I'm putting together a gaming PC in France for around €1,600, mainly for Minecraft, Valorant, and newer AAA games at 1440p. The current parts list is a Ryzen 5 7500F, Peerless Assassin 120 SE cooler, Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX motherboard, 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 CL36, a 1TB Kingston NV3 SSD, an XFX RX 9070 GRE 12GB, a Corsair 4000D case, and an 850W MSI power supply. Moving to 32GB would cost about €200 more, while switching to an RX 9060 XT 16GB only saves around €50. Will 16GB cause noticeable problems in these games, especially Minecraft, and are there any parts I should change?
4 Answers
The 12GB of VRAM on the graphics card could become a limitation in demanding future games before system memory does, particularly with high textures and ray tracing. I’d prioritize the 9070 GRE, then upgrade the RAM later if you start seeing stuttering or memory usage near 100%.
I’d keep the stronger GPU rather than dropping to the 9060 XT just to get more memory. The GPU difference will have a much larger effect on 1440p performance, while 16GB is mostly a capacity compromise that you can address later. If possible, use 2x8GB now and add a matching kit or replace it with 2x16GB when prices improve.
If you need to save money, look at the cooler or case first rather than downgrading the GPU. A less expensive cooler can still handle the 7500F, and that money could help move to 32GB. Also consider a larger SSD eventually, since 1TB fills up quickly with modern games.
Your current 2x8GB kit should run normally, but 2x16GB DDR5-6000 CL30 would be the more comfortable long-term choice. You may notice 16GB in some newer games or when multitasking, though it usually won’t be a major FPS bottleneck. Avoid planning around four separate DDR5 sticks, since higher memory configurations can be harder to run at their rated speed.
The RX 9070 GRE is a substantial step up for the games you listed, so cutting GPU performance to reach 32GB probably isn’t the best trade-off.