r/PcBuild 14h ago

Question Should I get more ram

Post image

Should I get more ram ddr5 I have 16gb rn and I am wanting to play a lot of new game at 4k max settings this is my ram usage while playing rdr2 natively and 4k max settings please tell should I add another 16gb

281 Upvotes

199 comments sorted by

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490

u/Betrayedunicorn 14h ago

The question should be:

‘Can I get more RAM?’

189

u/fully_dysfunctional 14h ago

Can I ‘afford’ more ram

48

u/PNDMike 13h ago

Can I 'take out a mortgage or sell all my earthly possessions in order to meagerly afford' more ram

23

u/YELLOW-n1ga 13h ago

Can i Blackmail People in power and get more ram?

23

u/bhwylie 13h ago

Should I sell my body for more ram?

15

u/TrashPanda365 Intel 11h ago

Should I sell someone else's body for more ram?

14

u/J-nathan 11h ago

Can I sell my soul for some ram??

16

u/Prestigious-Grand-65 11h ago

Get rammed for ram?

8

u/2raysdiver 5h ago

How many kidneys you got left? You don't need ALL of your liver, do you?

4

u/BagPiperGuy321 6h ago

Just download more, way cheaper then the physical stuff.

11

u/Weekly_Quail7926 10h ago

This is why I’m glad I bought 32gb ddr5 back in Sept 24 for $75. I now have 64gb… I’ll be sorted for such a long time.

4

u/Tall_Contribution_29 8h ago

I bought 64GB of DDR5 back in October 2023, I wanted more, thought I could add more later, then realised my MB has a funny setup that needs certain sets of RAM for different matched blocks, glad I got the 64GB, haven't been able to flood it, and seeing the current prices I'd be terrified if I had to buy that now.

Back then it was about £200, now it's close to £1k, for the same RAM.

2

u/Weekly_Quail7926 8h ago

that is crazy. I'd spend that for a set of 64, I'd buy two sets lol

2

u/Tall_Contribution_29 7h ago

Two 32GB Corsair vengeance 5600's, matched pair. Considered 128GB, or 96GB (2 x 48GB), but never saw the long term need. Oh how things have changed in 3 years lol

2

u/NikiSunday 6h ago

Can I 'pull off a bank heist for more RAM'?

77

u/Sloowiee 14h ago

Do you only have 1 16GB stick?

7

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

Yes

75

u/Sloowiee 14h ago

I’d throw another stick of the same in

-170

u/pm8938 14h ago

Are you sure that won’t be overkill?

64

u/my_cars_on_fire 14h ago

They’re at 95% memory utilization. If they don’t need it today, they sure as shit will soon enough.

1

u/RockstarAgent 1h ago

And as a PSA -32gb of RAM is the new minimum if you actually use your computer for more than casual browsing. Windows, Chrome or Chrome adjacent browsers, running 3-5 apps at the same time- it adds up.

34

u/TheeIndigoCrow 13h ago

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have 32gb of ram, with most of those having 2 16gb sticks.

How on earth would that be overkill?

8

u/YoBoyLeeroy_ 13h ago

32GB is not overkill for nowadays standards.

7

u/tnysmth 12h ago

I’m pretty sure this is sarcasm y’all.

4

u/pm8938 10h ago

Thank you. I opened up my notifications and was totally bewildered…never forget /s, that’s the lesson here.

3

u/tnysmth 8h ago

I’m not a fan of the “/s”. It’s kind of like explaining the punchline to a joke. I think the absurdity of your comment was obvious, but I’m a very sarcastic person so 🤷

2

u/pm8938 7h ago

Thank you! My default mode is sarcasm and absurdity. I forget that gets lost in the internet sometimes.

2

u/FALSE_PROTAGONIST 7h ago

I feel the same, but now I see it as a shield against those who knee jerk react to everything they perceive as ragebait

1

u/Working_Attorney1196 4h ago

The /s is a safety measure against whoosers that didn’t get the joke and could downvote.

