How many GB of memory do I need to run World of Warcraft or Fortnite?
The video game industry has undergone tremendous development since the 2000s thanks to digital innovations.
Gamers can now choose from more than 50,000 PC, console, and other platform games (not counting mobile games), but the quantity and quality of the games are becoming more impressive.
However, it is good to know that the computer gaming experience does not depend solely on the elaboration of the game purchased. Memory gives the acid pepper to video games, as RAM improves system time, speeds up game loading, and increases the frame rate, making it essential for the game to be as realistic as possible. Kingston Technology, one of the world’s most prominent independent memory vendors, now guides how much memory the four most popular games require to achieve the ideal gaming experience.
Table of Contents
How does RAM work?
RAM (Random Access Memory) is short-term memory in a computer that temporarily stores data that the PC needs to access. In contrast, a computer’s HDD or SSD is a long-term memory that stores data for an extended period. When we start a game, all the relevant data that the PC potentially needs to access during the game is loaded into RAM. Continuous data retrieval from the HDD or SSD is inefficient and much slower. RAM is much faster than these, so it can load games and read their data in less time. However, it is essential to note that memory is not the only factor in improving the gaming experience. The operating system, SSD, CPU, and graphics card also affect performance.
How much memory does the game need?
With many PC gamers, your computer may crash, and the response time will be slow while playing. In this case, you may need to expand the memory, but it can be confusing how much RAM is enough to run various video games properly. The exact amount of memory required for gaming is primarily determined by the type of game, as each format has different memory requirements. It would be best to consider how many other applications are running in the background simultaneously. Can You Run It helps you determine the ideal memory size website, and you should also check the system requirements set by the game developer? You must have the right amount of memory for each game because, without it, your computer will not be able to store all the data needed to run the game. This reduces the frame rate and degrades performance.
4 GB
A few years ago, 4GB of RAM would have been enough for an optimal gaming experience, but since then, games have evolved a lot, becoming more complex, so this amount of capacity is no longer enough. Older games may still run with 4GB of memory, but you may want to use at least 8GB if you’re going to play multiple games. Volarant, League of Legends (LoL), Minecraft, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive System, DOTA 2, and GTA 5, for example, can still be played with 4GB of RAM but probably only with poor system performance.
| Game | FPS |
| World of Warcraft: | 42 FPS |
| Call of Duty Warzone: | 43 FPS |
| Apex Legends: | 58 FPS |
| Fortnite: | 64 FPS |
8 GB
8 GB of RAM is the minimum memory size for gaming PCs. With so much memory, we can now run the most commonly used games pretty much without any problems, but some of them won’t show up in the best quality, and we may need to shut down other applications. Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rainbow 6 Seige (R6), and World of Warcraft Shadowlands, among others, can be played with 8GB of RAM.
| Game | FPS |
| World of Warcraft: | 73 FPS |
| Call of Duty Warzone: | 61 FPS |
| Apex Legends: | 108 FPS |
| Fortnite: | 85 FPS |
16 GB
The recommended memory capacity for most games is 16 GB, which offers a noticeable performance improvement over 8 GB. We can run other applications in the background without any problems with this much memory. For the Call of Duty Warzone and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) games, among others, 16 GB is the recommended RAM size.
| Game | FPS |
| World of Warcraft: | 91 FPS |
| Call of Duty Warzone: | 69 FPS |
| Apex Legends: | 135 FPS |
| Fortnite: | 108 FPS |
32 GB
The 32GB capacity may seem like a lot. Still, it’s becoming an increasingly popular choice among gamers, as at this level of performance, the frame rate will already increase significantly compared to 16GB. The graphical game display is better with memory, while more things can run in the background, e.g., live streaming, browser, system software, or music streaming application. However, the game itself will probably never need 32GB, so if you want to save money or use your computer for gaming, it’s better to stay above 16GB. However, 32GB offers significant performance benefits and makes the PC future-proof to support new game versions that require more RAM.
| Game | FPS |
| World of Warcraft: | 103 FPS |
| Call of Duty Warzone: | 81 FPS |
| Apex Legends: | 143 FPS |
| Fortnite: | 115 FPS |
