Thinking of upgrading RAM, but I don't know much about memory. Some help?

[bungusboy81]

I have a prebuilt I got about a week ago, and it came with 8GB+4GB DDR4 2933 RAM. I'm thinking of upgrading to 2x8GB RAM, but I'm not sure if I need to and I'm not sure how to. I've got some questions about it and I'd appreciate some help. I've never upgraded PC hardware, only gotten new prebuilts, so some tips about that would be helpful too.

So here are my questions:

1. Do I even need 16GB of RAM? I use my computer for gaming, homework, and web browsing.

2. Should I upgrade another part of my PC first before the RAM like the CPU since it's a prebuilt and prebuilts cool CPUs about as well as blowing on them with your mouth?

3. Is there anything I should seriously be careful of? Like some simple "NEVER do X thing" kinda deal? I know about static, but anything else?

4. Do I need a PSU upgrade? It's 380W PSU which I know is very low for my rig, but I have no idea how to upgrade the PSU and I've never dealt with cables in a computer before.

5. Is there anything else I should know before starting my hardware nonsense?

 

Specs:

CPU: i5-10400F

GPU: GTX 1660 SUPER

RAM: 8GB+4GB DDR4 2933Mhz

PSU: 380W, on the website it says 92% energystar, I can see it through the case and it says 80 plus platinum. I don't know shit about PSUs yet, so if you could tell me what any of that means I'd appreciate it.

CPU Cooler: Prebuilt CPU cooler. I could fart on this fucker and cool it down more.

 

Thank you in advance, and tell me if there's anything I need to know!

[Pikatchu]

1) Nope.

2) Powersupply -> GPU -> CPU + Motherboard -> Ram in that order of upgrade path.

3) Handle stuff with care, if you are not sure about something watch some LTT video guides!

4) Please read answer for question 2.

5) Welcome to the rabbit hole.

[Joealex24]

4 minutes ago, bungusboy81 said:

I have a prebuilt I got about a week ago, and it came with 8GB+4GB DDR4 2933 RAM. I'm thinking of upgrading to 2x8GB RAM, but I'm not sure if I need to and I'm not sure how to. I've got some questions about it and I'd appreciate some help. I've never upgraded PC hardware, only gotten new prebuilts, so some tips about that would be helpful too.

So here are my questions:

1. Do I even need 16GB of RAM? I use my computer for gaming, homework, and web browsing.

2. Should I upgrade another part of my PC first before the RAM like the CPU since it's a prebuilt and prebuilts cool CPUs about as well as blowing on them with your mouth?

3. Is there anything I should seriously be careful of? Like some simple "NEVER do X thing" kinda deal? I know about static, but anything else?

4. Do I need a PSU upgrade? It's 380W PSU which I know is very low for my rig, but I have no idea how to upgrade the PSU and I've never dealt with cables in a computer before.

5. Is there anything else I should know before starting my hardware nonsense?

 

Specs:

CPU: i5-10400F

GPU: GTX 1660 SUPER

RAM: 8GB+4GB DDR4 2933Mhz

PSU: 380W, It's 80 plus platinum but I don't know what kind it is. Probably got that sticker from a chinese sweatshop, it's probably a potato with some cables stuck in it. Prebuilt power.

CPU Cooler: Prebuilt CPU cooler. I could fart on this fucker and cool it down more.

 

Thank you in advance, and tell me if there's anything I need to know!

To check if you need more ram run a game and some things in the background to replicate how you would use it normally worst case scenario and check task manager to see how much ram you are using.

It is easy to swap out the 4gb stick. Just buy another 8gb stick of the same frequency and preferably the same manufacturer if you can tell.

If you want to check if the CPU is thermal throttling, download cinebench r20 (it's on the Microsoft store) and hwinfo. Run cinebench and look at the max CPU temp in hwinfo.

Temperatures shouldn't be going above 85-90 c. If they are you may be able to fix this by turning the fan speeds up in the bios or if not an air cooler.

[bungusboy81]

1 minute ago, Joealex24 said:

To check if you need more ram run a game and some things in the background to replicate how you would use it normally worst case scenario and check task manager to see how much ram you are using.

