Ram Upgrade Compatability

[mrchristianbauer123]

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G43
Cpu: i7 4790k
Gpu: gtx 1070
Ram: Kingston Hyperx Fury 2x8gb 1600 mhz

I recently upgraded from an i5 4690k to the i7, and in games like Rust and Batllefield V, where previously ran at lower fps, but didn't stutter, now runs at higher fps, and semi-constantly stutters. I suppose it's the 1600 mhz ram holding me back, so I was wondering what's the fastest ram I could get given my mobo and cpu?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Your memory is not causing your stuttering. 1600mhz is the MOST common memory speed for DDR3 and it's been proven in many reviews that for DDR3 anything over 1600mhz has little to no impact on gaming and at 16GB you have plenty of memory capacity. Something else is causing your stuttering.

What resolution are you gaming at?

Are you recording, streaming or doing any other kind of heavy multitasking WHILE you are gaming?

What Windows version are you running and when was the last time you did a clean install? Have you been through more than one spring or fall major update?

Is your motherboard bios up to date? Chipset, storage controller, audio and network adapter drivers ALL on the latest version as available on your motherboard product page, except for the chipset drivers which should be these ones:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/downloads/eula/20775/Intel-Chipset-Device-Software-INF-Update-Utility-?httpDown=https%3A%2F%2Fdownloadmirror.intel.com%2F20775%2Feng%2FSetupChipset.exe


Did you bother to reset the bios after installing the i7 in order to reset the hardware tables?

Performed a clean install of the graphics card drivers lately, or riding several updates WITHOUT having done a clean install?

What is the EXACT model number of your power supply? Yes, that could absolutely be a factor, especially since you're upgraded to a higher TDP/wattage CPU.

Are you overclocking, either the CPU OR the graphics card? Have you considered overclocking the CPU?

Click the spoiler box for my recommendation on what you should do FIRST.

Spoiler

Here are the first steps to take when trying to solve these kinds of hardware problems. If you have already tried these steps, all of them, exactly as outlined, we can move along to more advanced solutions.

If there are any you have NOT done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.


First, make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.

Second, go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.

IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.

The last thing we want to look at, for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.

If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.

Here are the full instructions on running the Display driver uninstaller and CLEAN installing new drivers.

*Graphics card CLEAN install tutorial using the DDU*