For games to run smoothly on your computer, those games require quite a number of things.
RAM being one of the major things, different games require different amounts of RAM to run smoothly.
You can find out if your system can run a game by checking any game’s system requirements.
One of the major things you will find is the amount of RAM that you need, and for recent games the RAM amount always seems to be higher.
So, what amount do you need to play any game of your choice?
There is a steady amount of RAM that you are going to need on your PC to run almost all the games you need to play.
Since the rise of modern and graphic-intensive games it is recommended by game developers and the community to have 8GB of RAM on your PC.
Hey, but is 8GB of RAM really needed? Can I go higher or lower than that? I need to know, why do we need RAM anyway?
Do not worry, all your questions will be cleared and answered in no time!
How Does RAM Affect Games?
RAM which basically means Random Access Memory. This a temporary storage for all your computer programs.
Unlike your hard drive, which permanently stores files and programs, your RAM is where your programs are temporarily stored.
For example, when you install a game, it is stored on your hard drive. But when you run the game itself, your computer cannot retrieve data from your hard drive, or else it will take an hour to just load up the game.
But since your RAM is built to be a faster form of storage, it can retrieve data from the RAM at high speed so you can see what you clicked faster.
So, you are getting the logic now, aren’t you? RAM has storage, the lesser the amount of RAM storage you have, the less data it can transfer to the RAM.
Which means slower load times for your games, you’re going to experience lags and your PC might end up just freezing all together.
For your games to run smoothly, you need a higher amount of RAM storage. So a 4GB RAM on your computer is very basic for gaming.
Your gaming experience might not be the best; an 8GB RAM is recommended for most games since it leaves plenty of storage for your game data to relax, allowing you to also multi task, like opening Discord and chatting with friends while gaming.
16GB ram is plenty for gaming; you can stream games, play and also browse and do multiple tasks together; 16GB is considered the best.
Video RAM (vRAM)
Video RAM can be found on really expensive gaming rigs. Video RAM can be found on dedicated graphics cards, and their job is to further reduce the job of your PC RAM itself.
The vRAM handles graphic data, allowing your main PC RAM to handle core data.
This will even make the game play so smoothly and allow you to multi-task no matter what game you are playing, especially graphic intensive games like Fortnite, Red Dead Redemption and a classic AAA titles.
Your vRAM doesn’t need to have a huge amount of storage on it. Back then a simple extra 2GB of RAM storage on your dedicated graphic card could go along way.
Nowadays a classic 4GB of vRAM is recommended, and even gaming beasts can come with a nice 8GB of vRAM.
So, as an average gamer, what do I need? Well, if you play less graphics-intensive games like League of Legends, DOTA 2, or even Minecraft, you are going to be fine with a standard processor and 8GB of RAM.
But if you play multiple graphic intensive games, a 16GB and a dedicated graphic card might just be right for you.
