Okay, let’s be real: not everyone uses a PC to play games, just like not everyone works with databases and memory-intensive processes. A Windows PC can run smoothly with 4GB of RAM although admittedly no one has more of it and the least we see is 8GB even in these cheap laptops for basic use. But from there to having 32 GB, which happens with DDR5, there is a stretch…
32 GB of RAM is standard for DDR5 memory
It’s like this: with the advent of the new DDR5 standard for RAM, not only the speed but also the density has increased, which is why each manufacturer sells their DDR5 memory modules in 2×16 GB kits and from there, with a few exceptions, most when it comes to RAM in SO-DIMM format… in other words, DDR5 modules are not sold for desktop PCs under 16 GB per module
This means that since all mainstream desktop systems nowadays use dual channel memory, the standard in DDR5 is to have 32 GB of RAM or even more. This is in stark contrast to the previous generation, as with DDR4 you could perfectly well have 2×4GB (8GB total) configurations, although 2×8GB (16GB) was most commonly used.
Why is it like this? Manufacturers will stick to the issue of production costs, since it is more expensive for them to manufacture RAM in this capacity, although admittedly this has also been the “big excuse” for the rise in prices. RAM memory price we experienced. with the switch from DDR4 to DDR5 claiming that of course it’s you have twice the memory capacity and that’s why it’s more expensive (although you don’t want or need to have such a quantity).
Ok but is it something that makes sense?
This is something that might make sense for relatively advanced PC users, who use databases, virtual machines, and of course for PC gamers who aspire to play next-gen games; after all, the minimum required for many games is already the 16 GB that we standardized on the previous generation, and as far as memory capacity is concerned, it is better not to miss, as they say.
It also makes sense when we talk about computers that use the Windows operating system, in any of its versions. It’s not that Windows is a RAM-intensive operating system, which it is, it’s simply because if its dynamic resource allocation system sees that there’s memory available, it allocates and uses it with the same philosophy: better than more.
As an example, a button: we have just taken the following screenshot at this very moment on a PC with 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, in which we have only opened a few programs necessary for operation (Chrome, Outlook , Skype, Photoshop and Spotify to listen to music while waiting) and you are already “swallowing” almost 10 GB of memory.
Really, and at the moment we are speaking from experience, we have never seen this PC exceed 20-21 GB of RAM memory consumption, and which was running very, very greedy games, like Final Fantasy XV for Windows. Of course, this game could have worked perfectly if we had 16 GB of RAM, but having it available uses it to maximize performance, which is really great.
In short, and finally, we already know that DDR5 does not bring a huge performance jump compared to DDR4, but if we talk purely and simply about memory capacity, if you are going to change your PC and build one that uses the DDR5 , you will do with 32 GB of RAM memory which, even if you have a lot of it, is ultimately not a bad thing. Yes, it’s true that with 16 GB today you have enough, but if it already exists in 32 GB kits, why say no?