Even the best PCs with impressive specs need to rely on their RAM to keep things running smoothly, and that's especially true for gaming PCs; for that, you're going to want to consider gaming PCs with 16GB of RAM.
Regardless of whether you're playing a fairly low-performance title like CS:GO or you're cranking up texture quality to Ultra in Grand Theft Auto V, having a decent amount of RAM is crucial to the smooth running of your PC. Once upon a time, you could potentially get away with even 8GB of RAM when running games, but now you'd be lucky if you found even a handful of titles that didn't require a little more heft.
If you're looking for a new PC that's going to deliver consistent frame rates and gorgeous visuals on great games without breaking a sweat, then you've come to the right place. We've compiled some of the absolute best and brightest gaming PCs with 16GB of RAM from across the internet, all of which have been chosen with value in mind.
The best gaming PCs with 16GB of RAM at a glance:
• Best value gaming PC: HP OMEN Gaming Desktop PC GT12-1053na - View on Amazon
• Best GPU gaming PC: ACER Nitro N50-640 Gaming PC - View on Acer
• Best storage gaming PC: ASUS ROG Strix G15 Gaming PC - View on Currys
Now let's get into our list of the best gaming PCs with 16GB of RAM...
Best value gaming PC
Out of the gate, we're immediately starting strong with HP's GT12 gaming desktop which is fully loaded with some of the best hardware you can find. Sporting an NVIDIA RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM, and an AMD Ryzen 5 CPU, you'd better believe that'll handle most of what you can throw at it.
Of course, at its fantastic price, there are cutbacks - and they largely centre around memory. Don't get us wrong, 1,256GB of storage is more than enough. But in order to save a little cash, the HP GT12 utilises a hybrid memory system - that's a combination of HDD and SSD. In fact, most of the memory is HDD (at 1TB), leaving 256GB of SSD, but how will this affect your gameplay?
HDD is, generally speaking, much slower to boot than SSD, meaning that load times are going to be noticeably longer than they would be with a purely SSD-based PC. But once you've booted your game, you're in! The gameplay itself should be largely unaffected by the use of HDD, but you just might be waiting a little longer to jump into multiplayer, load new areas in open-world games, or even just boot non-gaming software.
Pros
- Fantastic GPU
- Beautiful case
- Great value
Cons
- HDD memory is a little dated
| Dimensions | 36.9 x 16.5 x 43.3 cm |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5600G |
| Video Connections | 1 x HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort |
| Audio Connections | 1 x Microphone jack, 1 x headphone jack, 1 x audio line-in, 1x audio line-out |
| USB | 3 x USB Gen 1, 1 x USB 3.2 gen 2, 1 x USB-C Gen 2, 1 x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 |
| Storage | 1TB HDD, 256GB SSD |
| Software | Windows 10 |
- Customer review: "As for performance, it's handled everything I've thrown at it so far. Sticking with 1080p gaming on my 144hz monitor and seeing great results with ultra settings and max ray tracing. Forza Horizon 5 generally sits around the 144fps mark with dips to 100fps in extreme conditions with lots of reflective surfaces. (Puddles, other cars, etc). Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition is showing similar results, but with highs of up to 200fps when underground."
Best GPU gaming PC
store.acer.com
Acer has really put the peddle to the metal when it comes to the fantastic Nitro N50 gaming PC, flaunting a superb Nvidia RTX 3060, alongside Intel's solid 12th gen i5 processor, 16GB of RAM and plenty of storage, and you've got yourself quite a mighty PC indeed.
As is fairly commonplace with pre-built mid-tier PCs, the Nitro N50 also has a combination of HDD and SSD storage, leading to some minor performance issues when booting - with load times being slightly cumbersome.
Overall, we think this a great option for PC gamers dying to upgrade to something that is going to obliterate most AAA games right now. You've got great specs, great value, and that all-important aesthetic which gives off some awe-inspiring evil energy.
