What is the ideal amount of RAM in a PC in 2025? Our colleagues at Windows Central have looked into the question. And one thing is certain: 16 GB is no longer enough in a Windows 11 machine, especially with the arrival of AI.
Choosing a PC, or the ideal hardware to install a hardware upgrade on, isn't always easy. Especially when it comes to a laptop, which we often tend to use as is for its entire lifespan. The amount of RAM installed in the machine from the start is therefore often a fairly important choice. However, it becomes easy to opt for either too little – risking slowdowns in use. Or for too much, which certainly delivers performance gains, but for a price above what you would ideally pay.
One of our colleagues at Windows Central, Zac Bowen, has looked into the issue in detail. While noting that most manufacturers are slow to update the available options that they most promote to the general public. As a reminder, RAM is a volatile and ultra-fast storage medium essential to your running applications. Windows can compensate for the lack of RAM by allocating space on the computer's disk or SSD. But the difference in speed is such that it tends to greatly reduce the PC's performance. Or even cause it to crash repeatedly in some cases.
Why 16 GB of RAM is no longer enough in 2025
Determining the ideal choice in terms of gigabytes of RAM depends on your usage. But there are constants for a majority of users. Web pages, increasingly complex and heavy – and your propensity to open multiple tabs, which are also loaded in this component – weigh heavily on RAM space today. A single web page often takes up around 500 MB depending on its complexity. And online services like Google Docs alone can take up several gigabytes of this space.
In addition to this, other common applications like Spotify, Outlook, or Slack add to your storage usage. They also take up between 500 MB and 1 GB each. And that's not counting the space required by the Windows 11 operating system itself... especially on PCs that benefit from Copilot+. While a year ago, 16 GB was enough for the majority of users, opting for such a quantity now exposes you to a rather unpleasant user experience.
But, do you necessarily have to buy 32 GB, as most brands suggest during the configuration stage of your machine? This is where things get interesting. Because for most users, the answer is “no.” Doubling the amount means, for the same type of common uses we just described, underutilizing the total available RAM space. This doesn't really pose a problem for the user experience, as the machine benefits from better performance.
Manufacturers should ideally adapt, but will they?
But for many people, it mainly means paying too much for the computer compared to their actual needs. Our colleague thus argues that 24 GB is the ideal balance point on a modern machine. An unusual figure, certainly – but one that can allow for significant savings on the initial purchase. Unfortunately, as you'll see, few manufacturers allow you to configure a computer with 24 GB of RAM in 2025.
The only brand to almost always offer 24 GB during configuration is Apple. A very special case since the company controls all the hardware and software. In the PC ecosystem, it may be possible to install 24 GB of RAM yourself after purchase, although this is not recommended for everyone. Some technical issues arise in some cases, if the sticks are of different brands or specifications.
It remains to be seen whether manufacturers will change the standard amount of RAM in their machines in the near future to adapt to the needs of most customers. It's impossible, moreover, to dismiss the fact that in terms of commercial strategy, pushing you to pay more than you should remains quite common. Adding to the premium you have to pay: manufacturers are happy to increase the price of the RAM options they pre-install in their machines.
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