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RAM (Random Access Memory) is volatile memory that temporarily stores data on your . When🧸 running applications, such as video games, application data is stored in the RAM, as it’s faster to retrieve data from the RAM than data stored directly on your SSD (solid state drive) or hard drive. The more data you can store on your RAM, the 𒅌faster your computer will run.
Unlike your hard drive, data store🏅d on the RAM is completely wiped when you shut down your PC. As a gamer, choosing the right type of RAM and installing it correctly is critical for improving gaming performance and increasing gaming speeds.
Choosing RAM For Your Gaming PC
Gamers should install 8GB of RAM at a minimum, whiไch is sufficient for playing games like Minecr꧑aft, League of Legends, and Fortnite.
The ideal amount of RAM for gaming, however, is 16GB, which will allow you to play more resource-intensive games while🔥 having other applications, such as Spotify, running in the background.
If you’re a heavy gamer or livestream your gameplay, and money isn’t an issue, consider installing 32GB of RAM. That will allow you to livestream♊ on Twitch or YouTube and have Discord or other heavy applications running.
First, though, check your motherboard’s manual to see which type of RAM it supports.
Most modern motherboards support DDR (Dual Data Rate) RAM sticks. DDR5 RAM, released in 2020, is the latest and fastest g꧟eneration of DDR RAM on the market, but older ♉motherboards might only support older standards, like DDR4, DDR3, or DDR2.
DDR RAM sticks are not backwards compatible, so a DDR5 RAM stick will not work on a motherboard with DDR4 slots. The same is also true the other way – you can't run DDR4 RAM in a DDR5 slot.
Within different versions, there are also different data rate transfer speed ratings. These are expressed🏅 as DDR5-4800, for example, or PC5-38000, which has a data throughput rate of 38,000 MB/s. If you see a DDRX-XXXX rating, multiply it by eight for the PCX-XXXX rating (there are eight bytes in a bit). For ♑example, DDR4-2400 is equivalent to PC4-19200.
It's generally not advisable to mix and match your RAM, and to stick with the identical product for each stick you use. This is because different sticks can use different RAM timings, and conflicts between them can cause your PC to crash.
The higher the data transfer rate, the faster your computer wi🍸ll be able ꦜto pull data from the RAM, increasing your gameplay speed.
If you install two RAM modules with different speeds, both will operate at the speed of the slowest module. For example, if you install one DDR4-2400 stick and one DDR4-3000 stick, both will operate at the DDR4♍-2400 speed.
Desktop PCs typically require DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) RAM sticks. SODIMM (Small Outlinღe Dual In-Line Memory Modules) are of a small fღorm factor and commonly associated with laptops and notebooks.
Installing RAM On Your Motherboard
1Fortunately, RAM sticks are probably the most straightforward PC coꦉmponent to install or upgrade.
The fi🌠rst step is identifying the RAM slots on your motherboard. They are thin, long slots that typically contain two clips or levers on each side – most motherboards have two or four RAM slots.
Open the clips and inser🎉t the RAM module into the slot, ensuring the lettering on the module is facing upright and the notches on the stick and slot align.
On some motherboards, ☂the clips may only open on one side.
If you can’t insert the RAM stick, it might be facing the wrong way. Try ꦚfacing it in the opposꦚite direction; do not try to force it in.
When you push the RAM into the slot, it will typically lock it into place automatically.
Most motherboards allow you to not only install smaller-sized sticks in larger slots (such as a 4GB RAM stick in an 8GB slot) but also mix and match. For example, if you have two slots of 8GB each, you can install one 8 GB stick and one 2GB stick, f🍎or a total of 10GB of RAM.
However, some motherboards don’t supp൩ort this.
In general, it’s best to buy all of your RAM sticks from the same manufacturer and with the same size and speed. This will give you optimal performance.
Installing Dual-Channel Memory Sticks
An increasing number of motherboards support memory channeling, which means your computer can access more than one RAM stick at once. That leads to significantly improved performance and higher FPS rates, especially with more moඣdern and resource-intensive gam💃es.
Most modern motherboards accommodate dual-channel memory, providing four RAM slots instead of two.
Motherboards usually use color🐽 coding to make this easier for you – for example, you might have two black slots and two white or blue slots.
For dual-channel memory to work, you’ll need to install two RAM sticks in the appropriate slots. If you install one in the black slot and one in the white slot, you won’t benefit from dual-channel memory, which can be more efficient than two memory modules working separꦕately.
In some motherboards, installing only three RAM sticks when there are two dual-channel RAM slots (four slots in total) will disable dual-channel memory support.
Motherboar🌜ds with triple-channel and quad-channel support exist as well, but they are less common on perso𒆙nal computers and more associated with servers and high-end desktop processors.
Fo🦩r ideal gaming performance, max out your R🧜AM on your motherboard by installing as many RAM sticks as your motherboard supports.