like to experiment with a Virtual OS. 32 GB: only needed by the most hardcore gamers at the highest settings, complex video editing at 4K, etc. 64 GB: professional use only. Just make sure your laptop is RAM upgradeable, or buy as much as you can to begin with. Best!
The laptop I ordered (Framework) will have 64GB of RAM. Part of this will become a RAM-disk, which I will use to build software (temporary object files) and store a lot of temporary data. The more RAM you have, the longest your SSD will last...
Dear Just Josh, I wanted to extend my deepest gratitude for your insightful explanation on the topic of "How Much RAM Should You Get in 2024?" Your thorough analysis and clear presentation have been immensely helpful in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of technology. Your expertise has not only provided clarity but has also empowered many, including myself, to make informed decisions regarding RAM upgrades. Thank you for your dedication to sharing knowledge and helping others stay current in this fast-paced digital world. Your contribution is truly appreciated.❤
I always max out the ram. On my older Nitro 5 I had 32GB of ram (2x16gb), on my current Thinkpad T14 Gen 2 I have 48GB (16GB soldered and a stick of 32GB).
I'm upgrading the ram for several of my laptops right now as it is at Black Friday prices I cannot pass up. I also got a 4TB NVME SSD for my Alienware Aurora R16 which I already upgraded Ram to 64GB.
Good video. Im considering upgradeing my ram in my laptop for music production since it workss but struggles when working on projects with lots of plugins. I'll 1st cheek the puformance monter thingy.
As someone who is studying computer science, it is nice to see that there is an expert in the field who's actually given quality information and not just these tech youtubers who have no technical skills
I have several devices with different amount of RAM and a laptop should have at least 32 Gigabyte of RAM in my opinion. I always have a lot of browser tabs open at the same time (hundreds) and several programming environments and with 32 GB RAM it gets really slow after around a week. Then I have to restart my working laptop. My stationary PC also has 32 Gigs of RAM but it never slows down because it gets restarted every day at least twice. Now I ordered a laptop with 64 GB RAM. I'm curious when I have to restart that thing before it's not bearable anymore.
anyone using old hardware still using DDR3 RAM, it's dirt cheap only $10 for a stick of 8GB, so just buy as many identical sticks as you have slots and go ham. i have a very old machine with an early 4 core processor, and it's amazing how useful it still is for normal cases just by making sure it has sufficient memory; in this case i upgraded from 6 to 16GB because i noticed it was hard faulting ("swapping") way too often and would lock up a second or two on almost every command. huge issue with an old system like this running off an HDD instead of SSD.
The only RUclipsr didn't got sponsored behind the scenes by hardware scammers. Great explanation and the same thing to people building a pc. Especially in our area RAM is expensive.
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As someone who has been doing desktop support for close to 30 years I can say that as of 2023 whether PC or Mac it is best for everyone to go with 16g of RAM. Even casual users have a habit of creating very complex situations for their machines and having that added memory really helps in not seeing sluggish behavior. Especially because both the MacOS and Windows are eating up more system memory than ever with all the work they are constantly doing in the background. A very basic scenario I see at work is a user with Outlook running, a web browser running, and Word running will be pushing the limits of what 8g of RAM can manage easily. Now a virus scan kicks in, or an update starts to install in the background and suddenly that 8 g feels very sluggish. Or you ask one of those three apps you have open to suddenly do something more demanding and again you're stressing the level of memory. For a long time 4g was fine, then 8g, now it is 16g.
I've been saying this for what, decade? Buy once, cry once. Buy one 16 GB stick even at expense of dual channel to leave space for easy upgrade.
Unless you have like 10 corporate security agents on your machine, than you saturate 16gb with teams and outlook.. I'm just bumping my laptop to 48gb.
32 sind besser und billig
I think you mean, at least 16gb
@@jacobjohnson4763 right, I upgraded all my machines to 32 or some to 64 already
The RUclipsr who really values our time...
Sometimes i feel sorry for all people who don't know you, you really deserve more followers
Thank you so much. Hopefully soon. Yes I do value people's time!
Very very true
@@JustJoshTech Pls do a review on the HP Elitebook 840 G8 or G9
@@JustJoshTechhey Josh need your help. I am going to be studying law probably for the next 4-6/7 years. What laptop is best for me. And I don't care about gaming.
@@aqeeldean686surface pro 9 😉
One thing Josh didn't mention is that some iGPUs can steal away system RAM for use by the iGPU. This is usually dynamic and may rarely be taken away when needed for something other than the GPU. However it's usually a BIOs setting And can just be a static amount that is always reserved for the iGPU whether needed or not
Excellent comment
Soooo.... i have a i3 3520 base model 2023 latitude 15 8gb can i throw another stick of same ram into it and should i? i am emulating old games playing lotro and some vallorant. runs great no gpu.
