The mount of RAM that you need in 2026 and beyond is a minimum of 16 GB of RAM for your computer to run smoothly.
Although if you're a heavy multitasker or gamer, or creator and do a lot of video editing or photo editing, animation etc then having 32 GB of RAM is best and considered the sweet spot.
If planning for the future, you should install or have 32 GB of RAM minimum, which should carry you over for years to come.
If you do 3D rendering, then you should aim for having 32GB or even 64GB for stability and the current standard for RAM is DDR5 RAM.
16 GB of RAM is sufficient for web browsing, even with many tabs open, office apps, streaming and most casual and older games, which is the baseline for a comfortable experience.
32 GB of RAM is ideal for modern AAA gaming, streaming while gaming, 4K video editing, running multiple creative apps, such as Adobe Suite, Blender simultaneously, and for future proofing your computer for the next few years.
64 GB of RAM and up is recommended for heavy 3D rendering, complex motion graphics, large dataset analysis, extensive virtual machines, or even running demanding applications at once.
32 GB RAM is overkill for some people, especially if you do just basic web browsing, watching YouTube, doing light photo editing or light video editing or light gaming.
However if you do a lot of heavy video editing, 3D rendering, animation, heavy video editing, 4K video editing, or do a lot of heavy gaming and need more resources then 32 GB of ram or even 64 GB of RAM may be needed for .
For the average user though, between 8 GB of RAM to 16 GB of RAM may be enough, but having 32 GB of RAM may be a good thing.
It's better to have a bit more RAM than you think you need, than not have enough.
32 GB of RAM is excessive for some people, but for others it may be needed if you do a lot of resource intensive tasks or heavy video editing, but for most most people 16 GB to 32 GB of RAM is often enough.
32 GB of RAM is better than 16 GB of RAM as having 32GB of RAM will make your computer run much faster and much smoother than 16 GB of RAM, especially if you do a lot of tasks that require a lot of power such as 3D rendering, heavy video editing, play games that use a lot of resources etc.
Although 16 GB of RAM can be sufficient for many users, but it doesn't hurt to have more RAM than you think you'll need.
You can tell if you need more RAM by the way your computer is acting.
If your computer frequently freezes, lags or is slow or crashes, or the browser crashes or applications you use crash, or your RAM usage is consistently at or near 100 percent in the Task manager then it's a sign that you need more RAM.
Other signs that your computer needs more RAM are slow application loading times, sluggish performance, especially when switching between tasks, slow response times etc.
Having at least 8 GB of RAM is recommended, although 16 GB to 32 GB of RAM is best for most people.
If you're a gamer or video editor then 16 GB of RAM can also be sufficient, but if you do other heavy use tasks or do heavier gaming or 3D rendering then you may need 32 GB to 64 GB of RAM.
64 GB of RAM is overkill for most people and the average user and most gaming.
16 GB of RAM is most often enough RAM for the average user, but 32 GB of RAM is ideal for gaming, video editing, multitasking etc.
Although if you do, do a lot of video editing or 3D rendering, running multiple virtual machines or do any specific high end simulations then 64GB would be needed and be a good idea to have that much RAM.
People that need 64 GB of RAM are video editors, graphic designers that use memory intensive applications like Adobe Photoshop, 3D artists, After Effects or Premiere Pro.
Or if you're a software developer who frequently uses multiple virtual machines for testing or development.
Or if you use some demanding simulations, like flight simulators, for example Microsoft Flight Simulator or if you use your computer for scientific research then you may require 64 GB of RAM or sometimes more.
Although the average user does not need 64 GB of RAM, such as for basic tasks like email, web browsing, watching YouTube, streaming, office applications etc.
And most gamers don't need 64 GB of RAM, although 32 GB of RAM is recommended for the latest AAA games, but 64 GB of RAM dose not provide any significant performance improvements for most gaming scenarios.
And if you only use your computer for tasks like light photo editing, casual gaming, streaming, light video editing, etc then 64 GB of RAM would be overkill.
Although it doesn't hurt to have more RAM than you think you'll need.
But for most people 16 GB to 32 GB of RAM is enough.