Question To Ram or not to Ram.

[NeilDaMassTyson]

Oh great and knowledgeable PC tech experts, I beseech thee. I am wondering if adding additional ram would be the best option at this point. My current specs are

X470 AORUS GAMING 7 WIFI MOBO​

Ryzen 5800 cpu
16 g ddr4 ram (trident Z 3200mt/s
GeForce 3070ti
800w gold psu

I do notice with some of the heavier games I play that my ram will close to max and then bog down. Any input on what would be the next logical choice to upgrade would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

800w gold psu
Make, model and age of the PSU?

16 g ddr4 ram (trident Z 3200mt/s
When did you purchase this ram kit? If you did source the same ram kit, chances are that they'll have compatibility issues if they come from different batches(if the ram kit you own is from years ago). You could get a tight latency, 2x16GB DDR4-3600MHz ram kit and then call it a day. Just make sure you're on the latest BIOS version for your motherboard prior to the upgrade path.

What are you referring to as heavier games? Ram capacity wise, in 2025, 32GB is the baseline where most times the OS, background apps and games consume about 16GB's of ram off of your system.

Where are you located, what is your budget for an upgrade path and what is your preferred site for purchase?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

32gb of ddr4 can be found close to 50 bucks so why not? The other thing depending on settings and resolution is vram since the 3070ti only has 8gb vram and 8gb gpus in some scenarios are getting a little more limited

 

[NeilDaMassTyson]

800w gold psu
Make, model and age of the PSU?

16 g ddr4 ram (trident Z 3200mt/s
When did you purchase this ram kit? If you did source the same ram kit, chances are that they'll have compatibility issues if they come from different batches(if the ram kit you own is from years ago). You could get a tight latency, 2x16GB DDR4-3600MHz ram kit and then call it a day. Just make sure you're on the latest BIOS version for your motherboard prior to the upgrade path.

What are you referring to as heavier games? Ram capacity wise, in 2025, 32GB is the baseline where most times the OS, background apps and games consume about 16GB's of ram off of your system.

Where are you located, what is your budget for an upgrade path and what is your preferred site for purchase?

Psu was bought in 2023 and is a gold seagate. Ram I have now was purchased in 2023 as well so I’d imagine that getting the same but newer ram would have compatibility issues?

I updated bios in 2023 when I got the new cpu so I’d bet I need to update.

As far as heavy games, games like escape from Tarkov, gray zone, the Witcher. (I also run 2k for resolution.

I gets my stuff at micro center (located near Minneapolis)

For budget I’d say probably around 1k

 

[Why_Me]

Psu was bought in 2023 and is a gold seagate. Ram I have now was purchased in 2023 as well so I’d imagine that getting the same but newer ram would have compatibility issues?

I updated bios in 2023 when I got the new cpu so I’d bet I need to update.

As far as heavy games, games like escape from Tarkov, gray zone, the Witcher. (I also run 2k for resolution.

I gets my stuff at micro center (located near Minneapolis)

For budget I’d say probably around 1k

https://www.microcenter.com/product...el-desktop-memory-kit-f4-3600c18d-32gvk-black

 

[geofelt]

Task manager can be misleading if it is used to assess ram use.
Windows stores unused code in ram in anticipation of quick reuse.
If an app tries to access code that is not currently resident in ram, it needs to fetch it from the page file and write some older data to the page file to make room. That is called a hard page fault and while the fault is not resolved, the app stops dead.
Resolution can be painful if the page file is on a HDD.

In task manager, open the resource monitor/memory tab.
Look at the hard fault rate column.
If you see anything much more than zero, you can use more ram.

If you are not multitasking while gaming, more ram may not help with most games.

ADDING more ram is not the best idea.
Because it may not work.
REPLACING is ok
Ram needs to be from a matched kit to perform as advertised.
Considering that ram is relatively cheap, buy a 32gb two stick kit that is supported explicitly for your mobo/cpu combination.
Either by the mobo ram QVL list or by the ram vendor support list.

 

[NeilDaMassTyson]

So I definitely misspoke. I currently have 32 gb of ram. My hard fault rate is the vast majority 0 with a 1 some 2's and a couple 3's. Would RAM still be the best option or would it then be time to start looking at graphics cards.

Preview attachment IMG_1877.jpeg
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui...t&disp=safe&realattid=196bfb83d2143f3acf41&zw
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui...t&disp=safe&realattid=196bfb83d2143f3acf41&zw

Preview attachment IMG_1875.jpeg



IMG_1875.jpeg
5.9 MB

IMG_1877.jpeg
2.8 MB

 

[geofelt]

Your links do not work for me.
I don't think you would benefit much, if any from more than 32gb of ram.
It is not a negative to have more than you need, excepting the cost.

 

[NeilDaMassTyson]

Sorry, it was a picture of my specs

Current Date/Time: Sunday, May 11, 2025, 9:05:26 AM


Operating System: Windows 11 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 22631)


Language: English (Regional Setting: English)


System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.


System Model: X470 AORUS GAMING 7 WIFI


BIOS: F63a


Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor


Memory: 32768MB RAM


Page file: 10039MB used, 47229MB available


DirectX Version: DirectX 12


Would my next option for upgrading be the GPU since going from 32 to 64 for ram isn’t that beneficial?

 

[geofelt]

Knowing nothing else, your CPU and GPU seem nicely balanced.

If the test mentioned above showed improvement with lowered settings, then a GPU would be the better upgrade.
Conversely, if lowered specs showed no improvement, then a cpu upgrade is in order.
For a significant cpu boost, I think it will involve a motherboard upgrade also.

 

[NeilDaMassTyson]

The fault rate was almost all 0’s with a couple 2s, a 3 and some ones. What does this indicate?

 

[geofelt]

The fault rate was almost all 0’s with a couple 2s, a 3 and some ones. What does this indicate?

It suggests to me that you have about the right amount of ram for what you do.
Some hard faults are inevitable.