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If you’re wondering if a laptop with 16GB RAM is a good investment, you’re in luck. This article will help you understand what to expect from a computer powered with 16GB RAM and what to consider when buying one.
Whether you’re a college student, business owner, working professional, or gaming enthusiast, 16GB of RAM should be enough for most of your needs.
However, you should not pick a machine based on the RAM size alone. You’ll have to make sure that the laptop you are purchasing has a CPU, GPU, and storage combination, among other things, that are suitable for your needs.
After going over the most important things you need to consider before making a purchase, we’ll take a quick tour of some of the best laptops with 16GB RAM available and see why they made our carefully selected list.
So, let’s explore.
Table of Contents
Minimum & Recommended System Requirements
Simply picking a laptop with 16GB RAM is not the end of the story. In order to get your money’s worth, you also need to carefully consider the other components like CPU, graphics card, display, storage, and battery life.
Here is a list of the minimum and recommended system requirements we think a new laptop with 16GB RAM should have:
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 11th Gen. Intel Core i5 | 12th Gen. Intel Core i7 or better |
| Storage | 512GB SSD | 1TB SSD |
| Display | 14-inch FHD IPS (1920 x 1080) | 15.6 FHD IPS (1920 x 1080) or better |
| GPU | Intel Iris Xe | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series or better |
| Battery | Up to 4 hours | Up to 8 hours |
Top 7 Laptops with 16GB RAM
1. Cheapest Option from Acer: Acer Aspire Vero
- CPU: 1.3GHz Intel Core i7-1195G7
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
- GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
- Battery: Up to 9 hours
Aspire Vero is a budget laptop from Acer, with 16GB RAM, and suitable for business and most classroom workload. Besides affordable price, Vero offers light weight and great portability.
The machine runs on 11th Gen. i7 and Intel Iris Xe, which is an integrated GPU. This combo will work well with documents, multimedia, Google Drive, PPTs, and Excel. However, I wouldn’t use it for heavy lifting, except maybe light photo editing.
As for the display, the IPS panel looks crisp and sharp with documents. It’s also very color-accurate, though the saturation and brightness could have been a little better.
Aspire Vero belongs to Acer’s climate initiative, so the chassis is made of recycled plastic. It’s actually pretty sturdy, with a gritty texture nice to the touch. Not as premium as CNC aluminum or high-end plastic laptops, but I actually like the speckled design.
Just a little shy of 4 lbs, this 15.6” laptop is easy to carry around. In Eco Mode, the machine goes for 9 hours of video playback, which is impressive for a 48WHr battery.
The keyboard is slightly bouncy, but I like that Acer included the numpad.
However, I can’t say I’m thrilled with a 720p webcam. It will work fine for Zoom calls and online classes, but otherwise get a hi-res external camera.
Overall, Aspire Vero is a practical laptop with 16GB RAM that will do great with administrative work and research, while not burning a hole in your pocket.
- What We Like
- Affordable price
- Solid performance
- Color-accurate display
- Great portability
- Upgradable RAM
- Eco-friendly design
- What We Don’t Like
- Mediocre webcam
- Brightness could be higher
2. For Home & Business: HP Pavilion
- CPU: 1.7GHz Intel Core i7-1255U
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 512GB SDD
- Display: 15.6-inch FHD IPS (1920 x 1080)
- GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
- Battery: Up to 7 hours
If you want a clean business laptop with 16GB RAM, HP Pavilion is the one to turn to. With a great CPU, professional design, and low weight, Pavilion is a great choice for business people and/or home offices.
A 12th Gen. i7 processor can do a lot more than general tasks — it also performs well with multitasking, sheets and documents, and light editing work that is CPU-focused. Unfortunately, the integrated GPU is limiting for heavy tasks like CAD and intense photo/video editing.
As for design, the laptop feels very clean and classy. It will easily fit any office with its silver chassis and polished logo.
