Windows 10 RAM Requirements: How Much RAM Does Windows 10 Need [MiniTool News]

By Alisa | Follow | Last Updated March 04, 2021

Summary :

When buying a Windows computer, one thing you may take into account is: how much RAM does a Windows 10 PC need? Windows 10 PC RAM is one of the key factors influencing the computer performance. Check the Windows 10 RAM requirements below.

How much RAM does a Windows 10 PC need? What’s the minimum requirement for different versions of Windows 10 PC? Choosing which amount of RAM for a Windows 10 PC can make the computer achieve the optimal performance? Check the Windows 10 RAM requirements below.

Windows 10 RAM Requirements

If you are using the 32-bit version of Windows 10, 1GB RAM is the minimum requirement. However, 1GB RAM is not recommended for a Windows 10 computer.

If a Windows 10 PC only has a 1GB RAM, users may only be able to browse web pages/emails, use office word/excel, conduct light image editing, and some other basic operations.

1GB RAM Windows 10 PC will be very tough for other workload tasks, like playing games, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, etc. It’s highly recommended to choose a larger RAM for a Windows 10 PC.

As for 64-bit version of Windows 10, 2GB of RAM is the minimum system requirement. If a Windows 10 PC equips a 2GB of RAM, you can use it to do much more things like playing games, editing video and images, smoothly opening and browsing more tabs in browser, etc. a 2GB RAM computer is enough to get most work smoothly done in a Windows 10 PC including Adobe Photoshop.

If you feel a 2GB RAM Windows 10 PC is slow, you can add more RAM to speed up Windows 10 PC. But if you can add additional RAM, then you may change a bigger RAM Windows 10 PC like 4GB, 8GB.

In regards to Windows 10 RAM requirements, nowadays most basic Windows 10 systems comes with 4GB of RAM. Especially if you intend to run a 64-bit Windows 10 operating system, 4GB RAM is the minimum requirement.

With a 4GB RAM, the Windows 10 PC performance will be boosted. You can smoothly run more programs at the same time and your apps will run much faster.

However, if you need to frequently edit 4K/HD videos/images, play large size games, etc. you may need a faster system. 8GB of RAM for a Windows 10 PC is the minimum requirement to get a high-performance Windows 10 PC.

Especially for Adobe Creative Cloud applications users, 8GB RAM is top recommended. And you need to install a 64-bit Windows 10 operating system to match this amount of RAM.

Is there a need to shot for a 16GB or 16GB+ RAM for a Windows 10 PC? Yes. But this is more suitable for running a pile of resource-heavy programs simultaneously. If you need to frequently run 4K video processing, CAD, 3D modelling, and use Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects or other superior video editing programs , then you may choose 16GB RAM to feel its high performance.

Moreover, if you need to run multiple virtualization tools like VMware Workstation, Hyper-V, 16GB can give you a smooth usage experience.

As for 16GB/16GB+ RAM, you also need a 64-bit OS to make use of this amount of RAM.

Need to mention that a 64-bit Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise or Education edition can support up to 2TB of RAM. A 64-bit Windows 10 Home system can only support up to 124GB RAM.

How to Check Your Windows 10 PC RAM

As for how to check RAM/specs of a Windows 10 computer, you can click Start menu and type Control Panel. Then click Control Panel to open it.

Next click: System and Security -> System -> View amount of RAM and processor speed. And you can see the installed Windows 10 RAM information under System section.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Position: Columnist

Alisa is a professional English editor with 4-year experience. She loves writing and focuses on sharing detailed solutions and thoughts for computer problems, data recovery & backup, digital gadgets, tech news, etc. Through her articles, users can always easily get related problems solved and find what they want. In spare time, she likes basketball, badminton, tennis, cycling, running, and singing. She is very funny and energetic in life, and always brings friends lots of laughs.

How to Find Windows 10 Computer Specifications & Systems Requirements

Here’s an overview of how to find computer specification requirements, versions, and languages available for Windows 10.

Table of Contents

System requirements for installing Windows 10

These are the basic requirements for installing Windows 10 on a PC. If your device does not meet these requirements, you may not have the great experience intended with Windows 10 and might want to consider purchasing a new PC.

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit

Hard drive size:

32GB or larger hard disk

Note: See below under “More information on hard drive space to install or update Windows 10” for more details.

Compatible with DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver

Display: 800×600 Internet Connection:

Internet connectivity is necessary to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. Windows 10 Pro in S mode, Windows 10 Pro Education in S mode, Windows 10 Education in S mode, and Windows 10 Enterprise in S mode require an internet connection during the initial device setup (Out of Box Experience or OOBE), as well as either a Microsoft account (MSA) or Azure Activity Directory (AAD) account. Switching a device out of Windows 10 in S mode also requires internet connectivity. Learn more about S mode here.

