RAM upgrade or SSD first?

[rinnegan72]

i can get either a good ssd or 8gb more of ram which is more helpfull when it comes to gaming and everyday use in general? and how does each of these upgrades theoretically affect my experience?

my current rig:

cpu: amd ryzen r5 1400

ram: g skill cruci.. 8gb

hdd: the cheapest wd 1tb hdd

gpu: gtx 1060 3gb

mobo: ab350

so what upgrade would most improve my experience?

[Haro]

Go with the SSD (assuming it's the boot drive which I highly advise making)

Will improve system responsiveness. And if your a causal user, I doubt you'll start page filing with 8 gig.

Edited July 7, 2020 by TofuHaroto

[Skiiwee29]

Looking at your system.. honestly both are a huge upgrade.. Ryzen depends on RAM a TON and since you're only running single channel, you are hurting your gaming performance. On the other hand, you hamper and slow down your system with only have a standard HDD in there... I think the best upgrade would be the RAM. 

[rinnegan72]

9 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Looking at your system.. honestly both are a huge upgrade.. Ryzen depends on RAM a TON and since you're only running single channel, you are hurting your gaming performance. On the other hand, you hamper and slow down your system with only have a standard HDD in there... I think the best upgrade would be the RAM. 

would more speed or more amount be better and is it ok to have two different ram sticks?

[rinnegan72]

11 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

Go with the SSD (assuming it's the boot drive which I highly advise making)

Will improve system responsiveness. And if your a causal user, I doubt you'll start page filing with 8 gig.

how do you even move the boot disk for windows?

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, rinnegan72 said:

would more speed or more amount be better and is it ok to have two different ram sticks?

Depends on the speed you currently have. 1st Gen Ryzen works best with 2933-3200mhz in general for RAM speeds. You can mix/match RAM sticks/brands/speeds etc... it will all operate at the slowest of the sticks. 

[rinnegan72]

Just now, Skiiwee29 said:

Depends on the speed you currently have. 1st Gen Ryzen works best with 2933-3200mhz in general for RAM speeds. You can mix/match RAM sticks/brands/speeds etc... it will all operate at the slowest of the sticks. 

good to know that i dont have to really consider the first stick when getting more for the most part.

[Haro]

2 minutes ago, rinnegan72 said:

how do you even move the boot disk for windows?

You either fresh install Windows or you move your files there.

[rinnegan72]

Just now, TofuHaroto said:

You either fresh install Windows or you move your files there ( don't recommend it).

i get enough grief from the windows updates breaking my stuff so i probably wouldnt do that but even if i dont make the ssd my boot drive what benefits can i expect? low loading times? less chance of stutter? any benefits worth not getting more ram?

[Haro]

5 minutes ago, rinnegan72 said:

what benefits can i expect

Better systems responsiveness and am over all better experience

Way faster boot times as well.

6 minutes ago, rinnegan72 said:

less chance of stutter

Depends 

A lot of games have a lot of assets to load which an HDD can sometimes struggle with.

[Mateyyy]

18 minutes ago, rinnegan72 said:

how do you even move the boot disk for windows?

Fresh install.

It will be a world of difference, having your OS on an SSD as opposed to an HDD. Windows 10 on a mechanical hard drive is just horrid.

[19_blackie_73]

4 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

Better systems responsiveness and am over all better experience

Way faster boot times as well.

Depends 

A lot of games have a lot of assets to load which an HDD can sometimes struggle with.

 Not if windows isnt installed on the ssd

If you just move your games there, you won't notice much

and i doubt that you will really notice going to 16gb of ram, because the jump in everyday will be negligeble

There are possibilities to clone the windows partition over, but creating a backup and reinstalling windows is the adviceable way to do it. Just take an afternoon and do it, you wont regret it as it WILL definitely feel way snappier and responsive

[Haro]

2 minutes ago, 19_blackie_73 said:

Not if windows isnt installed on the ssd

I specified to make it the boot drive.

[Aragorn-]

The hard drive is the single slowest component of the machine. Using a modern PC with spinning drives are like wading thru treacle with your legs tied together. Really, truly absolute garbage.

I've worked on a few brand new laptops recently, machines with reasonable specs, but having a hard disk, and even just doing general everyday tasks it felt like using a 10 year old clunker.

 

8GB of ram isnt ideal, but will only cause issues sometimes, with particularly demanding games.