I've just upgraded my setup for 1440p gaming and got a new GPU (5070) on the way. I'm also waiting for my Ryzen 7 5800X to arrive next week. However, I've noticed that RAM prices are skyrocketing. I currently have 16GB of DDR4 Crucial Ballistix 3600MHz CL16 RAM, but I've seen recommendations suggesting I should move to 32GB. The specific RAM I have is out of stock, so upgrading means buying an entirely new set. Given I don't run background applications while gaming, is it worth it to invest in more RAM at these inflated prices? What kind of performance impact should I expect if I stick with 16GB?
5 Answers
If you have an NVMe drive, you should be covered even if you need to use paging. Just make sure your OS is on that drive for better performance.
While 16GB is generally enough to run games, you may run into issues if you alt-tab frequently or have too many browser tabs open along with Discord. If you keep everything simple during gaming sessions, you should be fine for now.
For typical gaming along with a couple of browser tabs and Discord, 16GB is adequate. I have the same setup and it works well for games like Dota and CS even with OneDrive running in the background.
I think sticking with your current RAM is a good idea, especially if you're not hitting the 16GB limit regularly. Monitoring your RAM usage over the next few weeks will help you decide if you really need an upgrade.
Mixing RAM isn't ideal, but if you choose slower RAM for extra slots, it can still function properly as long as it's reasonably fast. Just keep an eye on the overall performance.
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