There may be additional requirements over time for updates, as well as requirements to turn on specific features within the OS.

Keeping Windows 10 up-to-date

Windows 10 is designed to deliver updates for the supported lifetime of the device. Two types of updates may be provided: quality updates and feature updates. Quality updates include both security and non-security updates and are typically targeted to be released once a month. Feature updates also include security and non-security fixes as well as new features to Windows 10 and are typically provided twice a year. Ensuring that your device receives these updates and is kept up-to-date is important for your device security. Windows 10 periodically checks for updates so you don’t have to. When an update is available—and sufficient free disk space is available on your device—it will be automatically installed. So that Windows 10 continues to stay updated, it’s important to ensure your device has sufficient free space. See additional applicable details in the following notes.

Important notes about updates:

• A device might not be able to receive updates if the device hardware is incompatible, if it lacks current drivers or sufficient available hard drive space, or if it’s otherwise outside of the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (“OEM”) support period. Visit the Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet or the Lifecycle FAQ for Windows products to learn more about the servicing timeline for each feature update.
  • Some of the disk space needed for installing updates is only temporarily required. Typically, ten days after installing an update, a disk cleanup will be automatically performed to delete copies of the older, unneeded Windows files and free up space again.
• Not all features in an update will work on all devices.
• An internet connection is required to perform updates and Internet access (ISP) fees might apply.
• If you need assistance installing an update, Windows 10 Update Assistant may be able to help.

More information on hard drive space requirements to install or update Windows 10

The size of the Windows operating system that comes with your device and the amount of space needed to download and install Windows updates, are highly variable as they depend on a variety of factors. Visit here to learn why. The factors that impact the amount of free hard drive space needed to take an update include: the versions of Windows previously installed on the machine, the amount of disk space available to reuse from Windows files, such as the virtual memory pagefile or hibernation file, which applications are installed on your device and how those applications store data. Starting with the May 2019 Update, the system requirements for hard drive size for clean installs of Windows 10 as well as new PCs changed to a minimum of 32GB. The 32GB or larger drive requirement is set to leave space for users to install apps and to keep data on the device. Installing Windows or updating from a previous version of Windows on devices with less than 32GB storage will continue to work if the device has enough free space available. When updating, Windows will attempt to automatically free up enough hard drive space and guide you through freeing up even more if the automatic cleanup is not sufficient. You can also take steps to free up space on your own. For more information, see Free up space to install the latest Windows 10 update or visit the related FAQ.

Feature-specific requirements for Windows 10

In addition to the requirements above that are needed to run Windows, some features have additional requirements. In some cases, features included with updated versions of Windows 10 will be best experienced with newer processors. For specific hardware support please refer to your Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Below are some additional details regarding requirements for key features:

• BitLocker Drive Encryption (available with Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise only) requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or higher and Trusted Computing Group (TCG)-compliant BIOS or UEFI. BitLocker can be used on devices without TPM, but you will need to save a startup key on a removable device such as a USB flash drive. TPM 2.0 and InstantGo support is required when you want to automatically encrypt the local drive when joining a device to Azure Active Directory (AAD). Check with your PC manufacturer to confirm if your device supports the correct TPM version and InstantGo for the scenario you want to enable.
• BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (available in Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
• Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (available in Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
• Cortana is only currently available on Windows 10 for the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Spain, Australia and India.
• Microsoft account is required for some features.
• Miracast requires a display adapter which supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.3, and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
• Movies & TV application is not available in all regions. For the most up-to-date list of regions, please go to the Movies & TV information page.
• Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database.
• Skype is available only in select countries and regions. Calling to select countries and regions only. Excludes special, premium and non-geographic numbers. For details, visit the Office FAQ page.
• Snap: The number of applications that can be snapped will depend upon the minimum resolution for the application with a limit of two applications in Tablet mode and four applications in Desktop mode.
• Speech recognition will vary by device microphone. For a better speech experience, you will need a:
  • High fidelity microphone array
  • Hardware driver with microphone array geometry exposed
• Tablet mode is available on tablets and 2-in-1s with GPIO indicators or those that have a laptop and slate indicator will be able to be configured to enter «tablet mode» automatically.
• Touch: To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multi-touch.
• Two-factor authentication requires the use of a PIN, Biometric (finger print reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
• Windows Hello requires a camera configured for near infrared (IR) imaging or fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Devices without biometric sensors can use Windows Hello with a PIN or a portable Microsoft compatible security key.
• Xbox application requires an Xbox Live account, which is not available in all regions. For the most up-to-date list of regions, please go to Xbox Live Countries and Regions website.
• Wi-Fi Direct Printing requires a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct and a device that supports Wi-Fi Direct Printing.

