RAM Upgrades and Recommendations

Are you looking to upgrade the amount of RAM in your system but not entirely sure how much RAM you have, what RAM is compatible, and how much you need? This article will cover the basics so you can make an educated decision. We also recommend you read our PC Boot Camp article about RAM, titled "What is RAM?"

Note: This article is for customers who are out of the 2-year warranty offered with our systems. If your PC is still within warranty, keep in mind any modifications to your system can void your warranty.

It is essential first to understand the amount of RAM you currently have in your system. The easiest way to do this is to check the specification sheet we included with your PC when you first received it. If you have misplaced this, your system specifications should also be in your order history on NZXT.com.

Unable to find your order or have you purchased a pre-built system? You can also check in CAM to see the amount of RAM in your system. To do this, open up your CAM software, and on the main dashboard click on RAM. Then you can see the amount you have under "Capacity".

Generally, 16 Gigabytes (GB) of RAM is more than enough for the average user; if you have less than that, we recommend going up to 16GBs. However, if you are doing large amounts of multitasking and need more memory, then jumping up to 32GBs is entirely reasonable.

You will also need to verify the model of your motherboard currently installed on your PC. As previously mentioned, you can find this type of information on your specifications sheet or your product order page. If you have misplaced this information, you will need to open our CAM software to check your motherboard. Once opened, navigate through CAM per the GIF shown below.

Now that you've identified your components, it is essential to understand that not all RAM is compatible with all systems. The manufacturer of your motherboard will test specific RAM models to verify compatibility with their products.

Manufacturers commonly refer to this as the RAM QVL (Qualified Vendor List). A manufacturer might include this as a PDF on their product information page or may have a dedicated compatibility search tool integrated into the page. You will want to search the motherboard model you just verified on Google to find the product information page. For this example, we will refer to an MSI motherboard, the MSI B550 Gaming Plus; below is a GIF that shows where to navigate to find this compatibility search tool.

We highly recommend picking RAM from the lists of compatible memory to achieve the appropriate speeds if overclocked by XMP. We cannot make explicit recommendations for any specific brands or models, so it is best to go with hardware the motherboard manufacturer knows that works with your PC.