It isn't marketing talk; when it comes to PC gaming, the answer to the question 'how much RAM do I need for PC gaming' is to have as much RAM as your PC can handle, as the more you have, the more the better.
While applications such as internet browsing, email and instant messengers can run happily on systems with lesser amounts of RAM, as soon as you begin to execute more demanding applications or if you run multiple windows then you'll soon find your system grinding to a halt. The cause? A lack of available memory!
Running multiple programs contributes to your system performance, as each takes not only a portion of the CPU's time, but also the available memory, from as soon as you boot up your PC. Anti virus, firewall, email client or any of a host of software programs are all guilty of hijacking memory bandwidth and CPU power, meaning more intensive applications, such as games, have less available resources at their disposal - the end result being a game that either cannot run, or runs at a rate that renders it unplayable.
Many people fall into the mistake of equating the minimum specification listed on the back of games boxes as being enough. However, often it is not and the minimum specifications are just that - the minimum! Often the resultant minimum specs would allow the game to run - barely, yet many PC gamers believe that one gigabyte of RAM is often enough because it says so on the box. In truth, it might be enough, providing there is nothing else running in the background. If you're already running your email client or have your MP3 playback software running when you execute the game files it can cause severe slowdowns to your system. This is caused by Windows' need to use the swapfile.
The swapfile is an area of space borrowed by Windows from your hard drive. If your system is low on system memory, Windows stores the excess data into the swapfile while it attempts to process the data in RAM. Once this is done, the RAM then calls the data from the swapfile, while caching the next load of data. However, as you might expect, the hard drive runs a whole lot slower than RAM and can really drag down game performance - especially first-person shooters. With additional RAM, there is no need to access the swapfile as often, as more data can be stored in RAM for use.
As to the question, 'how much RAM do I need for PC gaming' the bottom line is that there is no definitive answer, but more is certainly better. One gigabyte might be enough for the average gamer, as it will allow you to play most games, although you may need to close down some applications for better results on certain games. On the other hand, running RAM intensive games, such as Crysis or World of Warcraft may be better suited by two gigabytes of RAM and gamers should look to add as much RAM to their machine as their PC can utilise, and of course, their wallet can handle.
Several RAM manufacturers have released RAM that is especially designed for gamers and PC gaming systems, and although you might face paying slightly more for gaming RAM, it's definitely worth the investment.
