Upgrading to 128GBs of RAM in your PC is definitely overkill for any person. Whether you are playing games, video editing, or watching 400 movies at the same time.
There is an unlikely chance you will ever need 128GB of RAM in the next 5 years so why spend so much on it?
If you want to upgrade your PC, get yourself 32GBs of RAM or if you want something amazing go for 64GB.
Below we’ll cover all of that in a bit more detail to explain it to you better.
What is RAM?
First, let’s start with the most important question- what is RAM?
Random Access Memory (RAM) is your computers short term.
Your PC can get access to RAM memory much faster than your long term computer memory, such as hard drives and solid-state drives.
How Much RAM Do You Need?
This is a difficult question to answer because it depends on what you plan to do with your computer.
While 128GB is overkill for 99% of people, you are likely to want to opt for 16GB or 32GB of RAM if you really want to splash out.
Most prebuilt PCs in the range of around $1000 – $1500 come with either 8GB or 16GB. 8GB is a little on the low side but 16GB is perfectly good.
Unless you are doing heavy video editing, or working in a game development engine such as Unity, going beyond 32GB will change almost nothing for you other than having less money in your bank account.
The Different Types of RAM
The 3 main types of RAM are SRAM, DRAM, and SDRAM. In modern days, the most common RAM type is DDR-SDRAM which stands for Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory.
SRAM
Static Random Access Memory, SRAM for short is a type of memory that retains memory as long as power is supplied.
You’ll find SRAM more commonly in wearables, cell phones, toys, printers, and routers rather than in your home computer.
Typically used in for a processors cache.
DRAM
DRAM, or Dynamic Random Access Memory is more common in PCs as it has a much lower cost per MB.
Dynamic RAM needs to be continuously refreshed and can hold more data than SRAM. DRAM is commonly used for a computer’s main memory
SDRAM
Synchronous Dynamic RAM is the type you will be using for your own PC. The most common type of SDRAM is DDR4-SDRAM but there is also DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, and DDR5 to choose from.
If you are building a new PC, you will need to check your motherboard to see which SDRAM is compatible with your existing or desired board. Usually this will be DDR4 or DDR5 on newer parts.
How Much is Too Much RAM?
Let’s face it, bigger is usually better. More RAM won’t hurt power users and gamers who often have several applications open simultaneously or play games that require a lot more memory.
However, the majority of people only have a few programs open at once – so they likely won’t need more than 16GB or 32GB.
Be sure to check your motherboard documents or official website to see first of all how many slots you have, what the correct slot order is, what type is compatible, and what the maximum RAM is.