And it’s pretty portable for a 15.6” laptop. 3.7 lbs of weight aren’t heavy at all to carry around. Coupled with 7 hours of battery life, the machine is a good solution if you’re taking it outside.
Not to mention that 512GB of fast SSD is quite a lot of storage for documents, files and even media.
I like the keyboard and especially that HP included the numpad for number crunchers. But a backlight would have been nice, too.
It seems feels like HP could have added a few more ports, especially Thunderbolt 4 support. If you do lots of file transfers, I’d check out the LG Gram 14 below.
Overall, though, this is a powerful laptop with most of the right ingredients for a serious business machine that will serve you a good number of years.
- What We Like
- Powerful CPU
- Professional design
- Spacious keyboard
- Good overall portability
- Lots of storage
- Affordable
- What We Don’t Like
- Integrated GPU
- No Thunderbolt 4
3. Mid-Range Gaming Laptop: ASUS TUF F15
- CPU: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5-12500H
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 512GB SDD
- Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
- GPU: 4GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
- Battery: Up to 7 hours
TUF F15 solves the eternal dilemma in a young gamer’s mind: do you save money or get awesome specs? With this 16GB RAM laptop, you do both — and enjoy great performance, a captivating display and a clean design, for a reasonable price tag.
Driven by the 12th Gen. i5 and a strong dedicated GPU, TUF F15 is very capable of producing 50-60 fps in most AAA titles. The gaming feels smooth and super responsive, and benchmarks show better performance than Acer Nitro 5 and MSI Pulse.
I’m kinda partial to TUF’s display because of how elevated it is. It just gives a very nice overview when gaming and the 15.6” 144Hz panel draws you into the gaming arenas even better. The colors, whether for gaming or entertainment, look impressive.
The design isn’t what you’d call an ultimate gamer. I mean, sure, the RGB keyboard clearly hints at gaming, but the chassis and the lid are classy enough for more formal environments, like a classroom.
And the machine is reasonably portable for a gaming laptop. Sitting at 5 lbs of weight and 6-7 hours of battery life, it’s a good choice if you’re often on campus.
However, the laptop does occasionally get very hot because of the specs, so I’d avoid gaming while it’s on your lap.
But still, for the price, ASUS TUF F15 offers amazing value. It’s a great mid-range gaming laptop with 16GB RAM that will bring hours and hours of fun.
- What We Like
- Affordable
- Great performance
- High-quality display
- Reasonable portability
- Sleek design
- Full-size keyboard
- What We Don’t Like
- Gets very hot
- Spongy trackpad
4. Best Portability: LG Gram 14
- CPU: 2.1GHz Intel Core i7-1260P
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Display: 14-inch FHD IPS (1920 x 1080)
- GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
- Battery: Up to 14 hours
LG Gram’s been around a few years now, and it’s still unbeaten in terms of portability. With an astounding battery life, ultralight weight, and high-end display, this is an amazingly portable — and productive — laptop with 16GB RAM.
The Gram 14 weighs a mere 2.2 lbs, which is incredible for a 14” laptop. Moreover, with a battery life of realistic 13-14 hours, it’s super easy to pack this laptop and work the entire day outdoors.
If you’re doing photo editing work, you’ll be happy to know that the gorgeous WUXGA display is amazingly color-accurate. With DCI-P3 of 99%, the calibration is spot-on and produces crisp, vivid colors.
And all of this is run by a 12th Gen. i7 with Intel Iris Xe. Granted, you won’t be playing AAA titles at the highest settings, but the machine is more than capable of handling productivity tasks and mid-level editing.
A few years back, LG Gram’s design was all the rage, but since, it’s become pretty standard. However, the thin profile still feels very professional.
Such design comes at a price — meaning, the machine will get hot every now and then. It’s not the worst thing in the world — and far from heatwaves produced by ZenBook Pro Duo — but I’d get a cooling pad nevertheless.Gram belongs to those laptops that are simply memorable because they are the best in their categories. If you want an ultraportable configuration with 16GB RAM, this is it.
