16GB is still the sweet spot for DDR4.

You’ll usually pay roughly double—around $50–60 for a decent 16GB kit versus $90–110 for 32GB—and for most people, that extra $40–50 is money you’ll never feel back in performance.

If your computer is used for browsing, email, streaming, Office stuff, or even older games, 16GB can handle it all without breaking a sweat. You start to notice the ceiling if you’re running a million Chrome tabs, a virtual machine, heavy photo/video editing, or certain simulation games. But that’s not “average user” territory—that’s enthusiast or professional.

The price difference isn’t huge in absolute terms ($40–50), but it’s still unnecessary unless you know you need it. The real question is: do you regularly hit 14+ GB of memory usage? If not, 32GB is just a warm blanket.

Your wallet will thank you if you stay at 16GB.