Pros
- Great GPU
- Amazing performance
- Great value
Cons
- A bit noisy
| Dimensions | 39.2 X 17.5 X 38.6 cm |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA RTX 3060 |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-12400 processor |
| Video connections | 1 x HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort |
| Audio connections | 4 x 3.5 mm jack |
| USB | 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB-C Gen 2, 3 x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 |
| Storage | 1TB HDD, 256GB SSD |
| Software | Windows 11 |
- Customer review: "Much faster than my previous PC, very good graphics. Noisier than expected when not wearing headphones"
Best storage gaming PC
www.currys.co.uk
Acer's Republic of Gamers delivers fans an admittedly flashy, yet ferocious gaming PC with 16GB of RAM- the ROG Strix G15. Being only fractionally more expensive than our other picks, yet with a significant boost to processing power with the Intel® Core™ i5-12400F CPU, alongside its great storage, packing a hefty wallop at the get-go in terms of performance.
Games such as Cyberpunk 2077, God of War, or even Red Dead Redemption 2 stand very little chance of having any performance issues when paired with such a beast of a desktop - rest assured.
Once again, a ton of these mid-range PC builds use a hybrid SSD/HDD storage to cut down costs which tends to slow down booting times as well as general file exploring access, if you do intend to pick yourself up the G15, maybe think about eventually upgrading that storage to proper SSD.
Pros
- Terrific GPU
- Fantastic storage
- Solid value
Cons
- Somewhat small
| Dimensions | 49.8 x 18.5 x 42.1 cm |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA RTX 3060 |
| CPU | Intel® Core™ i5-12400F Processor |
| Video connections | 1 x HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort |
| Audio connections | 7 x 3.5 mm jack |
| USB | 2 x USB 2.0, 6 x USB 3.2 x 6, 2 x USB-C |
| Storage | 1TB HDD, 512GB SSD |
| Software | Windows 11 |
- Customer review: "Amazing computer, really good performance. Although quite expensive, the performance makes up for it 100 per cent. Could be a bit bigger but apart from that, a really good deal."
Best cooling gaming PC
Liquid cooling is a controversial, yet often reliable method of PC cooling - it's a great way of gaming without the incessant whirring of fans interrupting your focus (if that does happen to bother you). It can also look fantastic and more reminiscent of a mad scientific experiment than a normal gaming PC does, and Cyberpower PC's Centurion is far from the exception to this rule.
Packed to the gills with RGB lighting, which gives the machine's hardware the shock and awe they should inspire, CyberpowerPC has combined great aesthetics with solid hardware to create a formidable gaming PC with 16GB of RAM that is definitely worth your intrigue.
Our gripe, albeit minor, is the price of the machine overall, where some of our other picks look a little more basic, they've got a bit more to boot when it comes to processing brunt. The choice is yours, of course, a slight aesthetic binge, or perhaps you'd prefer to bump up those frames with something a little more punchy.
Pros
- Solid GPU
- Great SSD storage
- Ultra-quiet liquid cooling
Cons
- Liquid cooling isn't to everyone's liking
| Dimensions | 46.2 x 21.5 x 48.2 cm |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA RTX 3060 |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5700X |
| Video connections | 3 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort |
| Audio connections | 3 x 3.5 mm jack |
| USB | 4x USB 3.1 gen 1, 2x USB 2.0 |
| Storage | 1TB NVMe SSD |
| Software | Windows 11 |
- Customer review: "For what I wanted it for this system does it and more. I recommend using a 1440p monitor or higher though as the gpu is best suited for those being a 3080. I played at 1080p for a little while and while it does run all my games at 500fps+ (1000fps for minecraft for some reason) it does screen tear as the 60hz 1080p monitor I did have was being pushed to try and reach those high frames."
Best budget gaming PC
Our final pick is yet another CyberpowerPC build for gamers who want some proper performance, RGB lighting, and don't want to pay an arm and a leg for the pleasure.
Any sharp-eyed PC gamers are going to notice the significant price drop compared to the others, at £300 shy of our other picks, this is indeed a budget build. But how does it match up to our other picks? First things first, this is absolutely a downgrade from the other picks. There's a weaker GPU, CPU and less storage for a start.
You're probably going to get some solid 1080p performance with this machine, most older titles it'll crush with ease, Fortnite, CSGO, Dota 2: no problem. But for our money, we'd spend the extra £300 for a significant performance boost, where you're going to get great performance in most games with potential ray-tracing capabilities, we can't deny ourselves a gaming experience like that.
