Is my RAM causing games to stutter?

[Kronblom]

So a couple of days ago i upgraded motherboard, CPU and RAM. Everything worked out fine with installing and booting and so on, everything was fine until i saw one problem: My RAM was only at Single-channel 4GB DDR4 @ 2400mhz when i had installed two DDR4 4GB sticks. I did some "research" and found out that one of the sticks were defect so i contacted the company that i ordered from and im getting some new in the near future. 

Now my problem is that when i am playing games my game stutters from time to time and i suspect that its my RAM exceeding the "amount". I dont know yet if its the RAM screwing me over or if its something else but thats what i suspect looking at the usage of CPU, GPU and RAM. My question is very simple, is it my RAM causing the game to stutter? Thanks in advance, and if i was unclear with some information, just ask so i can get the right help!

[thebrownieguy]

Yep, low ram causes stutter. I played with 4gbs of memory and some games were just a nogo like planetside 2. Stutters were very frequent. A year later i finally got myself another 4gbs of memory and stuff went butterysmooth.

[App4that]

Are you monitoring your RAM usage? Is it hitting 4g?

[LabRat]

specifics on hardware please.

[Mira Yurizaki]

If you're maxing your RAM usage, then yes, your system is stuttering due to page swaps.

[Kronblom]

Okay, the RAM is definitely the problem. My RAM-usage is like 70-80% while on Google Chrome and no game running so i bet thats the problem.

Other specs: i5 6600k, GTX 970, ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming, tell me if you need more.

[shadowbyte]

yes, it's a RAM issue. I noticed this waaay back when I had an alienware alpha w/ 4gb of RAM (how times have changed), and I noticed significant stuttering in GTA5 that disappeared when I upgraded to 16gb

[LabRat]

are you running 2 mismatched sticks while you're waiting to replace the bad stick?

[Gonio]

Jup, that sounds about right. Multiple browser tabs up the RAM usage a lot, and Chrome is know for that especially. Less tabs and get extra RAM will help. I figure you run 64bit Windows. That alone already uses a fair ammount + other standard programs. So you run into issues with gaming fast now.

[Kronblom]

Im only running single-channel DDR4 because thats the only RAM-stick that i own that is compatible with my motherboard. I have 4 other RAM-sticks but they're DDR3, FeelsBadMan. 

[Kronblom]

Okay, new RAM arrives in a couple of days so that should solve my problem. Thanks for all the answers guys/girls, very nice!