- What We Like
- Super lightweight
- Long battery life
- Strong CPU
- Color-accurate display
- Thin profile
- Comfy keyboard
- What We Don’t Like
- Integrated GPU
- Can get hot
5. Best for Content Creation: Lenovo Slim 7i
- CPU: 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-12700H
- RAM: 16GB DDR4
- Storage: 1TB SDD
- Display: 16-inch QHD IPS (2560 x 1600)
- GPU: 4GB Intel Arc A370M
- Battery: Up to 9 hours
Though its name suggests portability, Lenovo Slim 7i is a laptop with 16GB RAM that is pretty well-suited for content creators and heavier tasks. A strong CPU, a newer line of GPU, and a touchscreen, high-quality display make this laptop a very interesting choice.
Let’s look at the internals first: A 12th Gen. i7 is a very capable processor which can easily handle the content and editing workload, as well as gaming.
Intel Arc is the newer lineup of Intel’s dedicated mobile GPUs, aimed at content creators. The A370M is good enough for light gaming, but the GPU really shines in content performance tests, especially for Photoshop. In fact, the performance in these tests falls between RTX 3050 and RTX 3060, which is awesome for photo/video editing.
This is only made better by a beautiful, 16” WQXGA 2K display, which also happens to be touchscreen, making the whole creative workflow that much more interactive and precise.
And yes, the chassis is super thin and sturdy, with a reasonable weight of a little under 5 lbs — which is pretty similar to the MacBook Pro 16.
Sadly, I can’t say the same for battery life. While 9 hours still feel pretty good, they’re no match to MacBook and LG Gram, though Slim is significantly cheaper.
Still, Lenovo Slim is an excellent budget laptop for content creation with powerful results. If you don’t mind the battery, I’d be sure to check it out.
- What We Like
- Powerful CPU
- Excellent GPU for editing
- High-quality touchscreen panel
- Thin profile
- Great keyboard
- Affordable price
- What We Don’t Like
- Battery could be better
- Shallow touchpad
6. High-End Performance: MSI Katana 15
- CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-13620H
- RAM: 16GB DDR5
- Storage: 1TB SDD
- Display: 15.6-inch FHD IPS (1920 x 1080)
- GPU: 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
- Battery: Up to 4 hours
MSI Katana is a surprisingly powerful 16GB RAM laptop for this price range. With the impressive specs, an excellent keyboard and a sleek design, Katana is a great choice for anyone who doesn’t want an overkill.
Let’s face it — 13th Gen. Intel and RTX 40-series just feel great when you’re gaming. The gaming experience is seamless and the AAA titles can fully shine in front of our nerdy eyes. But these often come at a significant cost, and Katana solves that with a very reasonable price.
Adding to the amazing internals, 1TB SSD and DDR5 RAM mean lots of storage and fast loading, so you can also use this laptop as a great photo and video editor, or for CAD tools.
With its RGB lights, the comfy keyboard fits neatly into an overall minimalistic and sharp gamer design, which I’m sure any gamer will appreciate. Not flashy, but still quite effective.
Some corners had to be cut, and in Katana’s case, it seems to be the display. You do get a high refresh rate, but the lackluster colors undercut the ultimate gaming experience. Luckily, Katana supports connection to 4K or 8K displays, and I’d definitely recommend trying that.
Furthermore, the battery life could have been better. 2 hours of gaming isn’t unheard of, but there are better options — like the ASUS ROG lineup.
Still, considering the specs and the price, you get a lot of performance with this laptop, on top of the 16GB of fast RAM.