@@Beforedeth Not only do you want a second stick for more memory but a 2nd stick will turn your memory from Single Channel to Dual Channel.
More memory bandwidth .
Thanks! i got another 8bg in it working great !
@@Beforedeth check how many slots you have,you may have two 4GB sticks in yours, so you need to buy 2 8GB sticks
I like explain RAM like it’s physical desk/table space. More ram = larger desk/table.
You can always working on more things than the desk/table has space for, but completing multiple activities *can* take more time on a smaller desk/table as you may have to shuffle things on and off as needed (eating dinner before playing a board game Vs eating dinner while playing a board game).
Depends on the tasks of course, but playing a board game can take up a lot of space.
That's actually one of the best explanations I've heard, it's perfect
it's also a good analogy because it gets the point across to people that more ram won't necessarily make your process go faster. Having a giant table won't help you eat dinner faster, but you can have more dinner on the table at once.
Great explanation. Didn't think of it until now and you're absolutely right!
Great analogy
On the SSD memory swapping point for those curious on the impact, I currently have a Windows 11 laptop with 8GB RAM that I bought just under 2 years ago. Due to the insufficiency of the RAM for my needs I have a 12GB page file to remove hiccups and system halts I'd get otherwise. The swapping does make an appreciable blow on drive health but not necessarily a concerning one in my opinion unless you want to keep your hardware for beyond 10 years.
I'm currently at 82% lifespan left, 26 TBW / 150 TBW for 23 months of use, and this laptop is mostly office centric for the most part in terms of workload, does homework, multiple chrome tabs, some gaming here and there, 1080p video edits on rare occasions, nothing special.
Comparing that to my desktop that has sufficient 16GB of RAM and no page file at all, I have 95% lifespan for over 4 years of usage on that one. Hope that helps with any purchasing decisions
Good comment
It matters more on an 8GB M1/2/3's... as the SSD is soldered on and can not be replaced.
Is ur ssd tiny or just really bad. Ive got a 2tb ssd with 23 terabytes written and it's at 99% write life lmao. Regardless with ssd pricing plummeting u can be even more safe by buying a bigger drive as the TBW spec scales linearlly with capacity. ie the same 1tb model with 600tbw would have 1200tbw at 2tb capacity.
Just met you today Josh. WOW! This was enlightening with its concise/precise information, eloquently put. "'On'ya mate!" And yeah, I'm sure it works for your mum, but you'd make most Aussies proud. Well done Josh. Cheers from Sydney.
I'd find a 32 GB to be future proof, however manufactures providing soldiered RAM laptops are trying hard to prevent that.
They followed in Apples footsteps
you can custom order some brands of lapptops so you get what you need right away never buy base model systems from stores unless you know for a fact you can upgrade ram and storage your self whcih would be a but cheaper how ever with apple yup storage and ram are solderd but you can pay for the ram becuase well you have no choice but you should pay for 512 gigs min , so you know the drive is fast and will last now you can use an external thunderbolt build it your self drive i built 2 of them and i can use 1tb or even 4tb in each case and they run at 2557 read and write i built them each exactly the same drives and cases and i use 1 as an external boot drive this way i leave my internal alone this way when i sell it it wont have much or any real use on it which will retain some of the computers value more so then a 1.2 or more wron down built in SSD and 32 gig ram is almost the min for basic use 64 gigs min now for gamming..
Soldered, maybe.
Soldered + 1 free slot is a good compromise, a few models are going that route.
Don''t buy macs
@@KevinMillard68
My Mac Pro from 2010 has had 128GB since I bought it on eBay in 2017. Twin Xeon X5690's, 24 threads (3.5GHz), nVidia RTX 2080, modern I/O, NVME SSD and internal RAID5, so she still rips pretty well. I plan on keeping her for a while longer too. Running Garuda Linux as primary OS. I haven't considered a new PC since, won't for a while either.
Back in Feb 2017, I ordered 32 GB for my 7700K-based rig 'just because', which although unnecessary at the time, will help the rig transition to TrueNAS or ProxMox duties.; next time I build a replacement, I will likely get 64 GB for the same reason! :)
Good choice. I also feel like browsers steal your RAM on purpose.
One thing about Linux is that you can set RAM hard limit for each process
@@HumanBeingSpawnRAM is cheap bro, I just added 32GB's to my 16GB's system. Unless you buy a Crapple.
