Upgrading from 12 GB to 16 GB could make a big difference depending on your needs.
Upgrading from 12 GB to 16 GB could make a big difference depending on your needs.
In short, I just received a great deal on a GTX 1650 (MSI Gaming X 4G) from a friend, but it’s still en route by courier. Of course, I’d finally be able to play more after months of using my PC with an integrated graphics card. Yes, I know it will slow things down because of the CPU, but that was the situation back then and I’m planning an upgrade later. I’ll stick to 1366x768 resolution. Here are my current specs: Intel Xeon E3-1225 v2 at 3.2 GHz (4 cores / 4 threads), ASRock B75M motherboard, 8 GB Hynix 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM, 480 GB APS-SL3 SSD (1 TB Seagate 2.5"), and a 9 500W PSU with a Cooler Master T20 cooler. The real issue now is the memory. I still have 12 GB as before, but I’m tight on budget and need more RAM—possibly up to 10 GB if needed. One of my Team 4GB sticks is faulty, so I swapped it in for an Hynix 8 GB unit. I’m aware that changing the RAM could impact performance significantly; I’ve seen games freeze when using iGPU on Dota 2. But with a decent card, how much would this matter? I’m planning to upgrade later, maybe get 16 GB DDR4 if I save money now. Thanks ahead!
Seek out a great offer on another 8 GB 1600 stick to enable dual-channel performance. If the price exceeds $10, continue using your current setup and save further until you can acquire something comparable to a Skylake prebuilt.
RAM size isn't crucial unless you're running low and starting to load filesystem pages. You're nearing the limit with 10GB of 12GB, so extra RAM won't improve performance right now. Keep an eye on how much memory you're using, particularly during games, to ensure you're not hitting capacity or triggering paging. If you stay within bounds, adding more RAM won't help much. You might want to monitor usage occasionally or add more for future safety, though the impact should be minimal at the moment.
I was thinking about upgrading to Coffee Lake/Zen 2 or even an Alder Lake i3, since Skylake should suffice now. But it might become outdated soon. It really depends on whether I actually need the boost, as I don’t play much and use the PC less. My current usage hits around 10 GB with all my apps open—Chrome tabs, Matlab, Word, Excel, Premiere, Photoshop, etc.—usually not exceeding 8 GB, and it’s dropping to about 5.2 GB now. I’m unsure if RDR2, GTA 5, or newer games will stress the system, but I’d definitely notice performance drops when RAM is tight. The main concern is getting the right experience without unnecessary hassle.
Probably, but the issue isn't mainly the absence of RAM. The CPU is actively processing tasks and requires consistent input to function efficiently. RAM supplies this input, so performance is limited by how quickly data can be read from or written to memory. Even the quickest Gen4 NVMe SSD lags behind RAM speed, which slows down the data flow. This delay impacts the CPU's speed, causing delays like stuttering. The problem lies with the CPU itself, not the amount of RAM, especially if it can't handle the workload due to insufficient speed. Using more RAM doesn't fix the core issue if it isn't fast enough overall.