How much RAM is good for a gaming laptop?
We discuss the ideal amount of RAM for a gaming laptop, depending on your needs and budget
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If you want to know how much RAM is good for a gaming laptop? the answer is pretty straightforward, though it does depend somewhat on your needs and budget.
The short answer is 16GB – 32GB. Historically we would have said 8GB, but even surfing the web using RAM hungry browsers like Google Chrome will quickly use this up if you’ve got too many tabs open, never mind if you’re gaming whilst also doing other tasks.
READ NOW: How to upgrade RAM on laptop devices
So how many GB of RAM is good for a gaming laptop?
16GB is pretty much the minimum amount of RAM that’s good for a gaming laptop, but it will also be sufficient for most peoples’ uses going into 2023.
32GB of RAM is for those with more money to spend who frequently run multiple programs simultaneously (streamers, editors, or just people who like to multitask generally) or who intend to also use their gaming laptop for creative workflows / workstation tasks. 32GB will also offer you a degree of future proofing.
64GB of RAM is complete overkill for 99% of people, but if you’re also using your gaming laptop for some heavy duty workflows or rendering tasks, it might make sense for you.
DDR4 or DDR5 RAM for a gaming laptop?
DDR5 RAM is the latest currently available, and overall will provide a slightly greater level of future-proofing for your gaming laptop, however the performance difference won’t be significant for most users. Indeed you could quite easily get a gaming laptop that has better performing DDR4 RAM than another with DDR5 RAM.
Ultimately picking DDR4 or DDR5 RAM shouldn’t be a major factor when you’re buying a gaming laptop compared to the other components, though if you’re looking to spend some serious money and/or have other uses besides gaming that you require the latest RAM for, the latter is usually preferable.
Have a read of our DDR4 vs DDR5 page for more info on the differences between the two.
What RAM speed is good for a gaming laptop?
Generally, we wouldn’t worry too much about RAM speed when it comes to a gaming laptop, unless where you’re buying it from offers a degree of RAM customization and you’ve spent money in the more important areas, like the CPU and GPU (plus the amount of RAM in GB). RAM speed can offer performance increases to already very powerful gaming laptops, particularly those that are being used for workstation/rendering tasks and the like alongside gaming.
That being said, 3,000MHz is the general minimum you want to be looking for in terms of clock speeds, but you’re unlikely to find slower than this in any recently produced gaming laptop.
RAM timings is again something you don’t really need to worry about most of the time, but if you’re interested have a read of our main RAM speed page for all the details.
Ultimately there aren’t many cases where the RAM speed of a gaming laptop should put you off buying it if everything else is good.
How much RAM is good for a gaming laptop? Final Word
We do hope this short guide has helped illuminate you on how much RAM is good for a gaming laptop? Why not take a little look at our multiple best gaming laptop guides across different price ranges (these can be found in the site’s drop-down menu on the top of this page). We also have other gaming laptop FAQ pages if you want to educate yourself a bit further on these devices.
