Which to upgrade?

iQuain

I built a PC a long time ago and forgot that it uses an mATX (there's no window in the side of the case and I've since built PCs for friends and family, don't judge me. As such I've made an oopsie!

I forgot that this board (GIGABYTE GA-H110M-S2H for those interested) only has two RAM channels. I had two 4GB sticks in this thing (8GB) in total and I've been getting a lot of stutter playing Warzone so I checked it out with MSI Afterburner and I'm definitely near maxing my RAM.

So, being the smart guy that I am I order two more 4GB sticks, same speed, right? Go me. Except no. Today I go to install them and I notice that there is only two RAM channels. After taking some time to console myself on how idiotic that was and punishing myself by working on my thesis I've been deliberating how to fix the situation.

There are two options, unless one of you fine people has a better one that I've not heard yet and there will be only one, the better one:

1. Buy a new motherboard with the same socket type and 4 RAM channels then move everything to that board and install all the RAM!
2. Return the newly purchased RAM and just buy higher capacity sticks.

Just to let you know my specs are:

• CPU: i7-6700 (LGA 1151)
• GPU: GTX 970
• A small OS sized SSD and a HDD for other stuff

P.S. If you have any motherboard recommendations or RAM recommendations, especially ones that are priced well, I'd be happy to hear them!

Homelander

Yes, 2x8GB would be ideal. The 6700 is still a great gaming CPU.

If your budget allows, selling the 970 (about €100) and getting a GTX1660 Super (about €250) would be a major upgrade.

K.O.Kiki

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ballistix-BLS2K4G4D240FSC-PC4-19200-Single-288-Pin/dp/B01AG9F0G8/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=crucial+ballistix+16gb+%282+x+8+gb%29+ddr4-2666&qid=1586906883&sr=8-3

Your motherboard can't support more than DDR4-2400, and Skylake doesn't require fast memory anyway.

Also check that you're not using more than 3.5Gb video memory (VRAM) - the GTX 970 has 0.5Gb VRAM which is much slower than the rest & can cause issues. Lower texture settings to Medium.