8GB vs. 16GB RAM: Full Comparison and Winner! (2024)

FAQs

Is Mac RAM better than Windows RAM? ›

The remaining 8GB is enough physical memory for an Apple silicon Mac (and still, the swap is very fast). MacOS has always handled memory management and compression better than Windows.

While some people might be able to use 8GB to play a few older games, 16GB will definitely improve your gaming experience if you like to play more modern games. But what about running tasks in the background, like Chrome or Discord? For that, you may need 32GB.

If you know you'll just be a casual user and don't plan on gaming or editing video much, 8GB of RAM should be enough. But if you know you're going to be gaming or working on video projects, 16GB of RAM should at least be your starting point.

Which one is better? In general, 2 8GB RAM is better than 16GB RAM. This is because 2 8GB RAM runs in dual channel mode, which can improve performance. Dual channel mode allows the CPU to access both sticks of RAM at the same time, which can speed up certain tasks.

Upgrading your RAM can greatly improve speed and performance of your PC. To check what kind of RAM your PC specifically needs, open Task manager (Ctrl + Alt + Delete), then click 'Performance.' You will see how many memory slots are available in the PC as well as the type of RAM such as DDR4.

This will ensure smoother performance when running resource-intensive applications. 16GB RAM is the standard Mac Aid recommendation for most users these days.

Is 32GB of RAM overkill? This isn't a straightforward question, as it depends on what you're using your PC for. If all you're doing is browsing the internet, then 16GB is fine, and any more is probably overkill. It's when you start doing more demanding tasks that extra memory makes a difference.

If 16GB is dual channel whereas 8GB is single channel then it'll mean massive performance upgrade+more breathing room for PC. If both 8GB and 16GB ram are of same frequency, dual channel then you'll just have more breathing space(as in ability to do more tasks simultaneously) for PC when doing heavy tasks.

Chrome's RAM starvation may surprise many users. But even a modern browser uses a lot of RAM if you open many tabs at the same time. You should therefore definitely give your computer 32GB of RAM if you frequently play games with medium to high graphics requirements.

I was told that being a casual user 8 GB was all I would ever need. But going to 16 GB is a noticeable improvement in terms of how quickly I can multi-task, and just the overall smoothness of the computing experience. It seems like all the pundits say the same thing - for casual users just get the 8 GB!

How much better is 16GB RAM than 8GB for gaming? ›

While some people might be able to use 8GB to play a few older games, 16GB will definitely improve your gaming experience if you like to play more modern games. But what about running tasks in the background, like Chrome or Discord? For that, you may need 32GB.

The amount of RAM just determines how many programs you can simultaneously run (multitask) not the actual speed within those programs. That is dependent on frequency and timings. While 8GB higher frequency RAM will be faster than 16GB low frequency RAM, it also limits the amount of programs you can simultaneously use.

There is no rule that says memory must be the same size for all slots, it is just more convenient to have them all match. In most cases, you can add 16GB of RAM to the extra slot if you already have 8GB in the other slot, as long as your system supports the total amount and type of RAM.

Having two ram sticks makes it possible to use memory interleaving to double the memory bandwidth, which greatly improves performance, especially in GPU bound applications. If you are getting a graphics module it doesn't matter as much (as that has it's own separate memory), but it still helps.

Modern desktop platforms tend to favor memory configurations with fewer memory modules. When comparing a 2x32GB memory kit and a 4x16GB memory kit, they both offer the same total capacity, however, a 2x32GB memory kit may have options for faster speed ratings than a 4x16GB memory kit.

Overall, the two systems are pretty even then, though Windows does seem to take up a bit more memory than macOS Sonoma, listed as using 2.16GB, whereas Windows is likely using between 3GB and 4GB. We doubt anyone would argue that an 8GB Mac won't be fine for a basic user doing basic tasks.

No, it's just Apple Ram is ECC registered ram, whereas most PC's use non-ECC ram because it's cheaper, however, if your PC motherboard supports it, then you can also use ECC ram too.

Making 8GB of RAM work like 16GB. The hardware advantages of Apple Silicon are second-to-none in the industry, in terms of memory bandwidth, memory latency, and storage. That's one of the key advantages of having full control on both hardware and software, and memory management benefits heavily from that.

Do Macs use RAM more efficiently? - Quora. No, memory is memory, and the amount you need to store certain things doesn't change with the OS. For example, you have a 32 bit PNG image, you need to display that. That means decompressing it into plain pixels in memory.