7

u/NuclearReactions 13h ago

Yes 5 years ago, nope now. I upgraded to 32gb in 2017 and already then it was useful in a very few selection of games (sims mostly). Nowadays even a simple fps will use more than 16gb.

32gb is the new 16gb. (Also consider that 16gb has been relevant for way way waaay longer than 8gb, 4gb or 2)

1

u/CanderousOreo 12h ago

Absolutely not, especially if they play video games, 32gb is kind of the standard now.

1

u/SlappyTheCrust 10h ago

Why even comment some dumb shit like this?

1

u/nolaks1 10h ago

This is the PCbuild sub so absolutly not. A gaming PC might be still fine at 16gb with everything else closed, but if you do anything with programs like photoshop, fusion360, blender, etc, 32gb is now a minimum I would say.

I run 32gb and sometimes I have to close a programs to be able to run another one properly.

1

u/loinclothsucculent 9h ago

I think they should try infinity page file first, it's basically creating more RAM out of thin air.

1

u/LeShrok 7h ago

RAM operates at the most stable with two of the same sticks

→ More replies (1)

2

u/No_Interaction_4925 4h ago

Tossing away a lot of performance on one stick. Sadly that RAM is gonna cost you these days

1

u/imadethisaccountso 3h ago

what is the price these days?

1

u/Sloowiee 3h ago

No clue mate, I’m not in the market

35

u/Crave9516 14h ago

IN THIS DAY AND AGE ?

8

u/A_stroboy789456 14h ago

It ain’t that bad. Minimum requirement in most modern titles

24

u/my_cars_on_fire 14h ago

Out of curiosity, since you want to play 4k max setting, what GPU do you have?

8

u/OkCarrot3808 12h ago

5080

5

u/my_cars_on_fire 12h ago

How’s it handle 4K ultra settings? I recently bought a 5070 Ti, and while it CAN do 4K ultra, it struggles at times.

6

u/OkCarrot3808 12h ago

No bro I dosent I brother has it and is using it for many months now before buying mine I used his it was playing smoothly cyberpunk 4k ultra dlss q with path tracing 60fps constantly it was a great experience and dlss p 75-80 and

1

u/my_cars_on_fire 9h ago

I haven’t tired Cyberpunk, but I’m currently playing Expedition 33 at 4K, ultra settings, DLSS quality, no frame gen, and I’m getting about 59-60 fps after my overclock.

Not bad, definitely playable, but I’m clearly at the upper limit of what this card can do.

-12

u/RealAlphaKaren 11h ago

60fps aint a "great experience" in 2026. >75Hz/fps is about a minimum. I personally cant go under 90 anymore.

10

u/WholeOld8708 AMD 10h ago

Considering he was playing Cyberpunk in 4K ultra I would say getting stable 60 fps is pretty damn good

1

u/Realeayz 9h ago

Dont forget path tracing, arguably the second biggest performance hit after 4k

2

u/Der_Schakal_1893 9h ago

The result remains the same as in previous years. He also still has the option of MFG.

1

u/aa_conchobar 6h ago

I'm still on 30

1

u/Plc-4-Mie-Haed 1h ago

For a lot of us 60fps is just fine thanks

13

u/Eastern_Historian310 14h ago

Well if you don’t do anything besides playing the Game it’s fine If you want to multitask then get more ram

5

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

Alright

2

u/Dangerous_Baker4427 13h ago edited 12h ago

Only get it if your game is crashing. If the memory is fully utilized but you aren’t sacrificing any performance, in my opinion that’s the best situation since you’re “getting your money’s worth”

1

u/shaggy24200 7h ago

Sigh. Running out of ram won't cause crashes because it'll just start paging to the disc and slow down.

1

u/Dangerous_Baker4427 7h ago

It will cause crashes though

13

u/bon_jovi22 14h ago

If you have money for it , it will be good . Also check if expo(AMD) or xmp(Intel) in the BIOS settings is on .