Wise decision. In 2019 i made a 16 gb ram setup, just threw it in the window last week. 32 is the bare minimum if u wanna sleep well😂
@@MrJloa I am running 4GB based very well tuned Windows laptop. Browsing, vids, movies , regular games - all just fine and no need excessive specs.
when you flexed your degrees all the comment section warriors packed up their bags and left lmao
:-). So true. Always good when you can drop some credentials. Even myself it worked as reassurance as I’m an 8GB man that for a while started to doubt I got it right! 😅
... and I sat up and started to really pay attention.
I laughed way too hard at this 😂
😂
Only two? Pathetic. I have four.
It starts at 5:28. You are welcome!
One of the few reviews that did a good job explaining memory requirements. After 42 years of IT experience, I always said more memory is better UP TO A POINT. His explanation of how a machine uses memory was dead.
I find that if you need to use Excel and use multiple vLookups and cross reference different sheets, etc., then 16GB may not be enough at times if you are dealing with large data sets.
Is this for real?
No
@@falkenvirYes, it is real. But we're talking about large datasets. Something like the sales data for a large corporation for the past calendar year, for example, and cross joining it with shipping data.
I don't think you or your company should still be using Excel for *that large* data set you're talking about. Sometimes it's not the RAM but the program isn't just as powerful as those that are designed to handle that.
I got my laptop at a great deal with 16GB of RAM. I generally just use 'office' or 'light' usage tasks, but hate closing windows and tabs unless I'm completely finished with the task. I run Linux, and have turned Swappiness entirely off, and unless I launch Minecraft, I almost never go over 8GB of RAM. I'm glad I got 16GB of RAM, but if it wasn't for the occassional Minecraft session, I wouldn't need more than 8GB at all. People go way overkill with RAM imo.
I have more than 8 GBs used up on Windows 10 atm and all I have is 10 opened tabs+email+steam idling. And I want to play videogames too. Yeah you deffo need at least 16 GB.
@@edyslavico3761 👍Totally agree - Windows 10 has always struggled with 8GB RAM. 16GB should be the bare minimum. My gaming PC will often use 17-20GB if it can. About to build a new Windows 11 PC which will have 32GB to start with and space to go up to 64GB (or 128BG if I sell the original 32GB but I can't see needing any more than 32GB for now).
As always, a thorough and detailed explanation of RAM. My conclusions are not always the same as yours due to personal preference but I always appreciate you going into detail and sharing exactly why you made the conclusion you have come to. Thank you!
100%
Same here😂
Really appreciate his work and detailing but a lot of times we reach different conclusions.
A good trick to accelerate the ram swapping is by putting in a second ssd, and assign the swap file exclusively to that second drive.
So thoroughly and simply explained.
Loved it.
I built a Threadripper 3960X system with 24 cores, 48 threads, a little over a year ago. MOBO (ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha) has 8 RAM slots on the mobo, each can take up to a 32 GB DIMM. But unfortunately, the AIO cooler I bought for it kind of blocks two of the 8 slots (nearest slot on each side of the cpu). So I have 6 slots * 32 GB = 192 GB of RAM. And quite frankly, I love it. Most modern OSes will utilize all of that RAM as disk cache unless and until it needs to release some for application usage. So basically, after bootup, your drives will only need to read a hard drive block once until next reboot, unless RAM gets low, or you are doing something on the machine that necessitates reading MORE than 192 GB of drive data between reboots. Subsequent reads of that same block will come straight from RAM, rather than asking the HD for it. If/when memory fills with disk cache, most OSes will keep track of which blocks of data are more in demand, and will flush the drive data of blocks that are less frequently requested. Long story short, your drives will last much MUCH longer with lots of free RAM. But as soon as you reboot the machine, it has to start back over caching everything again. So it's best to avoid unnecessary reboots.
who care
18 months ago I built my AMD R9-5950X system with 128GB DDR4 and an RTX-3080. I thought 128GB would be enough. This summer I built an Intel Xeon W7 workstation with 512GB of DDR5 memory and an RTX-3090. Now I'm closer to what I need. I do Unreal Engine 5 video game design and I also work with large terrains with the software I develop called TerreSculptor.
Yoooo, 512 gigs is wild
I recently got a 64gb kit and thought it would be enough for years to come
At first I thought this was overkill
But if your trying stuff on unreal 5 fair enough
.... got to ask for curiosity (and If you don't know, not sure or don't have a opinion no harm done)
I'm curious for the future of raytracing cause I haven't noticed much when I've used it
And sometimes it doesn't make a difference in graphics
@@levibull6063- I use Unreal Engine 5 and TerreSculptor 3 to create massive open worlds that are 260km x 260km and larger. This simply cannot be done efficiently with less memory. I do large terrain work for various clients in the media industry.
TerreSculptor 3 supports creating terrains up to 1 billion x 1 billion meters, which requires 18 exabytes of memory.
