For a start, I don’t even know why this is news or why Microsoft took down the post in the Windows Learning Center. It’s only news because the timing of the ‘recommendation’ couldn’t be worse, bearing in mind the dreadful situation regarding RAM prices. Even if you didn’t get your RAM before everything went tits up, you’d most likely agree that 32GB cuts it more than 16GB. However, finding the actual source of the original Microsoft post is no easy task, probably because it’s now been buried, never to be seen again.
“For most players, 16GB RAM is a practical starting point. Moving to 32GB RAM helps if you run Discord, browsers, or streaming tools alongside your games. That extra memory also gives newer titles more breathing room as memory demands continue to rise.” – Microsoft.
“16GB RAM is the baseline; 32GB is the ‘no worries’ upgrade.” – Microsoft.
We’ve Known This For Years!
And it’s not just gaming that needs huge amounts of RAM – video editing, game design, and CAD, to mention just a few, so Microsoft is simply telling it as it is. Conversely, it’s one of the companies responsible for buying up silicon in all its forms for its AI projects, which has pushed RAM prices skyward. The April 2026 Steam survey also confirms the trend, giving 16GB as 41% and 32GB as 37.5%.
I’ve written about RAM many times here at DCT, and today it’s completely unrealistic to expect a Windows 11 PC to perform smoothly with just 4GB of RAM, yet that is precisely what Microsoft still recommends as the minimum system requirements.
I know what it’s like to witness the horror of 4GB RAM with Windows 11 struggling to even get to the desktop with that spinning cursor wheel seemingly lasting forever. But laptops are still being bought by unsuspecting customers with those minimum specs. Frankly, it’s criminal!
But back to the subject at hand – as operating systems become more complex, not to mention photorealistic games, 32GB of RAM is a very reasonable target to head for, or at least it used to be. So, before we all jump on our collective soapboxes, let’s acknowledge Microsoft, or at least the employee who penned the original post, for telling it like it is!
Free the RAM poster! Free the RAM poster! Free the RAM poster!
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