16GB is not better than 32GB for gaming.

No.

The idea that 16GB of RAM has lower latency than 32GB is mostly a myth from people who confuse capacity with memory timings. If you buy the same speed and timings (like DDR5-6000 CL30), adding more sticks or dual-rank modules can actually lower latency slightly in some workloads, including competitive gaming. But we’re talking single-digit nanosecond differences that no human or FPS counter can detect.

For competitive gaming, 32GB is flat-out better because modern games (Warzone, Tarkov, Starfield, even Valorant with Discord/Chrome in the background) can push past 16GB easily. When you hit capacity, the system starts paging to SSD, and that latency spike is massive — hundreds of milliseconds. That’s what loses you rounds, not the extra 2ns from having 32GB.

If you are on a strict budget and your only option is faster 16GB vs. slower 32GB, sure, go with the faster 16GB kit. But all else equal, 32GB wins for competitive gaming. You do not win fights because of 16GB “low latency.” You lose them because of page faults.

Future you will thank you for the headroom.