With UE5 and only 128GB of RAM I was always getting out of memory crashes.
Personally, I think that AMD and NVidia will probably improve their raytracing capabilities in their GPUs. And as computers get more powerful, we will get raytracing with more bounces etc, and the real-time quality will just go up. Things like reflections and such will be affected the most. In 5 years we will probably look back at the video quality now and see a big difference.
This is the most helpful guide I've ever seen on this platform, Thanks a lot!
Well that was basically always the question I ended up asking myself the whole time I was hopping around looking at gaming laptops. I had no clue about it, all I knew was that my last Laptop that melted down always said the memory was running at 100% a lot of the time when I was trying to game or even just do basic stuff on the computer. Now that wasn’t a gaming laptop but I didn’t want to immediately have a repeat of that situation by choosing the wrong amount of memory, so this video really helped inform me!
I’m a freshman in college and having spent days looking at laptops, finally finding one that I really liked that was also reasonably priced with the help of my sister, and it having soooo many customization options I was worried what features would be worth it to tag on more money for as this is my first gaming laptop ever. Thanks so much for your help in the this process!
I'm glad it helped! Thats whats keeps us going here
Ahhh a good few 4 maybe 6 even years ago I had a 4gb ram laptop
Playing unturned and having Skype up will heat that thing so much you'd think the bottom of the laptop was on fire
Have been on 16gb on desktop for last few years and found it has been more than adequate. Finally pulled trigger on an additional 16gb today as it was a pretty good deal. Sometimes it's nice to treat yourself. Got to say system feels that little bit snappier with the additional ram. Amazing how windows finds a way to eat it up!
I would like to know how much difference is the cost between 8Gb and 16Gb memory to a manufacturer to buy wholesale. It is ridiculous that they are still producing some low end computers with 4Gb memory when the cost difference is so little
The big problem is that it isn't possible to upgrade the ram on most laptops anymore after mfg like we used to do.
Paying anything more than 100 bucks for 8gb of ram in a prebuilt should be an illegal upcharge at this point where you can get even ddr5 16gb for 70 or less.
@@harryniedecken5321 like Apple or HP
Josh getting straight to the point, no screaming, no fancy intros for 1 minute, no begging for following every 5 minutes. Thank you.
For a basic, general purpose office PC, 8gb of DUAL CHANNEL RAM is usually adequate, but anything beyond that use case needs at the very least 16gb of dual channel RAM and in most cases some sort of separate GPU. 32gb and up is not really overkill anymore. Especially with an oinker of an OS like Windows 10 or 11.
If you run adblock and only very few tabs and don't run other programs you could live with 8gb, barely. 32gb is cheap and very safe, esp if using unified memory.
@@bnolsen Unified memory increase memory usage not decreases it. Unified literally means both ur cpu and gpu are sharing one memory pool where as non unified would mean ur cpu gets all that memory to itself. I guess apple can market this complete lie becuase macOS (being linux) is wayyy more efficient at using memory than the bloatware that is windows 11 lmao.
00:00 📚 Explanation of RAM: The speaker clarifies how much memory you should get for your next laptop, based on what RAM is and how it works.
00:35 🖥️ Role of Memory: Memory (RAM) is crucial for a computer’s speed, especially when handling multiple tasks or large data sets.
01:49 🔄 Swapping: When RAM is full, the computer swaps data with storage, which can cause slowdowns if done repeatedly in quick succession.
03:03 📈 Performance Impact: More RAM is needed for intensive tasks like video editing or programming, especially as data complexity increases.
05:28 🔍 Personalized Advice: The amount of RAM you need depends on your specific usage; no general recommendation fits all.
05:51 🌐 Casual Use: 8GB of RAM is sufficient for basic tasks like web browsing and office work.
06:06 🎮 Moderate Use: 16GB is recommended for tasks like gaming, programming, and editing, especially if you plan to keep your computer long-term.
06:22 🧑💻 Professional Use: 32GB is ideal for professionals handling complex projects or running multiple intensive applications.
06:55 🚀 High-End Use: More than 32GB of RAM is rarely needed, except in very specific high-demand scenarios.
07:38 🖱️ How to Monitor: Check your current memory usage to decide if you need an upgrade by using tools like Activity Monitor (Mac) or Performance Monitor (Windows).
08:28 ⏳ Future-Proofing: Consider getting more RAM if your laptop’s memory isn’t upgradable, but don’t over-invest in future-proofing unnecessarily.
09:15 🛠 Upgrade Priorities: Prioritize upgrading non-upgradable components like soldered memory before upgrading storage, which is often more flexible.