Pros
- Good value
- Great SSD storage
Cons
- Weaker performance than other picks
| Dimensions | 45 x 21.8 x 47.4 cm |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA RTX 1650 |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 4500 |
| Video connections | 3 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort |
| Audio connections | 3 x 3.5 mm jack |
| USB | 4 x USB 3.1 gen 1, 2x USB 2.0 |
| Storage | 500GB NVMe SSD |
| Software | Windows 11 |
- Customer review: "Very happy with this PC. Very quick and works really well as a gaming PC ( Fortnite, COD etc…). Would highly recommend it. For the price range, I was really happily surprised at how good it was. Very silent too."
FAQs
Are gaming PCs getting cheaper?
After the dreaded pandemic, we saw a meteoric rise in prices for essential PC components, graphics cards being hit hardest (although that was largely down to pesky scalpers). Since then, we've seen some significant price dips, so seemingly enough, GPUs are being made once again.
What is RAM?
RAM, or Random Access Memory, is a form of temporary storage for your PC, where any data stored is being used by the PC's processor. No data is saved to the RAM, meaning every time you restart your computer, it's completely rebooted.
RAM is absolutely essential for general operation, and crucial for gaming because it gives applications space to store their data on a short-term basis, when running any applications or software, the computer needs to access them as quickly as possible.
What else is important for PC gaming?
Each and every component of a PC is critical to the functioning of your desktop, from your CPU to your motherboard. But, of course, there are certain components that are going to fundamentally change how smooth your game runs - we're talking about the graphics card.
Possibly the most expensive component of your gaming PC build, graphics cards are responsible for rendering graphics - the very outputted screen that you interact with! The best graphics cards have a large amount of VRAM (a temporary storage for graphics data), but they can be pricey.
If you're looking to build your very own gaming PC, we've got a brilliant guide on the absolute best of the best graphics cards that are available now.
Why are gaming PCs better than consoles?
Of course, they're not objectively better, it's largely a preference for most people. But there are some essential differences. A gaming PC doesn't have to be used purely for gaming, it can be used for other highly demanding tasks such as editing and rendering, as well as your essential browsing which has always been suited much better to a PC than a console.
When it comes to game choices, PC has always had the best of both worlds. You get the PC-exclusive titles from gaming platforms like Steam, but you also get Microsoft's store, packed with Xbox titles, so you'll never miss a chance to play the latest Bethesda titles, or Halo for that matter. And while there are not a ton of PlayStation titles as of now (we're looking at you Bloodborne), they're steadily finding their way to PCs slowly but surely. Just recently Santa Monica Studios released a God of War port to PC, and Insomniac is soon to release their Spider-Man remaster, so PC gamers are rarely starved of choice!
Then there's my personal favourite thing about PC gaming; modding. Again, over years there's been some modding capabilities that have found their way to consoles, Skyrim, Fallout 4, they've all had added modding features, but for us, they've barely scratched the surface as to what true modding can be. Proper game overhauls, true visual upgrades, and true freedom to play your way - this is what modding has to offer, and with millions of available mods, the community is just getting stronger.
Why do gaming PCs require more RAM nowadays?
As games become increasingly larger and get sharper visuals with ray-tracing, ambient occlusion, and anti-aliasing, they become more demanding on the PC itself. RAM is responsible for temporarily storing program data, and is in constant use while gaming. Therefore, having that larger amount of RAM for games allows for programs to run a lot smoother, the PC isn't struggling for storage space and is therefore going to run without issue.
Unfortunately, in modern gaming, 8GB no longer cuts it, for most AAA titles we'd recommend sticking to at least 16GB which is going to give you the gameplay you've been looking for.
What are the most popular games on PC right now?
We're seeing a ton of new games being released this summer, and they've taken Steam by storm. Stray landed across platforms recently and with over 50,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews, it's safe to say it's a hit.
Then there are the usual suspects that have found themselves in the top sellers every month since their release. Hades is a huge hit for PC gamers, offering a blend of incredible characters, nail-biting combat, and gorgeous visuals.
How do the next-gen consoles compare to PCs?
The Xbox Series X and PS5 are some formidable consoles indeed, they're running gameplay at 60fps with 4K functionality which takes some heft to pull off. A lot of mid-tier PCs aren't going to pull off the power that's required to run games in 4K so it really is a tremendous technical achievement at a great price.
Of course, the £1,000+ PCs are capable of some truly impressive gameplay, potentially reaching up to 8K (especially with NVIDIA's RTX 3090).