- What We Like
- Awesome CPU/GPU combo
- High refresh rate
- DDR5 RAM
- Sleek gamer design
- Remarkable RGB keyboard
- Reasonable price
- What We Don’t Like
- Lackluster colors
- Low battery life
7. Best Gaming Laptop: ASUS ROG Strix G16
- CPU: 2.2GHz Intel Core i9-13980HX
- RAM: 16GB DDR5
- Storage: 1TB SDD
- Display: 16-inch FHD (1920 x 1200)
- GPU: 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
- Battery: Up to 5 Hours
If you want one of the best gaming configurations with 16GB RAM, look no further than ROG Strix G16. Besides DDR5 RAM, Strix packs the latest and greatest specs, along with an amazing display.
Under the hood, you’ll find the reigning champions of internals: a 13th Gen. i9 and an RTX 4070, which will easily handle any AAA title that comes to mind, including Hogwarts’ Legacy, God of War, GTA V, Cyberpunk — and do so at consistently high settings.
Any game will come to life with a large display and a high refresh rate. In my case, Valorant and Tomb Raider simply flow, without the annoying lags or stutter.
Furthermore, the DDR5 RAM is super fast and can be upgraded up to 64GB RAM, in case you’re also streaming gameplay or doing creative tasks like 3D modeling.
This is a gamer laptop through and through — and it’s got the RGB lights, stripes and 3D elements to prove it. Personal impression is that the newest Strix is not as flashy as some of the previous models, but it will get noticed.
As for portability, Strix is reasonably heavy, with a battery life of 4-5 hours. These numbers look pretty standard for a gaming beast, but if portability is also important to you, check out the ASUS ROG Zephyrus.
However, Strix G16 is always on the best gaming lists for a reason. This 16GB RAM laptop is a long-term investment and a great one at that.
- What We Like
- Latest-gen. CPU
- Latest-gen. GPU
- High-quality, fast display
- Upgradable RAM
- Gamer design
- Great keyboard
- What We Don’t Like
- Middling battery life
- Loud fans
Buying Guide for Best Laptops with 16GB RAM
Let’s go over the most important things you need to consider when researching and buying a new laptop with 16GB RAM:
1. Tasks that Need 16GB RAM
While 16GB RAM laptops have become quite normal, not all the tasks require that much primary memory. For instance, you don’t need that much memory when purchasing a laptop for school or a computer for the elderly. In some cases, laptops with 8GB RAM are more than enough, but having 16GB RAM provides a smooth, lag-free experience. Here are a few tasks/purposes/professions where you’ll need it:
- College studies
- Financial modeling
- Engineering: Civil, Mechanical
- Law school students & Lawyers
- Drawing Enthusiasts / Art Students
- Journalists & Writers
- Programmers
- Medical school / Nursing school students
- Grad School
- Gaming Enthusiasts
- Professions
- Stock/Forex Trading
- GIS software
- DJs who run FL Studio, Pro Tools, Ableton
- Architecture / Realtors & Real Estate Agents
- Graphic Designers (Adobe Creative Cloud)
- Video Editors (Adobe Premiere Pro)
- Teachers & Coaches
- CAD Enthusiasts: AutoCAD, SolidWorks, etc.
- 3D Modelers: Revit, Blender, SketchUp, etc.
- Accounting: QuickBooks, Microsoft Office suite, Spreadsheets, etc.
2. Get a Good CPU/GPU Combo
When it comes to performance, you can’t stop at RAM capacity. If you want your computer to handle any task you throw at it, you’re going to need a powerful CPU as well.
On that note, with a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor (or higher), you can rest assured your computer will fly with most tasks. However, if your budget is limited, going for a lower-tier i5 processor is still a good option.
As for the GPU, it pretty much depends on what you plan to do with your laptop. If you’re a content creator or a gaming enthusiast, having a dedicated GPU is a must. And yes, our list of best laptops with 16GB RAM offers models featuring NVIDIAs RTX 30 and 40-series GPUs.
For anything else, an integrated graphics card like the Intel Iris Xe is enough.
3. Pick a Display Suitable for Your Needs
Any decent laptop nowadays will have at least an FHD IPS configuration. But if you plan to use the machine for graphic content creation, you will need something with good color accuracy.
