Question What would be the best option for increasing the RAM

[Danials]

I use my computer for a lot of virtualisation such as running Kali on Virtual Box.
The below is my current spec. The speed gets annoying sometimes and I am thinking maybe increasing the RAM would improve it (not sure if graphic is good enough).

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87-HD3
CPU: Intel Core i7 4770
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333mhz (2x4GB)
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 1GB

With my research around the motherboard and CPU, I noticed both accept up to 32GB, but CPU does not accept more than 1600mhz.

I need some advice about how I can improve this system to get maximum speed?

Somewhere I read more than 16GB overall has no effect unless for video editing. Is that true?
Also is getting one block of RAM better than two cards? E.g. 2x 4GB vs 1x 8GB

Thanks in advance.

 

[Obakasama]

It really depends on what is causing the performance issue you mention. So 'maximum speed' is dependent on how the components are being used by the software.

16GB having no effect except for video editing? Not quite. For certain workloads there's a recommended minimum. When a system runs out of RAM then the page file is used which slows down the workflow. I think of RAM as something which isn't a problem until you run out of it. Try opening an internet browser and keep opening a new website in a new tab, and watch the RAM being used up. With some software when the RAM runs out I find it just crashes; not very helpful when you're several hours into a project.

Generally speaking a 2-stick configuration in the appropriate memory slots is optimal.

That said it goes back to what is causing the performance issue you mention.

 

[Danials]

It really depends on what is causing the performance issue you mention. So 'maximum speed' is dependent on how the components are being used by the software.

16GB having no effect except for video editing? Not quite. For certain workloads there's a recommended minimum. When a system runs out of RAM then the page file is used which slows down the workflow. I think of RAM as something which isn't a problem until you run out of it. Try opening an internet browser and keep opening a new website in a new tab, and watch the RAM being used up. With some software when the RAM runs out I find it just crashes; not very helpful when you're several hours into a project.

Generally speaking a 2-stick configuration in the appropriate memory slots is optimal.

That said it goes back to what is causing the performance issue you mention.

Thanks for your response, regarding the reason for being slow, if i have Chrome open with few tabs and VirtualBox running then the system becomes slow; both in the virtual box and on the browser.
In the task manager the memory is always on 5GB minimum and most of the time it is up to 7.5GB

This is how I realised maybe I need more memory to make it smoother.

 

[Obakasama]

Certainly sounds like your RAM is approaching its limits of your usage.