I replied to your first version of this but I wanted to thank you again for this video. If for no other reason than to help your algorithms. 🙂
Thank you so much Bryan, it really does help alot
I love that he recommended a different RUclipsr's video because it had good information in there. Thanks!
I have an M2 Max, with the unified memory the 64gb option seemed well positioned for future proofing. If you watch any of the tech RUclipsrs updating Mac’s released 10 years ago, one of the most common moves is to upgrade the ram to as high as the system was designed for, generally doubling from 8 to 16gb.
The big question is: what will be the average amount of RAM be on laptops a decade from now? Or will some other device take its place?
Future proof is good, my M1Max laptop has 64 gig, I keep my machines a long time. I'm typing this on a 2017 Intel iMac. I put 40 gig of ram in myself a few years ago. It still works to a point. It is kind of slow for editing Z9 photo and video files, so I use the M1 Max for that.
8 GB should not be even an option in 2020, let alone 2024.
Wow, you delusional
I ruled out an 8GB Macbook Air 2 years ago and they still sell them!
I was hoping for more detail on any differences (if any) for different os like Linux or windows vs macOS. But omg thank you for explaining to people that they should check swapping and memory pressure over allocation, I’m sooo tired of people looking at allocation and getting things wrong.
I had watched several videos but none help like this...tnx indeed🌷
I plan to buy Macbook M3 Pro 16 inch. I am confused between 18GB and 36GB RAM. It is a bit pricey but I want to keep this laptop for so many years. Maybe even 10 years or till it will not be useful anymore.
I am not any programmer, coder, editor. I will just use it for daily use such as browsing Internet, watching movies and occassionally trying to play in games like Star Wars, Minecraft or Arkham series etc.
I feel like 18 GB is enough but I am worried about future if maybe 36GB is future proof for any updates or games or anything like that. I will be happy for honest advices
The games part I'd be a little unsure about. I'm not familiar with the other two games you mentioned apart from Minecraft, however if you do want to game more, don't get a Mac. Otherwise the 18GB would likely be just fine for all the other tasks
Exactly for same purposes I am running 4GB based Windows machine. No lags, no delays. I think, 18GB is already kind of super-cool, while 36GB is just fancy stuff.
18 GB It is more than enough RAM for those games you mentioned. In ten years maybe the GPU will be what may need to be upgraded so that means a new laptop to get the most from future games I suposse. In 2034 I guess Envidia will be producing their 90 or 120 series perhaps...
'Caysh' - now there's a pronunciation I've not heard before! But I don't have 2 computer science degrees 😂
Great vid!
Memory is such a minor expense as part of a computer build today. I put in 64gb of DDR4 3600Mhz ram in my main gaming rig. Cost: $127
Apple charges double that for 8 gigs of RAM 😂😂😂
I have my workstation fitted with 64gb RAM and use 32gb of that memory as a dedicated Photoshop RAM scratch disk. Works very well for my purposes. Sometimes I use smaller RAM disks for open/save batch processing of files. When everything is operating purely within RAM, it becomes very fast and is very stable. This is my reasoning, although entirely willing to be proved wrong.
Ur right, the access latency of an ssd is just way too large to be used a lot with higher performance applications. When ur cpu updates about every 0.2 nano seconds, having to wait 100 microseconds for data from the ssd is a lot of wasted cpu clock cycles. We're talking a 500,000x difference here lmao. Ram on the otherhand is about 100 nanoseconds.
This felt more like a lecture to teach us, rather than a video to entertain us, Man here raising standards for tech infotainment videos, We don't need flashy editing, we need useful info 🗣🗣
Just what I was looking for. Thanks!
Nice video, I run linux, and after reading and testing a lot I came up with some tweaks to improve memory usage on linux. Zswap/Zram are pretty magical, Zswap is better though. I can use a lot of memory thanks to that. 12GB of ram + 18GB swap file (that is barely touched but lets me have a lot of compressed memory!)
Same here. I usually have to change a weird config file in fedora to get the zram to be bigger. I wish there was a way to change it graphically like in windows :[. at least linux doesnt guzzle up 5GBs on idle comapred to 1.6G on fedora
@@zoeyaaahmed203how do you change it in windows?
This is probably the best video I've seen on this topic
Thanks Ben, I appreciate that. Please share if you can. Video could do with some love!
Great video as always!! I am considering getting a MacBook M1 or M2 for work. I mainly use Excel, Google's online Suite (Sheets...), Python coding and Tableau. I was considering getting the base model with 8GB of RAM. Would you recommend it or should I bump it to the 16GB model?
If you want a future proof device
Active/ heavy user get 32gb. Even if it's just having open endless tabs.
Light/ normal user 16gb.
8gb only if you want to save every last penny and just use a word and excel window and one chrome tab.
