Three months ago, I purchased a single 32GB DDR4 RAM stick from a local charity shop. I also bought an MSI Gaming B760 motherboard during Black Friday. Given the current high prices for RAM, I'm unable to afford another stick. How significant is the impact of only having one stick of 32GB RAM for gaming performance on this motherboard?
5 Answers
It’s definitely usable, but keep in mind that you might be sacrificing up to 40% of your potential performance. If you find a budget option for an 8GB stick that matches your speed, it could really help you out with dual-channel support later.
You’re missing out on some memory bandwidth by using a single stick, so you could be losing around 10-15% performance. If possible, try to find another stick of similar speed for dual-channel support, but if that’s not an option, just make the most of what you have.
Honestly, you probably won’t notice a huge difference in everyday gaming. The performance drop might only be around 5 to 10 FPS, depending on the game. Dual sticks are best, but one stick should hold you over just fine for now.
While you might feel a bit of a performance hit from not using dual-channel, if you can’t afford another stick, just rock the single one! If you plan to upgrade, always buy RAM in pairs to avoid stability issues later on.
You’re totally fine with a single stick of 32GB. Many pre-built systems come with one DIMM, and the performance difference is minor—usually just a few percent. If you can, consider trading it for a pair of 16GB sticks later on since dual channels do provide better performance, but for now, just use what you’ve got.
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