I have only 1 RAM 8GB 1333Mhz. Should I buy another one or sell it?

Ggmdark

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May 1, 2017
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I have only one RAM 8GB 1333Mhz. But some games play really slow, since I'm not using the dual-channel function. Should I buy another one with the same speed, or should I sell it and get 2x4GB 1600mhz/2133mhz (The motherboard can't use 2400mhz). Which one gives me better performance. (Btw, the processor is an A10-7860k, and I have a GPU GTX 1050 2GB).
 

Kobe Eveleigh

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Sep 29, 2013
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1333mhz seems low so I'd say probably sell it if you can. I do know that it's strongly recommended to only pair identical RAM units and 16GB is now recommended for ideal performance as while games aren't necessarily using >8GB the PC has to allocate RAM for Windows, antivirus, other programs that are running, etc so what ends up being left over after that can be limiting for games.

I'd suggest if at all possible to go to a DDR4 platform since I notice that the DDR3 models seem really overpriced. You'll also likely see big improvements in performance by going to a newer setup with Ryzen or Kaby Lake. Depending on the games/settings/resolution you're playing at I'd say that the APU or the 1050 2GB are also likely culprits for slow performance. It's possible that all 3 are causing slow performance in the games you want to play.

I checked again and the DDR3 models usually cost the same as DDR4 models which often also have a higher speed. I'm going to be using DDR4 16GB(2x8) 3200mhz. I caught a sale for CAD$119 and I remember the DDR3 options at 1600mhz/~2000mhz actually cost more than the 3200mhz that I bought. But if your budget is low and cannot buy new mobo/CPU/GPU or rebuild then I'd look into seeing what can be found used from sources like Amazon Marketplace/Newegg marketplace.


I'd say the best route for you(Assuming current games @1080p decent settings) is going to a Ryzen 5 or Kaby Lake i5 build with a GPU ranging from RX570, 580, 1060 6GB up to GTX 1070 8GB and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. The 1050 2GB is pretty slow and 2GB VRAM is likely to be a bottleneck in many current games.

I have no idea about that APU so checked it here, it appears to be under-powered. You'd stand to gain significantly better performance by going to Kaby Lake or Ryzen.
http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-7700K-vs-AMD-A10-7860K-APU/3647vsm83781
You get similar results by comparing it to the Ryzen CPUs.

The key to PC hardware seems to be all about planning and research, knowing the role that each component plays.