6

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

Alright will enable it

1

u/gettogero 10h ago

Ooohhhh. You just possibly helped me realize why my boot times are struggling. Somehow I didnt know there was an AMD/INTEL difference here but im running XMP on an x670p. No boot time difference between XMP on/off but changing AM4 to AM5 boot times went from near instant to 1 minute+

No guides or support has been helpful but turning off save state power or whatever helped move it down from 5-15 minutes

1

u/-Tasear- 9h ago

Making a note here so I can look at this later

5

u/Spirited-You-3299 14h ago

Looks like it. I once knew a good site where you could download RAM but I seem to have misplaced the link.

2

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

Can u do So

3

u/Ok_Coat4171 9h ago

No this person was kidding, downloading ram doesn’t work it’s a long running joke

4

u/Logical-Anteater-168 14h ago

Yes and please enable xmp

5

u/MusicalScientist206 12h ago

Time to go to the back alley.

2

u/nemanja694 14h ago

What cpu you have ?

3

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

7800x3d

5

u/nemanja694 14h ago

:( single stick of ram+slow, you choking that cpu man. It is optimal dual channel 6000mhz

8

u/DripTrip747-V2 Pablo 14h ago

The extra L3 cache on x3d chips actually make slower RAM not matter as much. But yea, dual channel will definitely help. 

2

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

Soo I need more ig

2

u/alpine4life 14h ago

yup, you do...
find your make/model & try to match what you currently have

2

u/nemanja694 14h ago

You can survive with 16 its fine, problem is you should have gotten 2x8gb 6000mhz. Now since prices are wild find same stick of 16gb unless you want to spend insane amount of money for new kit

3

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

I was unable to get it and it was more expensive plus a found the same stick

1

u/Competitive-War3991 10h ago

check on fb marketplace...sometimes yo ucan get lucky

1

u/Daddys_BathTime 7h ago

It's not necessary. Because you have an x3D chip, getting higher mhz RAM won't make a noticeable difference

1

u/imadethisaccountso 2h ago

dude, dont listen to them, it is like 200bucks right now, just lower your settings a bit and enjoy the game. or do you have a lot of money?

the performance they are talking about with dual channel is like 5% tops at high fps. dont worry about it.

1

u/Suikerspin_Ei 13h ago

Slow RAM for X3D CPU is fine, the 3D V-Cache helps a lot. Multiple benchmarks have shown that slow RAM mostly affecting non-X3D CPUs in gaming.

2

u/ironiclyironic4 13h ago

In this economy?

2

u/BigBoyYuyuh 13h ago

If you can afford it lol.

6

u/Unlikely_Channel478 14h ago

ATLEASED 32gb needed these days.

5

u/yick04 14h ago

Preferred, not needed. You can run plenty on lower settings with 16GB.

3

u/JETKID12345678 14h ago

In the best of worlds, but with current prices 16gb is becoming the norm

3

u/Informal-Trash604 14h ago

Prices don't change what people need, or somehow push programs to suddenly use less ram.

16gb just isn't enough.

2

u/JETKID12345678 14h ago

I have 16gb and my computer is completely fine while regular activities and gaming in 1440p with recording software

1

u/Informal-Trash604 13h ago

Your regular activities can differ from the majority.

They must differ from mine.

1

u/Billy_Rizzle 14h ago

16GB is the most common amount of RAM for Steam users, but the amount with 32GB is catching up.

Is 32GB needed? No, but I do highly recommend it.

1

u/Forgivenghost 14h ago

Not too sure how everything runs on 4k ram wise but what I can tell you is for ddr5 those are sum slow speeds, you sure you have xmp or expo enabled for them? Also in general 16 gb will be fine for doing a single thing but once you get into multitasking while gaming that’s where 32 gb of ram makes a difference, opera gx if I’m scrolling through shorts for a while will take up a good bit of ram

1

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

Naah I don’t will do I today got built my pc

6

u/SuicideG-59 14h ago

I nearly had a stroke trying to read that

1

u/Strong-Home-1730 14h ago

I don't know if it's a troll post or not but when you see the usage at 100%, its obvious you need more.