It is easy to swap out the 4gb stick. Just buy another 8gb stick of the same frequency and preferably the same manufacturer if you can tell.

If you want to check if the CPU is thermal throttling, download cinebench r20 (it's on the Microsoft store) and hwinfo. Run cinebench and look at the max CPU temp in hwinfo.

Temperatures shouldn't be going above 85-90 c. If they are you may be able to fix this by turning the fan speeds up in the bios or if not an air cooler.

My CPU temps don't go above 65c usually, but I know stock CPU coolers are garbo.

[Joealex24]

Just now, bungusboy81 said:

My CPU temps don't go above 65c usually, but I know stock CPU coolers are garbo.

I'm guessing it isn't under full load at 65c but 65c is completely fine

[boggy77]

5 minutes ago, Pikatchu said:

1) Nope.

2) Powersupply -> GPU -> CPU + Motherboard -> Ram in that order of upgrade path.

3) Handle stuff with care, if you are not sure about something watch some LTT video guides!

4) Please read answer for question 2.

5) Welcome to the rabbit hole.

I agree with all the points above.

 

as to cpu cooler, there are usually two reasons to upgrade:

 

1. temps get too hot (85C+) while gaming and you get throttling (I assume this is not the case with your 10400)

2. cooler is too loud trying to keep temps low. (in my case, i replaced my cpu cooler not because it was hot, but because it was loud). of course, this comes down to personal prefference.

[BigGamerLegend]

1. You probably don't really need to upgrade, but mileage varies. If you notice in task manager that ram is being highly utilized, maybe upgrade, but 12 gigs is pretty solid.

2. As far as upgrades are concerned, that power supply is a little on the low end for wattage, and doesn't give you a lot of headroom in the future for upgrades.

3. As far as ram installation is concerned, it's fairly hard to go wrong. Avoid static, as you have mentioned, and make sure it's running in dual channel. That gives you the best performance. It varies by board, but if you have 4 slots on your motherboard, start by slotting the first stick in the slot furthest from the CPU, and alternate empty slots, so in this case [CPU] [empty] [stick] [empty] [stick]

4. Your hardware isn't super power hungry, so on sheer wattage alone, you should be straddling the line. However, 380 watts is definitely on the low end, and prebuilts do not have a great track record of having great psus. I'd say to upgrade if you plan on changing parts. 80+ platinum by the way refers to how power efficient the power supply is at getting power from the wall to the components, 80+ platinum is on pretty much the highest end of the scale. Swapping psu isnt always fun, but I dont see a way around it if there is an upgrade planned. 

5. Be careful but firm with the parts. They're not crazy fragile but you obviously dont want to be stupid with them. Check the manual with stuff. Before you make changes, do some research, watch a tutorial. Avoid static prone environments where possible.

[bungusboy81]

5 minutes ago, BigGamerLegend said:

1. You probably don't really need to upgrade, but mileage varies. If you notice in task manager that ram is being highly utilized, maybe upgrade, but 12 gigs is pretty solid.

2. As far as upgrades are concerned, that power supply is a little on the low end for wattage, and doesn't give you a lot of headroom in the future for upgrades.

3. As far as ram installation is concerned, it's fairly hard to go wrong. Avoid static, as you have mentioned, and make sure it's running in dual channel. That gives you the best performance. It varies by board, but if you have 4 slots on your motherboard, start by slotting the first stick in the slot furthest from the CPU, and alternate empty slots, so in this case [CPU] [empty] [stick] [empty] [stick]

4. Your hardware isn't super power hungry, so on sheer wattage alone, you should be straddling the line. However, 380 watts is definitely on the low end, and prebuilts do not have a great track record of having great psus. I'd say to upgrade if you plan on changing parts. 80+ platinum by the way refers to how power efficient the power supply is at getting power from the wall to the components, 80+ platinum is on pretty much the highest end of the scale. Swapping psu isnt always fun, but I dont see a way around it if there is an upgrade planned. 

5. Be careful but firm with the parts. They're not crazy fragile but you obviously dont want to be stupid with them. Check the manual with stuff. Before you make changes, do some research, watch a tutorial. Avoid static prone environments where possible.

Thank you! I'll definitely keep this in mind.