16GB helps, but Chrome is still a pig

Yes, it helps.

Going from 8GB to 16GB means Chrome won’t eat your entire system memory and leave nothing for the OS. With hundreds of tabs, you’re looking at 6–10GB of RAM just for Chrome. 8GB gets you swap file thrashing and a slow computer. 16GB at least lets you keep browsing while that one tab leaks memory.

That said, Chrome still has garbage memory management. Even with 16GB, eventually the browser will crawl as tabs pile up. You’re better off using Tab Groups, suspending unused tabs with an extension like OneTab or The Great Suspender, or—here’s a thought—closing tabs you’re not going to read.

But if you’re determined to keep 200 tabs open, 16GB is the minimum. Future You might still regret it.