My parents surprised me with a gaming PC, and I'm really grateful for it. I plan to keep using it for a long time, but it currently has only one 16GB DDR5-5600 memory module. The system uses a Ryzen 7 7700 and an RTX 5070. I understand that a single stick isn't ideal, but is there anything I can do to reduce its effect on gaming? I'm especially noticing severe stutters and unusually low 1% lows in games that should run smoothly. I'd also like to know whether enabling EXPO or XMP could help, since the memory profile currently appears to be disabled in the BIOS.
4 Answers
Don’t assume the memory stick is automatically responsible for every stutter. Unreal Engine 4 and 5 games are well known for shader-compilation and traversal stutter even on powerful systems. Monitor RAM usage, GPU usage, CPU usage, temperatures, and frametime graphs while playing. If RAM usage is close to 16GB, lower texture settings, close background applications, and consider reducing other memory-heavy options. If usage is well below capacity, the stutters may be game-engine or driver related rather than caused solely by running one stick.
For EXPO, enter the UEFI/BIOS during startup—usually by pressing Delete or F2—then look under an overclocking, memory, or advanced settings section. Set the memory profile to EXPO I or the equivalent advertised profile, save, and reboot. Some boards may label the option differently or only show a generic memory profile setting. If the system becomes unstable, revert the setting or update the motherboard BIOS. Avoid manually pushing the memory beyond its rated DDR5-5600 settings until you have a second module and the system is stable.
The only option I can currently see is Disabled, so I may need to look for a different memory settings menu or check whether the board uses another name for the profile.
The best immediate step is to check the BIOS and enable the memory’s EXPO profile, if your motherboard offers it. That will run the DDR5 at its advertised speed and timings instead of a slower default setting. Also keep background programs and browser tabs to a minimum while gaming. A second matching 16GB module is the proper long-term upgrade, but you don’t necessarily need to rush into it. Single-channel memory can reduce performance, but the severity varies by game, and 16GB total capacity can also become a limitation in newer titles.
My biggest concern is the severe stuttering, even in games where the average frame rate is high. I’m hoping there’s something I can adjust before buying another module.
A single 16GB DDR5 module is not quite as disadvantaged as a single DDR4 module because many DDR5 sticks use two independent 32-bit memory channels internally. However, it still doesn’t provide the same bandwidth as two full modules, and some games can show a noticeable drop in average FPS and especially 1% lows. Adding a second matching stick later should improve that. Check the module’s exact model number before buying so the speed, capacity, and timings are as similar as possible.
I’ve seen games lose much more than a few percentage points when moving from two sticks to one, particularly in the 1% lows, so the impact can depend heavily on the game and settings.
In some games my average FPS is around 120, but the 1% low is closer to 60, so the frametime spikes are much more noticeable than the average FPS suggests.