I've been using the same PC hardware for a couple of years and have moved most of my games onto a 4TB hard drive because storage upgrades are expensive. I'm wondering whether adding more RAM would noticeably improve gaming performance, especially reduce stuttering or increase FPS. My system has a Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB of RAM, and a Radeon RX 6600. I'd also like to know whether the hard drive could be affecting gameplay.
4 Answers
RAM speed, timings, and whether it’s single- or dual-channel can affect performance, but capacity alone usually has a smaller effect than people expect. Going from 8GB to 16GB can be a major improvement, while going from 16GB to 32GB is mainly useful for newer demanding games, heavy multitasking, or mods. RAM also won’t improve game loading times—that’s mostly determined by the storage drive and CPU.
If your system isn’t regularly using nearly all 16GB, adding more probably won’t increase FPS. Make sure the RAM is running in dual channel, ideally as two matching sticks, since one stick can noticeably hurt performance. For this system, moving games from the hard drive to an SSD would usually make the bigger difference for loading times and asset streaming, although it won’t dramatically raise average FPS.
The Ryzen 5 5600X and RX 6600 are still a solid combination for 1080p gaming. An SSD is probably the best next upgrade if you’re currently running games from a mechanical drive.
The RX 6600 is likely to be the main performance limit in many games, so upgrading the GPU would generally provide a larger FPS increase than adding RAM. Before spending money, confirm whether you’re GPU-limited, memory-limited, or dealing with hard-drive asset streaming. For a budget upgrade, an SSD and verifying that you have two RAM sticks are sensible first steps.
It depends on what you’re doing while gaming. Sixteen gigabytes is still workable, but browsers, voice chat, launchers, recording software, and newer games can push you close to the limit. If memory usage reaches the limit, you may see stuttering or slowdowns. Check Task Manager while playing before buying more RAM; if usage stays well below 16GB, a capacity upgrade won’t help much.
A game using a lot of RAM doesn’t automatically mean the computer is performing poorly. Some games are simply more demanding or have inefficient memory management, so check for actual stuttering and memory pressure rather than usage alone.