I've been using the same PC for a couple of years and have moved most of my games to a 4TB hard drive because newer parts are getting expensive. I'm wondering whether upgrading my memory would noticeably improve gaming performance. My system has a Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB of RAM, and a Radeon RX 6600. I mostly want to know whether more RAM would help with frame rates, stuttering, or loading times, and whether the hard drive is a bigger issue.
3 Answers
If your games and background apps aren’t pushing memory usage close to 16GB, adding more RAM probably won’t increase average FPS much. However, 16GB can cause stuttering in newer games if you’re also leaving browsers, Discord, or other programs open. Also make sure you’re using two matching RAM sticks; a single stick can noticeably hurt performance because it runs in single-channel mode.
RAM capacity and storage affect different things. More RAM helps when the system is running out of memory and using the page file, which can lead to hitching or slowdowns. It does not directly make games load faster; that is mainly determined by the storage drive and, to a lesser extent, the CPU. Check your memory usage while gaming before buying an upgrade. If it regularly reaches 90–100%, moving to 32GB makes sense.
Going from 8GB to 16GB can make an entire PC feel much faster, but that’s usually because the system was running out of memory. The jump from 16GB to 32GB is much less dramatic unless the game or your background apps actually need it.
Moving games from the hard drive to an SSD would likely make the most noticeable upgrade for loading screens and general game smoothness. It won’t magically raise your average FPS, but an SSD can reduce texture-streaming pauses and long loads in games that constantly pull assets from storage. Your Ryzen 5 5600X, RX 6600, and 16GB setup is otherwise reasonable for 1080p gaming.
For a typical 1080p setup with that CPU and GPU, 16GB is still usable, but 32GB gives you more breathing room for newer games and multitasking.