Weekly poll: how much RAM is enough?

03 December 2023
Some phones these days have as much as 24GB, with others you can't get more than 8GB. And what's with virtual RAM, anyway?

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  • M
  • Mr John
  • KiY
  • 04 Dec 2023

Anonymous, 04 Dec 2023I think 16GB of ram is necessary for phones today. 12GB is ... moreOh, did the ram tell you that?

    Digdigfig, 03 Dec 2023Tell me you don't play modern AAA games without tellin... moreI bet he runs Crysis at 120FPS 🤯

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 7j{
      • 04 Dec 2023

      Anonymous, 04 Dec 2023Well I "only" have 6 and I don't get any rel... moreNo one should install facebook app

        • d
        • dcdev
        • JGb
        • 04 Dec 2023

        So strange that people here discuss about PC, because PC can have some benefits, like ramdisk, and have some soft that can use more and more RAM (databases, for example). It's ok to have 32Gb for gaming, but some people build PCs with Threadripper and 128Gb RAM or more for work.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • Lr$
          • 04 Dec 2023

          512mb ram gang represent

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • ucv
            • 04 Dec 2023

            SuperSpruce, 04 Dec 202310 years ago, PCs got by with 4GB. Now Windows eats that al... moreI think it depends on how sophisticated your needs were and if you can afford it. 16gb pretty standard for many people, and was only just about enough for me in 2000... If i could have afforded I would have gotten 32GB.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 4NG
              • 04 Dec 2023

              I think 16GB of ram is necessary for phones today. 12GB is passable too but 8GB is too little. If you plan on keeping your phone for ~3 years then the extra ram would give you a plenty of future proofing.

              This is kinda what happened on PC too. Just a few years ago 16GB was considered plenty of ram but nowadays you open a few tabs, a few background apps, and you're already hitting close to 10GB of usage. Open a single game and boom you're extremely close to that 16GB. Depending on what programs you have open you'll go over that too.

              Thankfully it is pretty easy to expand your ram on PC. Just buy new sticks and add them to the system, but you can't really do that with a phone, which is why I'd opt for more ram. Minimum 12GB if you were buying a phone today and preferably 16GB if you plan on keeping the phone for a few years.

                • T
                • Tref82
                • snP
                • 04 Dec 2023

                For me for android 8gb it's optimal, 12gb it's very good, my phone have 16gb ram...

                  Anonymous, 03 Dec 2023It should be 8GB, but it's not because developers don&... more10 years ago, PCs got by with 4GB. Now Windows eats that all up despite doing less than it had 10 years ago.

                    There should be an option for "my phone doesn't have an option for virtual memory."

                    Regarding that, why is virtual memory locked to a few phones and given only a predetermined amount? The marketing is incredibly disingenuous. On Linux, you can manually set the size of the virtual memory (known as "swap") to any amount.

                      • F
                      • Fred
                      • nH6
                      • 04 Dec 2023

                      Oki, 04 Dec 2023There's a big difference between 4 and 6gb I think tho... moreI agree and that's why I didn't fill it out. 4 is not enough, but 6 is livable. Almost everyone with a little knowledge knows this, so why GSMArena, why?!

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • YUU
                        • 04 Dec 2023

                        Never use virtual RAM as it will hurt your storage chip. For those who don't know or understand how virtual RAM works? It's basically borrowing your extra free storage capacity to make room for loading (temporary space) for the app (heavy app) to used it and, storage chip have life cycle. Meaning, you can write (store) information on it like 2000 cycle (read & write) before the storage chip (drive) begin to failed. I'm not good at explaining, but please do search and read more if you want to know more. So, virtual RAM is a big NO NO (red flag) for me and will never used it.

                          I just switched from iPhone SE 3GB ram and never once in the four years did I run into a ram problem.. I used that phone every day to play PubG and Roblox.. it never dropped apps in the background. iOS is scary efficient.

                            • w
                            • we
                            • Sqx
                            • 04 Dec 2023

                            well 1TB is enough in this paste with all the junk on the telephones now days but 8gb if users can actually uninstall bloatware install Firefox and uninstall all other crappy browsers, android is working hard to get worse for every release

                              It all boils down to what you want to do.
                              Back in 2016, we went into 64-bit proper with the likes of Android 5.1 and the new 16nm silicon, and new processor architectures. Back then it was a good combination to have 4GB RAM with 64GB storage, with A73 processor. This big leap forward put the modern phone on-par with Windows Laptops, like those running a Core-M or Core-Y processor.

                              With the likes of Cortex-A78 on the 8nm node, it feels natural to have higher specs, such as 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Software has evolved in that 4-6 year period. This put it on-par with Windows Laptops running an Intel-8th gen Core-i5-U processor.

                              Now if you're going for Cortex-X4 and 3nm node, it sort of makes sense to look for 16GB RAM and maybe 512GB Storage. It's about equivalent to an Intel-9th gen Core-i7-U processor, or maybe something like a Zen3+ Ryzen-U processor.

                              ...but all that power, and what is the point?
                              Frankly I would want a device like the Razer Phone 2, but much better/modern, and have it acts as a Personal Computer. The HP Elite X3 did this perfectly with running full-desktop Windows 10 Pro using Continuum.... much better than the original Linux/DeX, which is better than the current Android/DeX. So a Desktop Dock, or TV Dock, for professional use. The other point is High-Demanding Gaming with those powerful specs, and using a Pocketable controller like the Razer JungleCat. And last but not least, I would love a Project Linda. You can pop your phone, and you suddenly have a competent laptop.

                              ....those are the use cases where I would go out of my way to get higher specifications on the phone (16GB RAM) to justify it. So start with the consumer first, and work backwards as to how the product should be built. Don't build the device first, then go looking for a niche for it. That's one thing that Steve Jobs got right.

                                • O
                                • Oki
                                • swn
                                • 04 Dec 2023

                                There's a big difference between 4 and 6gb I think those should've been separate options

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • KAX
                                  • 04 Dec 2023

                                  It should be atleast 16GB Ram

                                    My Old LG V30 plus with 4gb ram and 128 storage sometime laggy and freeze for everyday usage and casual gaming session. 6/8Gb Ram may suite you better for current day to day usage. Today, Midrange processor is also fast enough for gaming, unless you're a competitive gamer.

                                      • K
                                      • KiSaGamer128
                                      • fkY
                                      • 04 Dec 2023

                                      For me the minimum has to be 12GB Ram for mobile phones and a weird 24GB Ram for laptop and desktop device + a good amount of virtual Ram. I don't know why 24 but I feel 16GB are barely enough and 32GB being too much.

                                        Unless you're a real power user and you do crazy stuff using very demanding apps you don't need huge amounts of ram. Between 4-6 Gb of ram is mostly enough. Maybe 8 but that's more than enough. At least to my kind of usage so I'm not speaking for everyone. About the virtual RAM, with some devices I tried it with it worked and with others it wasn't clear if it did something or not. Generally speaking it makes no sense to use such gimmicks. Just put real RAM instead of trying to lure buyers into thinking that virtual RAM will do the same. Especially when the price difference for more RAM isn't justifying the effort of a software emulation (that is it's downsides as well on other aspects that memory)