How to Allocating More RAM to Games in Your PC?

PC games can have certain RAM and other specifications for compatibility. You can find the recommended specifications for most games through gaming blogs or an official website. However, sometimes your PC can fail to cooperate even with the required specifications. This might be an issue with the RAM distribution of your PC. Most businesses can outsource RAM or other computer specification problems to an IT support company and be done with it. However, as residential users or casual gamers, you can’t call support for every little bump in the road.

So, you may have to help yourself in most cases and this isn’t as difficult as you think. You can adjust your RAM distribution and allocate it to a preferred program. Squeezing every bit of RAM on your computer can help with game lag and a frozen screen. There are a few simple ways to do this and that’s what this article is about.

How to Allocate Random Access Memory with Task Manager?

Overcoming RAM limitations doesn’t always require adding more gigs to your computer. There is a much simpler and inexpensive way to work around it. You can still play your favorite games on your 8-gig computer by allocating most of the RAM to the game. The Task Manager set priority option allows you to redistribute your RAM where you need it the most. Here is what you need to do:

• Open Task Manager by pressing the Shift, Ctrl, and Esc keys together.
• Click on Details.
• Find the game you want to allocate more RAM to.
• Right-click on the game.
• Go to Set Priority.
• Choose the priority as required (High, Real-time, etc.)
• Choose Change Priority to confirm.

Your computer will now re-allocate the RAM and CPU capacity to the game that you have chosen. So, it can help with smoother gameplay but could take up most of your PC’s functional capacity. As a result, almost all of the other functions on your computer will be slow and largely affected. So, it is only going to work well if you are using one app at a time.

You can change the priority settings again once you are done playing the game. This way, the PC can resume its normal function and run at an optimal speed.

Allocating RAM Natively

As an effective alternate, there are many games like Minecraft, that have native settings to allocate more RAM. You can use the built-in settings to allow more RAM to the game without affecting other programs or opening the Task Manager. So, if you are playing Minecraft or another game, you should always check for the native RAM allocation settings.

You can set aside a portion of the available RAM for the game. The PC will automatically distribute the remaining to other programs.

Increasing RAM with the Performance Option

Another way to allocate RAM is through the Performance option on your computer. This can be a much simpler process and can immediately give your gameplay efficiency and graphics improvement. You will first need to find out your installed memory (RAM) and the virtual memory. Here is how to do that:

• Right-click on This PC.
• Go to Properties and look for installed memory.
• Now click on the Start menu button.
• Click on Settings.
• Go to System and then Storage System.
• Click on This PC again.
• Wait for a few moments and then click on System again.
• Click on Reserve.

Now that you know how much virtual memory there is on your computer, you can squeeze its entirety. Here is how:

• Right-click on File Explorer and open Properties.
• Click on Advanced System Settings.
• Go to the Advanced tab on the System Properties window.
• Move to the Performance section and then click on Settings.
• Go to Advanced and then click on Change.
• Untick the Automatic option box.
• Click on Custom Size and increase your Virtual Memory.

Note: You cannot increase the virtual memory to more than three times the RAM on your PC.

Tips to Make the Most of Your RAM

Although there are options to allocate more RAM to certain programs, it isn’t the only option you have. You can follow these tips to make sure that you aren’t always overusing your RAM for background and unnecessary processes.

• Launch the Task Manager and check for programs that are hogging most of the CPU and Memory capacity and end those tasks.
• Use the Processes tab and press End Task on all background app refreshes.
• Check the System tray to check for any currently open programs.
• Go to the Startup tab of the Task Manager and disable all processes that launch every time you turn on the PC.
• Close unnecessary browser tabs immediately.
• Check for heavy browser extensions that you can get rid of.
• Use Edge, Opera, or other browsers that don’t hog up RAM.
• Don’t delay any pending Windows software updates.