I regret very much not having gotten 32gb. Just having a lot of pdfs and chrome tabs open.
Partially correct. I am running Win7 4Gb RAM based laptop and all regular tasks - browsing, RUclips, anti-virus, online shopping, comments, movies, casual games - all without any lag or delay. Would i be some computer guru or hacker - then maybe would check if i need more RAM or CPU.
Idk where you saw/heard that quad channel will replace dual channel? While I think it should become standard for desktops I don’t see AMD nor Intel hinting at supporting it for mainstream consumers.
thank you for explaining that topic!
@7:59 How much is too much paging? and how can you tell what paging is? like what part of the screen am I supposed to be looking at?
good presentation Josh, and very carefully delivered. Many thanks for your efforts. Regards N.C.
I got 64GB in my new desktop, just like 32GB for my last one and it lasted 6 years without having to worry about anything. And that's with virtual memory off (using SSD)
Out of curiosity, why did it only last you 6 years ?
32 GB for a desktop (when it's upgradeable and not soldered ala Apple). RAM just isn't expensive. $100 for 32GB DDR5.
For a laptop probably 16 GB unless you're doing something crazy. 8 GB if you just surf the web and don't mind buying another laptop sooner than later. Most laptops seem to not be upgradeable anymore anyway and what they charge for RAM is absolutely stupid.
Obviously do what you need to given your situation but I'm a fairly regular user (gaming, productivity stuff, web surfing etc.) who likes to keep machines for 10 years.
i work as an IT support, using only web based apps, office task, email, maybe light audio and video editing ( 1080p only ) and small slice of design, still using my 10 years old thinkpad W540 with windows 11 and 32GB of ram and never had any issues at all. ( i know its only runs in sata 3 ssd speed, and far more comfortable with my other younger thinkpad in terms of speed, but since after 4th gen there's no devices than can use 3 drives / SSD+HDD+HDD at the same time, then i think i will stick with this )
I run a Windows VM for my desktop with PCIe gen3 NVMe storage, it's gone from 8 -> 16 -> 20Gb RAM over the last 5 years. I do run around 300 processes and I can get away with 16 as long as I leave it for 10 mins after startup to allow it to _settle down_
Best damn video covering this topic by far, and it’s not even close!! I’ve been fighting myself on which one to get for video editing M3 pro vs M3 Max, and thoughts of future proof. He just answered all my questions and concerns in one short video, I’m truly impressed! Great job Josh
Thanks mate. I have a video on the M3 laptops coming out Friday or Saturday. I'd suggest waiting for that one. It may help
I upgraded my laptop from 16gig to 32 for about 30€. It was absolutely not necessary, doesn't make a difference in performance in most cases - but there is one game that eats memory for breakfast, and other programs that are also very memory-intensive. It was an upgrade that made that laptop a little bit better - and in comparison to 900€ that i spent on the laptop some months earlier, easily worth its money.
And you are future proof. 10 years ago the recommended was 4gb or more. 10 years later its now 8gb or more. So in that way you are having more than enough memory even after 10-15 years if you use it lol
@matthiasbendewald1803 what kind of CPU are you using with 32gb RAM? I am buing a new laptop with 32 GB and 1 TB SSD. I don't know if i5-1335U is enough or if I need to upgrade with i7-13700H-processor for 245 USD (2500 SEK).
@@Reykja this totally depends on your needs. What do you want to do with it? Web browsing, Office stuff and listening to music will Not make any modern CPU sweat, other Things might...
@@ReykjaI5-1335u if you want battery life and efficiency and i7-13700h if you want performance more than anything. I have a i5-1235u and the battery life is insane it goes for 11-12 hours. Depends on your use case
@@Reykja to answer your original question: I have a ryzen 5725U, which is faster than I need for its usecase. It offers 5-12 hours battery-life, when gaming this can go down to 2 hours. As somebody said, it is always a tradeoff between many things. Price, power-consumption/battery life, performance, IO opportunities.
Josh explaining the RAMifications of your decisions 😉
Take my like and get out of here
Depends on the use case. For me personally I can not do my work with 16GB. At the very least I need 32Gb (Currenly having 64Gb on my laptop, and 96 Gb on desktop)
What the heck you're running on your pc?
@@hi-tychMany Docker containers.
What volume of memory swapping in windows performance monitor %Usage _Total and %Usage Peak _Total should make you deem that more memory is relevant?
Don't forget that laptops without discrete GPUs also use a part of your RAM (on my AMD 6800H laptop, it uses 4GB of my RAM). 😄
Excellent note
7:52 Josh what would be considered "continuous, very large amounts of paging"?
This video was very informative, THANK YOU!!
Bro your videos are on the next level compared to all others out there!
