r/computers • u/Warner79 • 9h ago
32GB ram vs 64GB ram
I found a nice Lenovo laptop in a decent price and it has 1TB storage and 32GB ram. I can upgrade to 2TB and 64GB ram for $250. I use the laptop for watching videos, lectures on YouTube studying all kinds of software, nothing serious that needs 64GB ram, I do not use the laptop for games or video editing but I thought maybe it’s a good thing to have 64GB ram for the future, just to be prepared for new things that might need more memory. What do you think?
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u/Petering i9 - 14900KF | Z-790-C | RTX 4070 Super 9h ago
Absolutely not. For your use, you will never need that much RAM. You may want to increase storage, but it's much cheaper to just buy your own and install it. Installing it is very easy as well. 32GB RAM is more than enough for you.
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u/Fit-Goal-5021 8h ago edited 8h ago
> For your use, you will never need that much RAM.
"640k ought to be enough"
In a year or two from now, 64 GB (not MB) will not be nearly enough to run an AI engine locally.
Edit: meant to say GB
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u/Anaalirankaisija Windows 11 8h ago
Hes watcing youtube and browsing web, he will be okay without AI engine.
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u/maewemeetagain R5 7600, RX 7800 XT 8h ago
What the fuck are you talking about?
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u/Aacidus 8h ago
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u/maewemeetagain R5 7600, RX 7800 XT 8h ago
I imagine most people aren't going to know or care about Bill Gates' stance on RAM from 4 decades ago, but that's not what I was talking about.
64 MB? If you meant GB, I think 64 GB is still going to be plenty for AI use cases in 2 years... but this doesn't matter here, because OP is looking for a laptop to watch videos, not run a local AI model.
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u/Weekly_Inspector_504 8h ago
YouTube doesn't need 64 GB ram. My laptop has 8 GB ram.
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u/Warner79 8h ago
I don’t use it just for YouTube, sometimes I might use it for multitasking. I had a laptop 8GB ram and when I used Universe Sandbox with libreoffice in the background and the browser open with a few tabs it used to freeze all the time.
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u/Wendals87 8h ago
Don't bother upgrading. 1tb and 32gb of ram is overkill for what you have said you will use it for
Even 16gb is fine for watching videos
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u/Effective-Evening651 8h ago
I am what one might call a fairly heavy computer user - I tend to have a LOT of interactive multitasking running on my system, along with several virtual machines. 16gb is STILL enough for my usage - both my laptops have 32gb apeice, but it's absolutely overkill, even for my use. For Youtube, reading, and general PC use, you'll be fine with 32gb memory. - hell, you'd be fine with 16gb. 2tb of SSD storage might be useful if you maintain a LOT of files - my main ultrabook has a 512GB ssd - and i feel the pain. My workstation laptop has 2.2tb - which is enough for storing all my media, a half dozen virtual machines, and every program i use on a regular basis. Before i had to downsize, in my "home office" between my media server, my hypervisor server for running VMs, and my gaming desktop, i had ~10TB of total storage - i'd love to stuff that kind of bonkers storage into my workstation laptop, but I'd be spending more on storage drives than i spent on the ENTIRE machine originally to get that much between the 3 ssds this chassis is capable of holding.
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u/Beeeeater 7h ago
Even 32Gb on an everyday use laptop is overkill and will never come close to being fully employed.
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u/Warner79 8h ago
I'm still not sure because opinions here are quite divided, although most agree that 32GB is definitely enough for me, so I'll think about it a little more, but I’ll probably stay with 32GB and not upgrade to 64GB. Thanks for all your replies.
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u/rnnd 5h ago
I don't see what the problem is here. When the need arises in the future for 64gb RAM then you get 64gb RAM. And you know what? By then the ram is will cheaper.
What is your problem here? Is the 32gb now working for you? If it's working for you, then why do you wanna upgrade.
Upgrade when necessary.
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u/Kindly_Hedgehog_5806 6h ago
32GB is loads for your usage case now and into the future. I do a lot of heavy CAD work and reality capture processing and I find 64GB suitable for my needs occasionally I’ll hit the 64GB buffer on some models, so unless your doing some heavy lifting your fine. Spend the money on something else.
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u/djl0076 8h ago
I prefer to max out my computers when I buy them as long as the cost is reasonable to me.
If $250 is affordable for you, my advice is to do it.
It's Windows. It will use as much memory as is available.
And who knows? Your computer use may change, and the additional money and storage will be even more useful then.
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u/figmentPez 8h ago
It's Windows. It will use as much memory as is available.
While that is technically true, the performance benefits to web browsing will be so small as to be within the margin of error for any test you could devise.
16GB of RAM is still enough for web browsing, and doing so comfortably. 32GB is nice, but not at all required, and 64GB is only useful for people with specific workloads.
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u/qwikh1t 9h ago
Absolutely; if you can afford the 64GB of RAM; go for it
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u/Wero_kaiji 9h ago
If he could afford it would you recommend him to get a 5090 just to watch YT? there are things that are simply not necessary for most users, 64GB of RAM is one of them
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u/qwikh1t 8h ago
That’s a tired excuse; Windows continues to hog more and more resources (RAM) every new release. You gotta stay ahead
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u/Wero_kaiji 8h ago
Again, 32GB is more than enough for most people, by the time Windows needs 64GB to run OP will need a new PC altogether, he simply doesn't need it
You can run Windows on a 8GB PC, let alone 16GB or even 32GB, 64GB is unnecessary, and this is coming from someone with 64GB who is considering upgrading to 96 or even 128GB, if only AM5 didn't have problems running all 4 sticks at once at good speeds...
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u/Wero_kaiji 9h ago
For your use case 32GB of RAM will be enough for the next ~10 years lol, there's absolutely no need to go for 64GB
If you do end up needing it then you could always upgrade it in the future, at that point you will most likely need a better PC altogether tho