Steam survey suggests more players are upgrading to 16GB RAM

White Corsair RAM sticks with blurred Steam library in backdrop
(Image credit: Future)

New PC games are more ravenous for RAM than ever, and Valve's latest Steam hardware survey hints that more players are making the jump to 16GB systems. Traditionally, 8GB tends to be what developers will recommend as a minimum within system requirements for games, but if recent releases like Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League tell us anything, it’s tha🌳t your gaming PC will soon need more memory just to e๊ven reach the menu screen of blockbuster outings.

Memory alone isn’t a ticket to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best gaming PC ball, and capacity is only one factor to consider when picking up 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:RAM for gaming. Still, developers still use a face value figure to provide insight into whether Steam rele🌊ases will actually run, as drifting below minimum requirements can cause a complete performance ruck🧸us. So, it’s not entirely surprising that there’s a shift towards using either upgrading their rigs or investing in new systems armed with more DIMM sticks. 

If you look closely at results for January, you’ll see that aforementioned shift within the section labelled ‘system RAM’. Out of every configuration stat listed, the biggest ⛦shift was ultimately towards 16GB, with an 1.07% increase in usage bringing the total number of players up to 49.60%. At the same time, users using 8GB dropped by 0.43%, accompanied by a 0.22% dip in 4GB users. That latter percentage change is likely also a result of more gaming laptops coming with 8GB minimum, but there’s still reason t🌸o believe that the losses can be accounted for within the 16GB configuration gains.

(Image credit: Valve)

It’s worth hammering home that Valve’s Steam survey isn’t fool proof, and it’s based on a sample of users rather than the entirety of the platform. Nevertheless, it still provides some insight into the habits of PC players when it comes to hardware, not to mention it’s🎃 useful for detecting trends early.

Again, the stats included in January’s Steam hardware survey results aren’t a shocker, and moving towards higher PC specs is an inevitability. Admittedly, the biggest changes normally involve parts that regularly receive new line-ups, like 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:graphics cards and new generation CPUs, but🎀 memory standards also change over time. 

What these results don’t fill us in on is whether players are making the leap to using faster DDR5 RAM kits, or if♉ the majority of players are still rocking DDR4. Since quicker data transfer rates don’t tend to impact performance as capacity, you could say there’s less of a rush to upgrade, but it would be h൲andy to see how quickly the PC scene moves on from one generation of components to the next. 

How much RAM does your PC need? 

The question of💝 how much RAM to arm your gaming PC or laptop with will change over time. However, at the moment, I’d say 16GB should be regarded as a minimum. That’s not to say you’ll need that amount to run every Steam game in your library, but when it comes to big budget adventures and fancy n💫ew releases, the extra headroom will prevent any hardware headaches.

Not every new game currently demands 16GB RAM, and minimum specs can vary depending on genre. For instance, T♍ekken 8 can get by on 8GB minimum, whereas open world romps like Starfield will make full use of more than 16GB. Even more traditional action adventures like Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League are now advising more memory as a minimum, demonstrating that PC games as a whole are becoming more demanding.

In any case, if you think your rig might need a R♛AM revamp, have a peek below at some memory offers avꦬailable right now.