Besides that, if you are also a gaming enthusiast, look for a display with a higher refresh rate (144Hz or better). A higher refresh rate means the display can produce more frames per second, resulting in smooth and enjoyable gameplay.
Of course, if you really want to spice up your gaming experience, you can always check out best 4K gaming laptops on the market.
4. Understand Different RAM Modules
RAM modules are not all the same, especially when laptops are concerned. Therefore, you need to account for RAM types based on the DDR generation, processing speeds, upgradability, RAM channels, and configurations.
In the last few years, the most popular RAM module in laptops was the DDR4. There is also a low-power version of DDR4 (known as LPDDR4), which consumes less power but with significantly slower loading times.
However, DDR5 is here to take the throne as the new generation of RAM with better power efficiency, faster loading times, and more capacity.
5. Is Portability and Battery Life Important to You?
Battery life and portability are another important consideration when buying a new laptop. Especially for college students and professionals who need to take their laptops with them.
Be aware the top-end machines designed for gamers and creators are usually heavier and drain the battery much quicker than regular laptops.
Don’t despair, though. Our list offers some great options with exceptional battery life and portability too. Plus, you can always check out laptops for gaming and school, which are designed to be powerful and lightweight.
6. Think About Upgradability
Last but not least, if you are into 3D modeling, audio production, CAD, architectural designs, and video editing, maxing out the 16GB RAM is quite possible. This is where upgradable dual-channel units come into the mix, allowing you to expand, if and when necessary.
For professionals in these areas, we recommend going up to at least 32GB RAM.
FAQs about Laptops with 16GB RAM
What is the significance of RAM processing speeds?
A RAM module with higher processing speeds can load data and files faster. While the speed changes are unrecognizable for web browsing and other day-to-day activities, the benefits are quite evident while gaming, 3D modeling, video editing and other resource-intensive apps.
Should I opt for a device with single-channel RAM or dual-channel RAM?
Single-channel RAM units with one memory stick are slightly more power-efficient. However, if you want speed over power efficiency, dual-channel RAM is the way to go. If you ask me, I’d always pick performance over the potential power savings of single-channel RAM.
Is 16GB RAM on a laptop overkill?
The short answer is — not really. Sure, if you are a mid-range gamer or a student with basic assignments to deal with, you can make peace with even 8GB RAM. However, 3D artists, audio production engineers, and other creative professionals might require at least 32GB or more.
So, how much RAM you really need? It pretty much depends on what you plan to do with it.
How can 16GB RAM improve gaming performance?
As modern games are becoming more RAM-intensive, having 16GB RAM can definitely improve gaming performance. It will allow you to play the latest and most demanding AAA titles limiting game stutters and frame dropping.
Moreover, you can run several apps in the background while gaming. This is particularly useful for gamers who like to stream their gameplay.
Which computing process cannot be initiated without 16GB RAM?
There is no specific computing process that requires at least 16GB RAM in order to be initiated. The amount of RAM you need depends on the complexity of the tasks you are doing and the nature of the software you use.
If you are a 3D artist with a focus on 3D rendering and sculpting, 16GB RAM is expected to be the bare minimum. But for professionals, a minimum of 32GB RAM is recommended.
Verdict
Each of the mentioned 16GB RAM laptops is loaded with an ultrafast and reliable chunk of system memory. However, selecting the best laptop isn’t only about the RAM but also concerns other aspects like CPU, graphics card, storage, display, and battery life.
The most important thing you need to decide is how you plan to use the laptop and then the choice will be obvious:
- If you’re looking for the ultimate gaming performance, the ASUS ROG Strix G16 is one of the best.
- If you are seeking portability, battery life and not dedicated gaming support, we recommend the LG Gram 14.
- Lastly, if besides portability, you also need a laptop good enough for content creation, the Lenovo Slim 7i offers the best bang for the buck.
Did you find what you were looking for? Let us know if you have any other questions and our team will reply asap.
