Can a slow HDD or not enough RAM cause stuttering and decrease in fps?

[sasha8503czg]

I've recently purchased a new graphics card, I tried testing it in GTA V, put all settings at max (except for msaa) at 1080p and occasionally I get some weird stutters when I'm driving fast or I'm in object densed place with lots of trees, npcs, buildings. Is that caused by my 5-6 years old hdd? Or could it be the fact that I don't have enough RAM to begin with? If I try to alt-tab out of the game, the system is really slow and it takes several seconds before the system responds. When I had my old 650 Ti installed and had all settings on low, I had some stutters here and there, but it wasn't as frequent as now. It's basically unplayable when there's a lot of action with a lot of explosions cause the stutter is so intense, the game freezes for the duration of the explosion. Here are my specs:

MSI 1070 Ti 8GB
Core i5-4670K
RAM 8 GB DDR3 1333MHz
HDD 2TB

How can I determine what causes the stuttering? Thank you.

 

[RazerMoon]

How full is your HDD and have you defragmented it recently? also you should try lowering the settings and seeing if the problem persists. By the way what HDD is it?

 

[mousemice3]

Yes, both of them can cause stuttering and even gamecrash. Try to check your hardisk (do a chkdsk, it will take some time). Run a memory diagnostic. If you can, open your pc case and clean it up from any dust and other stuff. Remove your RAM and then put it back.