Fix this old junk or just scrap it?

Alright. Thanks, everyone!

Dropping this here so I don't clutter the sub with a new thread.

ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 (caps out at 16GB DDR4 1600mhz)
i3 4160
2x4GB DDR 1600 mhz
gtx 750ti 2gb

I’m not really a big gamer—just dabbling in some modeling work here and there.

But now that I've started picking up actual freelance gigs, the lack of RAM is absolutely killing me.

Any advice? Is there a budget-friendly motherboard out there that can handle at least 32GB DDR4 while still letting me reuse my current CPU and GPU?

It doesn't quite work like that; you can't just swap in DDR4 if your motherboard and CPU are built for DDR3. If you go the DDR4 route, you're basically looking at a whole new setup—new CPU, new board, the works. If you stick with what you have now by grabbing 16GB of DDR3, I guess the processor might end up being a bit of a bottleneck. Honestly, the smartest move is probably just upgrading the CPU, motherboard, and RAM all at once. You could try to patch things together with an i5 and 16GB of RAM, though.

i5 4570 - $83: https://www.ebay.com/itm/i5-4570-cpu

16GB RAM ~$100: https://www.amazon.com/16gb-ddr3-ram

Or maybe: Ryzen 5 1600 AF + at least 16GB DDR4 + a B350/B450 board ~ $0.70

If I could just slap 32GB of RAM onto this motherboard, I’d be set for life—wouldn't need anything else.

But nope—stuck where I am.

I mean, why would the CPU even struggle if I'm only running 16GB?

Yeah, it sucks, but honestly, I don't really need a hardcore gaming rig. I work in Meta 2016, and back then, this processor was actually doing alright.

It's just starving for more RAM.

Still, this used setup isn't half bad.