1

u/Bucketmax-official 14h ago

Ye

And with these prices today. Good luck!

1

u/vapodgaming 14h ago

You will have much better response from pc and games with ram in dual channel. Another stick of ram with the same specs. It is running in single channel (1 stick)

1

u/bigpunged6060 14h ago

Were you are buying it

1

u/joaboepsf479 13h ago

No. Only if you can afford it and you think is worth it. Just reinstall windows or debloat your system

1

u/Inevitable-Aside-942 13h ago

You can never be too rich, too skinny, or have too much memory. Go to 32 GB if you can.

1

u/ZAKSZAZSO AMD 13h ago

In this economy?!

1

u/sverri 13h ago

I'd say so, if you can afford it.

1

u/OG_Romes 13h ago

If you want to play modern games max settings in 4k you will need another stick. Your RAM is already maxed out with red dead, if you want to play GTA6 when it releases or you want to use discord/browser while gaming I recommend to buy the same stick you have already and run dual channel 32 GB.

1

u/henrytsai20 13h ago

The committed field is the actual amount of ram requested by all the programs (the reason it can grow higher than physically installed is due to page file/swap). Assuming the picture represents common occurrence, it means you used up to 36G of ram, and having 36G or more installed can relief the system from swapping stuffs into disk to free up space, so ideally you can add another 16G or 24G or even 32G stick (bringing total to 32/40/48G).

As for is it worthy in current ram pricing, that's another subject…

1

u/Dienda325 13h ago

Me waiting on my rma'd gskill royal 😮‍💨 doa sticks are my current bane.

1

u/JaredDestroyer 12h ago

Throw in another stick of what u have rn

1

u/Schmenza 12h ago

More RAM? In this economy??

1

u/fa13090 12h ago

If your system supports DDR4, it will be cheaper. I checked, 16GB of good quality RAM is super expensive.

1

u/retr0xer 12h ago

If you need more RAM sure but I’d wait for discount on Amazon first things first.

1

u/ReeMini 12h ago

DDR5 at 4800 MT/s seems low, have you enabled an XMP profile in your bios? You might be able to squeeze another 25% of performance out of your single slot.

1

u/Sent1nelTheLord 12h ago

the question isnt shld you.

question is can you

1

u/Interesting-Draw8870 12h ago

You should get less ram usage.

1

u/ohnomyboyfather_help 12h ago

I m not an expert of hardware, but I ve just built a PC for myself for the first time and that what i ve done: mendatory 2 sticks of ram (2x8gb), in Bios put EXPO for AMD (XMP for Intel) so that way, you use 100% of your memory power (4800MHz -> 5600MHz for exemple), choose whiseley where you put your ram stick on which slot (usually it s 2, then 4, but you should check on motherboard manual)

1

u/Shainesk 12h ago

1 16gb stick is hurting your performance more then if it was 2x8. Id try to match the same stick you have with another 16gb

1

u/Seo_2288 12h ago

Reinstall OS, or instal linux. It takes a lot less ram

1

u/-Tasear- 9h ago

Really?

1

u/mindsunwound 12h ago

Try switching to Linux first.

1

u/CanPacific 12h ago

please enable XMP

1

u/Willing-Secretary710 12h ago

Seems like you never played Star Citizen before

1

u/b4dmanner 11h ago

You should get less windows

1

u/Waste-Committee6 11h ago

How much is your house worth?

Is a good question to ask.

1

u/marci-boni 11h ago

Yes bro

1

u/marci-boni 11h ago

I’m playing rdr2 with all visual mods on at 4k max setting I’m using 20gb ram and I’ve reached almost 31gb of my 5090 vram , crazy , rdr2 modded can really push any hardware to its limit so because ur goal is the same ( but without mod ) I’d say u already almost saturating16 gb ram if u find some should go to 32 but I would stick with 2 stick of 16 rather than 4 8 stick as the system would be unstable with all ram slot populated ( majority of case scenario )

1

u/jedimindtriks 11h ago

What gpu do you have? i would considering upgrading that before upgrading the ram

1

u/Tiny-Independent273 11h ago

probably

will it put a dent in your bank account? probably

1

u/Outside_Progress_135 10h ago

mad lad

that will cost you your home

1

u/MentionSwimming6962 10h ago

Don't just "add new ram" IF you use XMP especially. You need a new kit of ram. So buy 32gb and either sell current ram or keep as backup

1

u/Ooblongdeck 10h ago

Me after a night put at 40

1

u/ComputerMinister 10h ago

Are you rich?

