Memory is one of the most crucial components in any computer, and the thing is that it's often overlooked when eyeing up new upgrades. With an increasing number of demanding applications and the need for seamless multitasking, especially for enthusiasts, dual-channel RAM is an absolute must. If your RAM isn't in dual-channel mode or you only have one stick of RAM to begin with, here are some of the benefits you're missing out on.

4 Increased memory bandwidth

Your PC now has two options for accessing memory

The memory controller for your RAM is optimized to access two channels at a time to retrieve and move around data (at least in the case of conventional consumer-grade motherboards). If you look in your motherboard's manual and go to the RAM section, it will probably clearly lay out where you should put your RAM if you have multiple sticks.

The reason for this is fairly simple. Your motherboard's memory controller is limited in the speed it can access each channel, so if you have two sticks in the same channel then you're only reaching half of the potential bandwidth possible. If you have two sticks of RAM, each in their own channel, then data can be read from the CPU at potentially up to twice the speed of a single-channel configuration, as it can utilize one while the other is busy.

In other words, even if you think you have a dual-channel configuration, it's always worth checking in your motherboard's manual to be sure! You could be leaving free additional performance on the table.

3 Improved gaming performance

Improved lows and even improved performance in CPU-bound games

Many modern games rely heavily on rapid memory access for smooth, consistent gameplay. That's where dual-channel memory comes in, as it can help reduce frame drops and latency by delivering data more efficiently to the CPU and GPU. That's thanks to the increased bandwidth, as if it can read data from memory twice as fast, the time your CPU spends waiting around for information to transfer between components can be significantly reduced.

Of course, it's unlikely you'll see any kind of two-times boost in performance in most metrics, but it should particularly help raise your 1% and 0.1% lows, thanks to the fact that data is now being read and moved around in a more efficient manner. For CPU-bound games in particular you might see a legitimate framerate increase aside from just fewer stutters.

This extends to integrated graphics, too. Integrated graphics typically doesn't have its own memory and will rely on whatever memory you have in your computer. While an APU (or equivalent) isn't a replacement for a dedicated GPU, you will almost certainly see some big improvements in a dual-channel configuration.

2 Cost-effective performance upgrade

You won't get a better deal than this

If you only have one stick of RAM and you're wondering what your next PC upgrade should be, it should definitely be a second stick of RAM. In a pure bang-for-buck sense, there's no better option. RAM is fairly cheap these days, and even if you have a 32GB single stick of RAM, an additional 32GB can't hurt, and you'll be able to benefit from those bandwidth improvements right away.

Even better, RAM is one of the easiest components to install in a computer. Typically speaking, you just need to identify what slot the second stick will go in (again, consult your motherboard's manual) and click it into place. Your PC will then boot up, do what it needs to (a Ryzen-based PC might take a little bit longer to boot for the first time after adding new RAM), and then it'll all work together seamlessly.

1 Better multi-tasking

For switching between applications

Like with gaming, where a game may need to access large amounts of data at any given time, the same can be said when multi-tasking on a PC, too. If you're doing anything alongside any other intensive application, bandwidth limitations from single-channel memory might actually limit how fast you can multi-task and switch between tasks at any given time.

With dual-channel RAM, you're sidestepping that problem by being able to increase the speed at which memory can be read from and written to. Especially in the case of doing anything intensive like video editing (which will read a large amount from storage into RAM), your PC might benefit significantly from utilizing that secondary channel.