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My desktop is nearly at the point where I'm happy with it. However I've noticed that half the ram (8GB) is in use even at idle. as one would expect this seems to have an effect on games and other programs.

I cannot justify a new CPU as yet, but would doubling the ram in the machine be give a worthwhile improvement in performance, or would it be better to wait a year or so and upgrade the CPU?

Full Specs:

  • AMD FX8350 4.0Ghz
  • 8Gb 1600mhz DDR3 (2 4gb sticks running in dual channel)
  • MSI 970A-G46
  • 120GB SSD (For OS)
  • 2TB HDD
  • GTX 1060 6Gb
  • GTX660 (I had spare power available and like having a PhysX slave)
MadeOfExplodium
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  • What OS? If Windows, probably. I've got 8gb in both of my Linux desktops, and to get that much ram used I have to run multiple virtual machines via Virtual Box... A few browsers, terminals, Netbeans IDE, etc. never uses all physical ram... – ivanivan Jul 17 '17 at 13:45
  • I'm running Windows 10 currently. When I had it on 7, like you I could run virtual machines and Netbeans etc. for Uni work. – MadeOfExplodium Jul 17 '17 at 13:48
  • There's no sure thing. I'd wait and see whether performance is an issue and it can be ascribed to RAM shortage. A system is usually best upgraded as a whole. – simlev Jul 17 '17 at 13:57
  • You say it seems to have an effect, are you sure this is linked to your ram? What does your ram go to when under heavy usage? As far as upgrading, I would definitely recommend it if you use ~90% regularly, as it is a fairly cheap upgrade. – Confuzing Jul 17 '17 at 14:31
  • I've added the full specs of the machine, in case it is something else bottlenecking the system – MadeOfExplodium Jul 17 '17 at 14:51
  • RAM is a cheap upgrade and can still be used again if you get a motherboard that supports the RAM that you buy. This basically comes down to if you get a new CPU/board that uses DDR4 instead of DDR3. I'm not sure what games you play, but adding more RAM can improve you performance. Some AAA game titles use a lot of RAM, which could cause paging to happen, thus slowing performance. – DrZoo Jul 17 '17 at 14:59

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RAM is cheap, your time is not. Your motherboard has four slots, so buy two more RAM sticks of the same speed and CAS timing as your existing RAM to put in the two empty slots. I think If Windows Task Manager is showing most of your memory is used at idle, then by all means increase it. You can also review your applications to see if they are all needed.

Christopher Hostage
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