16GB helps 1% lows way more than average FPS.

Yes, noticeably. For a Ryzen 5 5600X in Cyberpunk 2077, going from 8GB to 16GB won’t wildly change your max frame rate, but it’ll clean up the stutters and dips that make the game feel bad.

Here’s the deal: 8GB is the bare minimum for Windows 10/11 plus a modern open-world game. Cyberpunk can use 10-12GB on its own once you’re actually playing, not just staring at the menu. When your system runs out of physical RAM, Windows starts swapping data to your SSD. That swap is slow — orders of magnitude slower than RAM — and it hits the 1% low FPS hard. You get those micro-stutters where the game freezes for a split second while it loads assets back from storage.

With 16GB, you have headroom. The system doesn’t need to page constantly. Your 1% lows will be higher and more stable. It’s the single cheapest upgrade you can make to smooth out the experience. Get another 8GB stick.

Future you will thank you when you’re not cursing in Dogtown.