The 16GB RAM benchmark is still relevant, though its importance may shift as technology advances.
The 16GB RAM benchmark is still relevant, though its importance may shift as technology advances.
I recall when 16MB seemed like plenty. Technology has changed a lot over time.
These visuals clearly demonstrate the potential within that budget. I must say, upon seeing the price range, I was surprised by how much it could support.
I possess 16 GB of RAM (Ryzen 3600, 5700 XT) and haven’t yet played a game that fully utilizes it. The highest I’ve seen is around 14 out of 16, though it’s typically nearer to 12 when browser and apps are included. Usually I avoid new games and stick with titles over a year old. Still, I hope to encounter a game that uses all 16 GB in the next three years, even if I might have upgraded then. A memory cap I’ve reached before is 8 GB of VRAM on the GPU, which Horizon Zero Dawn exemplifies. This limitation is more restrictive for my PC than the RAM itself.
It's hard to assess fully because Windows tends to delay certain operations until it feels they're unnecessary, leaving some memory available for the IO cache. Most games seem to gain from a larger IO cache, which removes the need to access SSDs for assets that were previously loaded but not needed for a while. Although SSDs are quick, retrieving data from RAM is even faster, particularly when Windows is actively managing paging. In Linux environments, many distributions now store the pagefile in RAM instead of on the SSD, compressing it and using it as a virtual pagefile. This approach can be surprising but becomes more efficient with fast CPUs that compress data, making swapping much quicker than writing to storage. Essentially, having ample RAM—without overly compromising its speed—is crucial, as the OS can leverage it for better performance. Also, if you had 16GB of GPU memory, it could cause issues because assets would have to move through system RAM to reach VRAM, increasing demand on your overall RAM capacity.
Fascinating, hadn't considered that. It seems like there might be methods to view historical data or track the amount of RAM allocated to the pagefile. I assumed it only occurred around 15.5% or so.