Is 16GB of RAM enough for Rust and similar early access games?

Yes, 16GB is the new minimum for Rust. It helps reduce stuttering by giving the game room to breathe and avoiding constant swapping to disk, which 8GB can’t handle anymore. However, stuttering can also come from a slow CPU, GPU, or storage, so it’s not a magic bullet. 32GB is overkill unless you run many browser tabs.