What hardware are you running?

[leifp]

Are there people who have 100% gaming rigs where they don't use the computers for anything else but gaming?

Back when I built my PC, ram was cheap, it was a no brainer to go straight to 64GB. Imo, it was a different mindset on the PC side, given the relatively low cost. Apple users always paid a premium for ram, so I can see the need to justify the ram upgrade. Now in 2025, things have changed, and its more likely most people will not be looking to over build their machines

Yup. Me. 100% gaming. I do everything else on Apple products, except I have a raspberry pi as a streamer on my TV.

 

[leifp]

Games definitely do benefit from more than 16GB RAM. Gamers have been moving over to 32GB for a while now. At 4K the 12GB VRAM is definitely holding you back if you're playing recent titles. 32GB RAM is probably also holding you back. Whether you notice or care is another story.

According to Steam hardware stats:

16GB - 40.94% users (going down)
32GB - 37% users (going up)
64GB - 4.4% users (going up)

I have 64GB and admit it is overkill for gaming but my previous PC had 32GB RAM and i didn't like how close some games were cutting it. I've saw some games at 20-26GB RAM. Off the top of my head that was Flight Simulator 2020 and Fortnite (seriously). This was almost 3 years ago by the way.

The only time I really make full use of my 64GB is when doing other stuff like video editing or AI stuff. At one point I considered upgrading to 96 or 128GB RAM.

As for VRAM... no games so far really makes use of the 32GB VRAM on my 5090. If I'm doing AI stuff then 32GB simply isn't enough. I was thinking about getting an RTX Pro 6000 with 96GB VRAM and even that would struggle to load many local models.

Looking at Steam stats again for VRAM:

6GB is at 10% (going down)
8GB is at 33% (going down)
12GB is at 19% (going up)
16GB is at 8% (going up)
24GB is at 2.2% (going down)
32GB is at 0.59% (going up)

Personally, if I was building a new gaming PC today I wouldn't go any lower than 16GB.

And I don't even play at 4K. I have a 1440p 360Hz monitor.

Flight Simulator is a known violator and is one of the few games (not really a game; it’s in the name) that is more CPU dependant than GPU. I was not aware that Fortnite was a RAM hog but that entire genre is one I know little of. Can you give me further examples of games that push system RAM past 32GB?

 

[leifp]

I have a Nintendo Switch 2 and two PCs capable of gaming. RTX cards and stuff. I pretty much don't play PC-games anymore though outside of some WoW Classic.


Friend of mine has a gaming laptop with 16GB RAM. She's always running out! Discord + web browser and some Unreal 5 game and you're suddenly on the very brink. Too bad we kept delaying buying an extra kit.

I get that! But I did specify 100% gaming PC. Which I’ve seen people state here (and which isn’t weird to me, as that’s what I have)

 

[keksikuningas]

https://support.stalker2.com/hc/en-us/articles/27929194969105-System-Requirements-Guide#01JCNTZJGCR02KE66TNYHM7MNK

there are games that are starting to have 32GB as recommended. But Stalker 2 is probably more of an exception due to how heavy and ambitious the game is.

Bethesda Support

help.bethesda.net

another one. Indiana Jones, again, an exceptional game, akin to crysis back in late 00s. Recommended is 32G. We are probably not getting many more games like this since if your game is hard to run on commodity hardware (16GB RAM 6 core cpu with a RTX 4060, according to steam survey) then you are limiting out a big chunk of your potential customer base

 

[maflynn]

Yup. Me. 100% gaming. I do everything else on Apple products, except I have a raspberry pi as a streamer on my TV.

Fair enough - I'm largely of the opinion that most people who build/buy gaming PCs use them for other things, whether its surfing, facebook or various other tasks.