You can get by with 8gb of RAM, I mean, if you really consider THAT “getting by.” But just the few google chrome tabs and Media Player Classic I have running here would be using over ¼th of that 8gb, along with OS overhead and background applications.
RAM is so cheap now a friend of mine just sent me another 8gb not even because I really needed it but just because it gives me more breathing room. Now I can pile Photoshop and Steam (in the background) and BitConex and what the hell a few more chrome tabs in there, and it’s all good.
Hell, I don’t even have a swap file anymore. Although I hear that can cause glitches with some applications, but I’ll deal with that if I come across any.
Finally, and this is just vain, but I think my PC just looks meaner with all four RAM slots full, cowering before the massive Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo that is just barely keeping the watt-hungry FX-8350 from thermal throttling at stock speeds.