16GB System RAM, 8GB VRAM is not enough

[Blue]

Despite what the store page suggests. 16GB of system RAM is not enough. Just like in Hogwarts Legacy (which also suggests 16GB is recommended) I was experiencing game breaking stuttering.

After trying all the tweaks I could find, nothing helped. I then stumbled across a video showing the performance difference between 16GB and 32GB of system memory and it was night and day better with 32GB.

So I bought another matching set of 16GB (to increase mine to 32GB) and after installing I tried both TLOU and HL to see what difference there was. In both games the game breaking stuttering was gone. I still get hitches now and again, but compared to what it was previously it is 100x better.

If you only have 16GB of system memory, increasing this to 32GB could help provide a more consistent performance. If your GPU only has 8GB of VRAM (or less) you will need to lower all the settings that utilise a lot of VRAM (textures).

EDIT: I should have added my PC specs which are as follows:

CPU: 8700k @ 4.5GHz (all core), 4.8GHz (2-core)
RAM: 32GB DDR4 @ 3200MHz (was 16GB)
GPU: 3080FE
MON: AW3423DW @ 3440x1440

With the above specs (and 16GB system memory) I would experience significant stuttering on at any graphics settings (low-med-high-ultra). I was borderline about to build a whole new system thinking that somehow my CPU was bottlenecking big time as compared to other videos of people using a 3080 my performance was seriously lacking. That's when I came across a video showing the difference between 16GB and 32GB system memory and the difference was night and day between them.

Knowing that my issues were now most likely due to RAM I started up both games and when tabbing out I could not even open Chrome as it would pop up stating low system memory. This confirmed that it was most likely my RAM causing my issues, or at least contributing towards them.

After installing another 16GB the stuttering has reduced significantly. It has not been completely resolved, but both games are now playable.

Both games need some serious optimisations but I hope this post helps someone who is experiencing the issues I was as it wasn't immediately obvious what the main culprit was as my system met or exceeded the recommended specs for both games.