How Much RAM Do You Need for Streaming? 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB Plus?

We have noticed numerous amounts of people on sites such as Reddit and Google asking questions about how much RAM (Random Access Memory) is needed for streaming? For this reason, we have decided to create a quick guide on this topic.

Live streaming on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and other streaming platforms require that you have multiple processes running at once and can take up a very large portion of the RAM capacity you have available. This can lead to poor stream quality if you don’t have the right amount of DDR4 RAM to accommodate those running applications. Additionally, the RAM requirements below apply to both single and dedicated streaming PCs.

Is 4GB of RAM enough for streaming?

No, 4 GB of RAM is not enough for live streaming on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube. The fact of the matter is that most games today require more than 4GB of RAM alone. Also, taking in to account the OBS streaming software, Discord, and other applications you have running, it becomes clear that 4GB of RAM is barely enough for gaming let alone streaming.

Is 8GB of RAM enough for streaming?

The short answer is yes 8GB of RAM is enough for streaming, but the days of 8GB being enough are slowly coming to an end. The problem with having only 8GB of RAM in your Streaming PC is that the quality of your streams may suffer depending on how demanding the games you stream are.

Most games today require well over 4GB of RAM and some games such as PUBG even recommend that you have at least 8GB of RAM. So, with the game you are streaming, OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) streaming software, maybe discord, and a few internet tabs running, you will have very little leeway in terms of available RAM capacity left with only 8GB of RAM in your PC.

This can cause your stream quality to become less than adequate. You may also start to experience stream stuttering and sluggishness due to you using up all your RAM. Therefore, we highly recommend that you go with 16GB of RAM if possible. This will allow you to have good streaming quality and future proof your system in terms of required RAM for streaming over the next couple of years.

Is 16GB of RAM enough for streaming?

As you read above, yes 16GB of RAM is enough for streaming. With 16GB of RAM, you have much more leeway in terms of how many applications you can have running at once. Therefore, you can have all of the necessary software for streaming including the game you are streaming, your streaming software such as OBS, Discord, and many other applications running without experiencing the slowness and sluggishness you would experience with only 8GB of RAM.

Final Take

• 4GB of RAM is out of the question for streaming today. Its just not enough memory for you to properly run all the necessary applications simultaneously that are needed to produce a good quality stream.
• 8GB of RAM is enough for streaming, but when streaming more demanding games you may experience some stream quality issues. Also, you may be limited in the number of other applications you can have running while streaming.
• 16GB of RAM is enough for streaming and gives you much more leeway. It will allow you to have more applications running at once without diminishing the quality of your streams.
• Dual Chanel RAM (two or more sticks of RAM) provides better performance than single-channel RAM (one stick of RAM). For example, 2 x 8GB of RAM will perform better than 1 x 16GB of RAM.
• The higher the frequency of your RAM the better. Depending on the game you’re streaming, there could be a considerable difference in FPS (Frames Per Second) if your using 2400MHz RAM compared to 3600MHz RAM.