Today and past few years when I get or build a computer I always put in 16 GB's of RAM, even my parents office PC. Rather just get it now than have to upgrade it later. I do have a new System76 tower with a Ryzen 9 that has 32GB of DDR5....
I have 64GB on an X299 PC and sometimes I get insufficient mem blockages.
That never happened on my old 128 GB X99 machine.
If you are still using DDR4, the cost has fallen so low that you should just fill all your mem slots with
=>16GB sticks.
I recently updated my gaming PC and added 32GB of CL16 3600MHz DDR4 RAM, the only performance improvement I've noticed has been 1% lows, they've improved. Perhaps it makes more sense for content creators but for gaming 16GB is still the sweet spot.
7:10 Another solution instead of getting 64gb or ram: proxy the file. You can edit 8k files with a 10 year old computer and 8gb of ram if you proxy files. Just make sure your computer/external drive has enough space because proxy files tend to be larger in size (although generating proxies at half resolution helps with this!).
I was planning on purchasing an Apple MacBook Pro for M3 Pro chip with 12‑core CPU, 18‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, 18GB unified memory, and 1TB SSD, I am starting my degree in computer science and want something that would last me at least 4 years. Do you think is worth it?
There's a detail to consider, that's related to how the OS manages memory. MacOS tends to manage memory better than Windows, and doesn't need to have a lot of drivers loaded as the machines are very similar and very specific drivers are embedded according to that, while Windows must be compatible with a wide variey of brands. As mentioned, MacOS also makes a good job compressing memory contents, which makes a different experience for the same amount of RAM; with Windows 8 GB is really borderline nowadays, but a Mac still can get away with it pretty well. I own a M2 MBP with 8 GB and use it to edit short videos, usually no longer than 3 mins, never seen a glitch. I also own a Dell Latitude, i7 and 16 GB, and that one sometimes suffers working on the same projects that won't make the Mac break a sweat. I still haven't heard the MBP fans after owning it for almost 2 years, that says a lot. Maybe related to the ARM architecture too?
Great video really went into detail about the use cases and helped me a lot!
you could demo the memory pressure graph in activity monitor on a mac, that is a good way to know if more is needed
there are some interesting laptops that are not sold in the US. will u be interested in checking them out? like for example the Panasonic FV series sold in Japan
Awesome video thank you for the input
One good reason for upgrading to 64GB RAM is when you want to play BATTLETECH with the RogueTech mod pack. Base game has always had a memory leak, and unless you want to restart every 30 minutes or so, you need RAM to soak up the bloat.
The thing that is tripping me up is that, on Amazon this is, they sell ddr4 16G chips for $40 but any of the PCs that have 16G want over $100 increase for the same unit with 32G. Why can't I just buy the 16 and pop in another one? But the ones I find cannot expand the ram, only the hard drives??? Like eg. the Kamuri, it's $150 16G/500ssd, N95, but N95 in any other machine with 32G is $300 min..... I feel like I should be able to get 32G for $200 with an alder lake chip... Idk
Excellent video! Thank you for clearing things up for me! I'll stick with 32GB Ram
Thank you Josh! I just watched a few of your mac videos all together. I have a 2018 15" macbook pro and would like an upgrade since I'm doing more 3D work (Cinema4D & Redshift), would be amazing to hear your thoughts about the 16" Macbook M3Max on their performance if you have knowledge on that. Thanks again. :)
I think an important distinction needs to be made here. When talking about ram levels that wont tank the system this video is pretty spot on but it's way off if u dont want the still very significant slowdowns from having to swap a lot or even not having any spare ram to cache. If u want the system to go faster more ram is the way, if u want the pc to just not be a laggy mess than yes follow this guys advice.
My 2Gb ram Thomson laptop on Linux Mint which is barely capable to open RUclips in Falcon: 😢💀
Two options. I need a machine to last me 10 years for video editing and Twitch streaming. Looking at getting M1 Max. Should I get a 32-core 32GB RAM model, or 24-core 64GB RAM model? I know 32gb RAM sounds great but in 8 years I might benefit from more RAM if I want overlays on my stream (does that use ram?) and smooth video editing. And maybe the ability to edit thumbnails while exporting video without feeling like my computer is going to explode.
I am set on getting the M4 Pro Mac Mini with the higher processor and 1TB SSD, but I am torn between selecting 24 GB RAM or 64 GB RAM. I plan to use this machine primarily for Final Cut Pro for 4K video editing and Photoshop. Do you think I need to upgrade the RAM, or would 24 GB suffice for my needs and save me $600?
For anyone who really wants to understand this, please watch Mark Russinovich's "Mysteries of Windows Memory Management Revealed". Part II is most relevant for RAM, but Part I is also well worth watching for a deeper understand.
