A few years ago, I bought my friend's PC which he wasn't using anymore. I haven't done any upgrades since, aside from adding an external SSD for extra game storage. Everything was running smoothly until recently when I started experiencing crashes in games like Infinity Nikki and Wuthering Waves. Sometimes the games would crash while just loading, even when I didn't have anything else open. I looked at the task manager, and my memory usage was hitting 95%, which seems to be linked to the crashes. I'm trying to figure out whether I should focus on upgrading my RAM or my CPU first, but I'm on a budget, so I want to make the right decision without spending a fortune. Here are my specs: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor, X570 Aorus Elite motherboard, and 16GB DDR4 RAM at 3200MHz. Please share any advice on what I should prioritize for upgrades!
3 Answers
Before diving into upgrades, check your current RAM usage during gameplay. If you find you're consistently near that 95% mark, you should definitely look to add more RAM first. But if you feel your CPU is holding you back, upgrading it could be worthwhile. Just keep in mind that moving to AM5 in the future might be a bigger investment than just sticking with AM4 for now.
It sounds like your RAM might be the bottleneck. With only 16GB, especially if you're multitasking with games and videos, it's worth considering upgrading to 32GB if your motherboard supports it. However, since you're using a Ryzen 7 3700X, upgrading your CPU in the future for even better performance could also be a great idea. If you can find a Ryzen 7 5700X, that might give you a good boost without changing the platform yet. I'd suggest starting with the RAM, though, since it seems to be maxed out.
Honestly, it might help to check your GPU too since you mentioned crashes. You have an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which should still handle most games well, but if it's getting kind of old, it could also be a factor. Consider upgrading either the CPU or GPU based on the games you play. If the games you want to play are CPU-heavy, starting with that could be better.
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