I'm using a single 16GB Lexar DDR5-5200 stick with a Ryzen 5 8400F and a 500GB hard drive. Memory usage quickly reaches around 95% or higher when I run After Effects, and even a browser with four or five tabs can push it to roughly 70%. Is this mainly because I'm using one RAM stick, or is 16GB simply not enough for Windows and creative software? I'm considering moving to an AM4 system with 32GB of memory, but I'd rather understand the real issue before changing platforms.
4 Answers
You’re simply running out of memory. After Effects can use a lot of RAM, and 16GB is now more of a minimum for Windows than a comfortable amount. Upgrade to 32GB if possible; that should help much more than changing from DDR5 to DDR4. Using two matching sticks will also enable dual-channel memory, but the capacity is the main problem here.
A single stick can reduce memory bandwidth and performance, but it usually isn’t what causes the usage percentage to spike. After Effects plus Windows and background apps can easily consume 16GB. Ideally, use a matched 2x16GB kit, assuming your motherboard supports it, rather than switching platforms just to get more memory.
Before replacing the CPU platform, I’d upgrade the storage and RAM. A solid-state drive will make the system feel much faster than a hard drive, especially when Windows starts paging memory to disk. Also, check your motherboard and CPU limitations before buying memory, since the Ryzen 5 8400F has some platform compromises despite being on a newer socket.
For general browsing, 16GB can still work, but After Effects is a different workload. I’d recommend 32GB as a practical starting point, and 64GB if you regularly work with large projects. Moving to AM4 won’t inherently solve the problem; more RAM and an SSD will.
So the high usage doesn’t mean the RAM is defective or that DDR5 is bloating? It’s just filling up because there isn’t enough capacity?