In short, there are two options:
1) Monitor Memory/Available Byes in Perfmon. You likely need more memory if it is consistently low.
2) Start RamMap and open the Priority Summary. You need more memory if priority 6 or 7 has been repurposed.
I can get a good deal for the Legion slim 5 14 (soldered memory) but it's 16GB. If I want 32GB I need to "build" my own and that would be €230 more for just the increased memory.
I'm a bit conflicted because I really would like the 32GB but €230 for just 16GB more RAM is just hard to justify
I've been tinkering with computers for 20+ years. Never knew about performance monitor
Same here. I came to conclusion, with modern OS, less details I know and more operate it just as simple user - better for my health and nerves.
So happy I have found a reviewer I feel I can trust thanks Josh
Excellent explanation. Thanks
Thanks for the nice message
I remember getting kidded for get an extra 8k in my Apple II for a total 16k. I was in grad school and our main frame only had 16k. A few years later I was recommending 64k. 40+ years later, l recommend a minimum of 8GB. As you said, computers do change over time. 😊
awesome!!! thanks a lot!!!
I work in process automation, including machine vision, integrating but not developing; but I didn't study IT nor electronics, this was big help! ( I must confess I was still using the taskmgr to check performance)
My main computer broke, so I´ve been using an old tablet with just 4GB of RAM as my only computer, paired with a 27" monitor.
4 GB: I can still open two different browsers and play video on both of them, simultaneoulsy, plus a few programs in the background.
8 GB: perfectly fine if you´re not a heavy user, but still like to experiment a little.
16 GB: the most balanced option, if you´re a gamer, do some video editing, or like to experiment with a Virtual OS.
32 GB: only needed by the most hardcore gamers at the highest settings, complex video editing at 4K, etc.
64 GB: professional use only.
Just make sure your laptop is RAM upgradeable, or buy as much as you can to begin with.
Best!
Good point to raise about looking at performance monitor rather than memory usage.
The laptop I ordered (Framework) will have 64GB of RAM. Part of this will become a RAM-disk, which I will use to build software (temporary object files) and store a lot of temporary data.
The more RAM you have, the longest your SSD will last...
Dear Just Josh,
I wanted to extend my deepest gratitude for your insightful explanation on the topic of "How Much RAM Should You Get in 2024?" Your thorough analysis and clear presentation have been immensely helpful in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of technology. Your expertise has not only provided clarity but has also empowered many, including myself, to make informed decisions regarding RAM upgrades. Thank you for your dedication to sharing knowledge and helping others stay current in this fast-paced digital world. Your contribution is truly appreciated.❤
I always max out the ram. On my older Nitro 5 I had 32GB of ram (2x16gb), on my current Thinkpad T14 Gen 2 I have 48GB (16GB soldered and a stick of 32GB).
i actually learned something new today, i didn't know you could look at the paging graph on windows. thanks for the tip. subbed
I'm upgrading the ram for several of my laptops right now as it is at Black Friday prices I cannot pass up. I also got a 4TB NVME SSD for my Alienware Aurora R16 which I already upgraded Ram to 64GB.
Good video. Im considering upgradeing my ram in my laptop for music production since it workss but struggles when working on projects with lots of plugins. I'll 1st cheek the puformance monter thingy.
❤❤❤ Thanks i have subscribed for more videos like this one thanks 👍
As someone who is studying computer science, it is nice to see that there is an expert in the field who's actually given quality information and not just these tech youtubers who have no technical skills
I have several devices with different amount of RAM and a laptop should have at least 32 Gigabyte of RAM in my opinion.
I always have a lot of browser tabs open at the same time (hundreds) and several programming environments and with 32 GB RAM it gets really slow after around a week. Then I have to restart my working laptop. My stationary PC also has 32 Gigs of RAM but it never slows down because it gets restarted every day at least twice.
Now I ordered a laptop with 64 GB RAM. I'm curious when I have to restart that thing before it's not bearable anymore.
anyone using old hardware still using DDR3 RAM, it's dirt cheap only $10 for a stick of 8GB, so just buy as many identical sticks as you have slots and go ham. i have a very old machine with an early 4 core processor, and it's amazing how useful it still is for normal cases just by making sure it has sufficient memory; in this case i upgraded from 6 to 16GB because i noticed it was hard faulting ("swapping") way too often and would lock up a second or two on almost every command. huge issue with an old system like this running off an HDD instead of SSD.
The only RUclipsr didn't got sponsored behind the scenes by hardware scammers. Great explanation and the same thing to people building a pc. Especially in our area RAM is expensive.
Nicely explained for us technology challenged. Thank you, Josh!
First time watching. Great video.