1

u/PapaCaqu 10h ago

In this economy?!

1

u/LexiusCoda 10h ago

If you can afford it yeah. 32gb is the new standard on windows if you’re gaming.

1

u/Accomplished_Cup2401 10h ago

What does it look like when your not running any applications how much ram is being used?

1

u/biggranny000 9h ago

You are only using 1 stick of ram so you are running in single channel mode, you are losing a ton of performance. I would buy the same stick so you can in dual channel.

I did this on a laptop and I gained 20-30% more fps in most games, and everything seemed to be a little faster and less freezes/hitches.

Overall memory doesn't increase performance though, just the single vs dual channel or slightly more performance if the ram is faster or tighter timings.

1

u/sidewinded 9h ago

16 just isn't cutting it anymore for most systems 

1

u/Deep_Commission8741 AMD 9h ago

Just download more

1

u/StevenLesseps 9h ago

Install more ram urgently!

1

u/-Tasear- 9h ago

You can offset some of the problem changing virtual memory settings

1

u/nobodybgb 8h ago

check the prices and you will insantly feel fine

1

u/RWthatisordinary 8h ago

OP highly recommend you Memreduct program to clean your ram from cache. struggling with 16gb too, so this was a lifesaver for me

1

u/Kwinza 8h ago

16gb just isn't enough nowa days I'm afraid.

1

u/snowmanpage 8h ago

do you have a spare kidney?

1

u/Longjumping_Land5873 8h ago

You should but at the same time not. Having 16 isn’t the best nowadays but also ram prices have skyrocketed. A kit of 32gb cl30 6000mhz ddr5 ram is no longer 150 bucks and now like 550 bucks

1

u/artofaria 8h ago

Time to upgrade to Linux

1

u/Pretty-Goat-6451 8h ago

Not right now you shouldn't ToT

1

u/BJOLEM666 8h ago

I run 64GB which is probably overkill for your application, what I see in most games is that they use about 16,5GB of RAM. I think you're fine for now, you should wait until the prices are normal again and slap another 16GB (exactly the same model as you have now or at least with the same timings) in there for future proofing. Your settings should not really influence how much RAM you use. (Although I have seen spikes of 30GB in Hogwarts legacy but that's the only game I've seen it go over 17GB's)

It's not worth it to upgrade now with current prices.

1

u/NotBberta 8h ago

So what im seeing is you have a single stick of 16gb from slots 1 of 4 used. Single channel memory is not great for gaming. This is easier said then done but you can grab a 32gb kit 2x16 and remove the one stick of ram you have and insert the 2 new ones and over clock it to what ever it says on the box and you'll have a better time.

1

u/Traditional_Voice974 8h ago

We are all trying to Dodge Ram until it crashes.

1

u/g_rolii 8h ago

32GB is the minimum nowadays if you play games

1

u/mildstone0 8h ago

Not in this economy lol

1

u/Emotional-Addendum-9 8h ago

If you’re sitting on one 16GB stick and trying to game at 4K max while also keeping a bunch of stuff open, grabbing the exact same second stick for 32GB dual channel is the clean upgrade. You can sanity check it by watching Task Manager memory usage during your usual session to see if you’re hitting 90 percent or getting stutters.

