16GB vs 32GB RAM for Excel: 32GB wins for heavy spreadsheet work with millions of rows

32GB is worth it for heavy Excel work with millions of rows because Power Pivot and multiple sheets eat RAM like candy. With 16GB, you’ll hit “not enough memory” errors during refreshes or complex formulas; 32GB gives smoother pivots and fewer crashes. For simple sums on a few hundred thousand rows, 16GB is fine, but don’t save $100 and lose an hour a week waiting for Excel to unfreeze.