Сравниваем производительность Windows 10 Pro и Home — загрузку процессора, ОЗУ и накопителя

Читая ветку нашей конференции, посвященную Windows 10, я наткнулся на посты пользователя, который утверждал, что легкая версия Windows 10 Home работает заметно быстрее обычной Windows 10 Pro. Это звучит вполне логично, ведь в Windows 10 Home вырезано довольно много компонентов и служб.

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Сайт Microsoft дает вот такую таблицу вырезанных компонентов и функций:

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Большинство вырезанных функций и компонентов не особо нужны домашнему пользователю. А часть функций, к примеру «Групповые политики», можно при желании вернуть в Windows 10 Home.

Мои постоянные читатели знают, что я люблю эксперименты с операционными системами и постоянно нахожусь в поиске «идеальной ОС», и не проверить информацию о более быстрой работе Windows 10 Home я не мог.

Сильнее всего разница в скорости работы Windows 10 будет видна на слабом «железе», к примеру, на ноутбуке. До сих пор немало пользователей используют ноутбуки с двумя ядрами, 4 Гб ОЗУ и жестким диском в качестве накопителя, и я решил имитировать такой устаревший ноутбук с помощью виртуальной машины.

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Я создал две абсолютно идентичные виртуальные машины для Windows 10 Home и Pro с двумя ядрами Ryzen 5 1600, 4 Гб ОЗУ и 60 Гб диском, созданном на реальном HDD.

Скачав средство MediaCreationTool 20H2 с сайта Microsoft я приступил к установке Windows на виртуальные машины. Версию Home (Домашняя) или Pro можно выбрать из стандартного iso-файла с Windows 20H2.

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Даже на жесткий диск виртуальной машины версия Windows 10 October 2020 Update ставится довольно быстро, есть ощущение, что она выигрывает в скорости установки у более старых версий.

Начиная с Windows 10 версии 1903 создать локальный аккаунт при установке Home-версии стало затруднительно. Такая возможность появляется только при отсутствии интернета при установке Windows. Имейте это ввиду. Для минимального различия версий, я установил и Windows 10 Home, и Pro с онлайн-аккаунтом.

Никаких твиков систем я не проводил, включил только вход без пароля, и дав Windows на виртуальных машинах полчаса на апдейты и телеметрию.

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Home потребляет в таком режиме около 1.6 Гб ОЗУ. Сразу после установки я видел цифры в 1.3-1.4 Гб, но после первой же перезагрузки повторить такое малое потребление ОЗУ уже не получилось. ОС «съедала» не менее 1.6 Гб после неоднократных перезагрузок.

Процессор периодически загружается фоновыми процессами, что видно как «всплески» на графике. Запущено около 125 процессов.

Накопитель, после того как я дал Windows «настояться» полчаса, загружен не сильно и система работает довольно шустро.

На системном диске занято всего 18 Гб с учетом файлов подкачки и гибернации. А самое главное — загрузка ОС до появления «Рабочего стола» занимает всего 19 секунд. Для жесткого диска это отличный результат!

Windows 10 Pro

Windows 10 Pro потребляет около 1.7 Гб ОЗУ.

Запущено 130 процессов, на 5 больше, чем у Home-версии, но сказать, что загрузка процессора более заметна — нельзя. Все те же периодические «всплески» загруженности.

На диске Windows 10 Pro занимает 18.2 Гб, всего на 200 МБ больше Home-версии. А загрузка до «Рабочего стола» составляет все те же 19 секунд.

Интересно было то, что у Windows 10 Pro автоматически была включена более темная тема с прозрачностью. У Home-версии — светлая.

Выводы

Разницу вы видели сами на скриншотах — 200 МБ дискового пространства, 100 МБ ОЗУ и дополнительные 5 процессов. Честно сказать, я ожидал от Home-версии большего и несколько разочарован. На более мощном ПК или ноутбуке эту разницу и не почувствовать вовсе.

Получается, что причин для специального выбора Windows 10 Home нет, прирост скорости она даст мизерный. Но многие ноутбуки изначально поставляются именно с такой версией Windows 10, и сказать, что Windows 10 Home сильно проигрывает по функциям Windows 10 Pro тоже нельзя, ведь самое востребованное — «Групповые политики», можно интегрировать в Windows 10 Home.

А вот различия версий Windows 10 Pro и Windows 10 Enterprise уже более заметны и функции там есть гораздо более «вкусные», такие, как AppLocker или BranchCache. Но это тема уже для другого блога.