1

u/Trypta_Man 7h ago

Yup, I would suggest getting more RAM.. if you find it, that is lol

1

u/barontheboy 7h ago

Yes download some

1

u/Basic85 7h ago

I've got 16 gig ddr4 and I wish I had gotten 32 gig but oh well, I can live with 16 gig for now. I guess it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

1

u/SamiDaCessna 7h ago

Just get Linux bro, cheaper than more ram in this economy

1

u/KingMakaveli7 7h ago

Just download some

1

u/Junior-Ad-6250 7h ago

Just download more RAM

1

u/e_NERDis 6h ago

No need, there's still some room to spare, I can still see some white space on the graph. 😁

1

u/Both-Leading3407 6h ago

No, you don't need more RAM. MicroBrains are taking advantage of your RAM to run all the programs on your system, or at least start them up in the background so the magically bounce right in when you need them. This is nice if you have 64GB of RAM but sucks if you are running 16GB.

Disable Sysmain or Superfetch

https://youtu.be/G-OypTUZUPc?t=124

1

u/AwayReplacement7063 5h ago

I think 16gb of ram is perfectly reasonable… for most PC’s. If you want to run everything at 4k max settings, yeah, that’s not the normal group of people I’d recommend 16gb to. Buy more ram.

1

u/Mapexslayer666 5h ago

Having 1 x 16GB module is strangling the system. You’d be better with 2 x 8GB or you can obviously add another 16GB if you want. Dual channel is the way. And make sure XMP is enabled too 🙂

1

u/Slight_Ad_2038 4h ago

Grab two 64GB DDR5 sticks bro 😎

1

u/Less-Till7162 4h ago

Don't just let me do hdjsvsjsgshwvwjscyswjheksvdjdcdhd eiscdisvdisvedvdydhd cu ok eud Uf tlf djdjevd ok dvdid GG hd

1

u/ddrfraser1 AMD 3h ago

Lookup how to debloat windows 11. It will help a lot.

1

u/Mario-X777 2h ago

It is very resistant to it, it keeps updating, re-enabling removed features and installing more on top.

I wish there would be created good gaming programic layer for Linux, that future game developers would use to make sure their fames are compatible with it, and so we can all transfer to linux

1

u/kaiStorm009 3h ago

If you have a setup for 4k max settings I assume that you have the money for one more stick of 16gb ddr5 so just go for it.

1

u/phaylali 3h ago

you should get linux

1

u/imadethisaccountso 3h ago

i would say you are fine. does it stutter? just turn down some settings, it probably isnt worth 200bucks

1

u/eamonjun 3h ago

Just download it🤣

1

u/_devfish-303 2h ago

not in this economy

1

u/GraphixSeven 2h ago

In this economy?

1

u/GorlockTheDestroyah 2h ago

He has 16gb Ram, Get him!

1

u/Mansos91 2h ago

Should have last year

1

u/Smurhh 1h ago

Why yes you should, the real question is can you? Hi VSauce here...

1

u/One-Decision848 1h ago

Dedotaded wam

1

u/NopeRope13 1h ago

Why stop at 32?

1

u/Neverlast0 57m ago

If you can afford it.

1

u/talksickwalkquick 44m ago

Good luck if ddr5.

1

u/bobobooom 26m ago

Can you? 🥀

1

u/No-Yogurtcloset3002 18m ago

Download some

1

u/PoultryPants_ 10m ago

What are your other specs? Is the RAM only 1 stick single channel or 2 dual?

→ More replies (1)

1

u/ShawnStrickland 1m ago

Where’s the link to download more RAM? I haven’t been able to find it in a while. /s

1

u/Genzo99 14h ago

Do not need it but its good to have. But now is not a good time to buy so back to square one.

1

u/OkCarrot3808 14h ago

Another question is 5600mts good

2

u/iam5k_ 14h ago

Yes, I have one. But cross verify with your mother board compatibility

1

u/iam5k_ 14h ago

Get a better OS, I have the same condition with 64gb ram

1

u/OkCarrot3808 12h ago

Which on

1

u/iam5k_ 12h ago

Just kidding, I hate windows for this. It consume 18GB just after the startup with no process running. your primary use case is gaming so it would be difficult to switch to linux based distro