Gaming nowadays requires at least 16GB of RAM, that’s if you’re looking to play the latest triple-A games, but many people are still stuck with 8GB of RAM.
That leads to the question of whether it’s possible to game with only 8GB of RAM. As we know, 8GB of RAM can lead to massive FPS loss.
But the great news is that you can indeed game with 8GB of RAM, that’s if you know what games to look for, and the best settings to play them on.
1. Fortnite
Fortnite has a recommended RAM capacity of only 8GB which means it fits right into our specification, but you may have to close background applications for efficient gameplay.
Fortnite is also best played on competitive settings which basically prioritizes playability instead of graphical quality
Also, the VRAM requirements for Fortnite is only 2GB, VRAM is basically the RAM for the graphics card. Pretty much all recent graphics cards have more than 2GB of VRAM, so this isn’t an issue.
However, for a more consistent experience without stuttering, getting at least 16GB of RAM can smoothen those 1% lows which cause stuttering in games.
2. Call of Duty Black Ops III
Black Ops 3 which is an old but gold game runs perfectly fine with only 8GB of RAM, in fact, its recommendation is only 6GB of RAM.
So this means you should have a decent amount of headroom RAM wise to keep some applications open without interfering with the playability.
Black Ops 3 was released in 2015, so it’s pretty much optimized for hardware at that time, and in 2015, 8GB of RAM was considered the sweet spot.
Like always, if you want as much performance as possible, the recommended RAM capacity nowadays is 16GB of RAM.
3. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
The Division 2 only has a 2GB RAM requirement which means an 8GB PC build should be able to run this game with ease.
There’s also a high chance you won’t have to close background tasks to free up RAM to play Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 which is a huge plus.
This is great because the majority of PC’s should be able to run it, especially low-end builds, so you won’t have to break the bank to get a competent PC.
The reason why Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 runs so well on 8GB of RAM is because it was released back in 2015 which means it’s mostly optimized to run on older hardware.
4. Valorant
The recommended RAM capacity for Valorant is only 4GB, and this is a common theme with competitive games, they don’t require much to run.
This is because competitive games aren’t usually graphically intensive which makes them able to run on extremely weak hardware.
So with 8GB of main system memory, Valorant should run perfectly, and you shouldn’t run into any issues with the RAM running out of capacity.
5. Counter Strike Global Offensive
Counter strike is one of the most popular game series due to its competitive nature, and CSGO is one of the most popular game in the series.
A large reason for its popularity is that it takes almost nothing to run it effectively, it only has a 2GB RAM requirement which means 8GB is more than enough.
Counter strike global offensive was released back in 2012 and it’s still popular today this is why many weak computers of today’s standard can run CSGO effortlessly.
One of the most popular ways to play CSGO is at 144Hz which does take quite a bit of RAM, but it should not be an issue with 8GB of RAM.
6. Rise Of The Tomb Raider
Rise of The Tomb Raider was released back in 2015 which means it’s optimized for older hardware, this is evident by the 6GB RAM requirement.
With 8GB of RAM, playing Rise Of The Tomb Raider shouldn’t be too difficult despite it being quite graphically intensive and requiring at least 6GB of RAM.
For the best experience with this action-adventure game, it would be best to close all background applications to free as much RAM as possible.
7. Player Unknown’s Battleground (PUBG)
PUBG was released back in 2017 which means the RAM requirements are definitely higher, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to play it effectively with in-game setting tweaks.
The recommended RAM requirement for PUBG is 8GB which means we have very little wiggle room when it comes to RAM, this is why we recommend closing all background applications.
A huge reason why the game consumes 8GB of RAM is due to the open-world nature, so the game has to load a lot of assets.
Also, turning down the in-game settings to low will significantly reduce the RAM usage, also turning off anti-aliasing will improve the playability.
8. Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5)
GTA 5 is an action-adventure video game with a huge map released back in 2013 and it only requires 4GB of RAM to run effectively.
This is because GTA 5 was made with older hardware in mind which means someone with 8GB of RAM should have no issues running GTA 5.
Also, the RAM usage depends on how many AI characters are being loaded on screen, this is because the AI’s in GTA use quite a bit of RAM.
However if you intend on modding GTA 5, then you may actually want more than 8GB of RAM because mods are made by developers that have no motivation to optimize their mods.
9. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is another open-world video game with a massive open world environment released back in 2018.
Open world games usually consume a considerable amount of RAM and that’s no exception with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey with a RAM requirement of 8GB.
With a PC build with only 8GB of RAM, there are a few ways you can optimize Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to play well on your PC.
The best way to reduce RAM usage is by reducing the in-game settings, you can try setting them to low or medium, and disabling anti aliasing for the best experience possible.
10. Call Of Duty Warzone
Call Of Duty Warzone is a battle-royale video game which usually means the maps are pretty large, and with large maps, the RAM requirements tend to be higher.
The minimum RAM requirement for Warzone is 8GB which means it will take quite a bit of work to get Warzone running smoothly.
The best thing you can do is reduce the in game settings to competitive, and close all background applications to reduce RAM usage.
11. Minecraft
Minecraft is arguably the most popular video game to ever exist, it’s a sandbox action adventure game popular among all ages.
Minecraft was made back in 2011 which means it was made to run on the hardware at that time which means it shouldn’t be too hard to run on today’s hardware.
Minecraft’s RAM requirement is only 2GB which means a PC with only 8GB of RAM should run base Minecraft effortlessly.
However if you’re into heavy modding, the more mods you run on Minecraft, the more RAM it will require. Some modpacks require up to 32GB of RAM to run effectively.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many games that run pretty well on systems with only 8GB of RAM, and these games are mostly heavily optimize to run on older hardware.
However, there are some RAM intensive games, but there are many things you can do to reduce the RAM usage, and that’s usually by reducing the in-game settings, and closing background apps.
