16GB is the new baseline for Windows.

Yes, you probably need it.

Here’s the honest answer: Windows 10 or 11 runs fine on 8GB if you only do one thing at a time. But that’s not how most people use a computer anymore. Browsers alone eat 2-4GB after a few tabs. Slack, Teams, Discord? Another gig each. Add a Word doc and Spotify and you’re hitting the swap file. Then it gets slow.

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and look at the “Memory” column. If you see 70-80% usage while doing your normal workflow, you benefit from 16GB. If it’s below 50%, you’re probably fine with 8GB. But honestly, RAM is cheap. For $40-$60, upgrading from 8 to 16 is the single biggest performance boost you can give a modern system.

The real question isn’t if you benefit—it’s when. You don’t notice the benefit until you’re out of RAM and the system stutters. So unless you’re strictly checking email and printing coupons, get 16GB.

Future you will thank present you.