RAM question

[TeddyBallgame]

not a computer guy at all but...

i had 2 4gb memory cards in my desktop...it has 4 memory slots even though only 2 were being used

i bought 2 8gb memory cards and swiped them out...i have 16gb memory now

a friend said i could still put the 2 4gb memory cards in the remaining 2 slots and increase my memory even more...i've heard its not a good idea to mix the memory...all of the memory cards are from the same manufacturer

so, can i use the remaining 2 slots, or even 1

i use my desktop mainly for gaming, not much else...is 16gb already enough

is there some kind of maximum when it comes to memory

[ocabj]

Generally speaking, it's best to have the same memory (freq, CAS, size, brand, etc). Mixing different speed RAM chips will usually result in the bus just clocking everything down to the slowest memory chip. Mixing different sizes can result in unevenly distributed memory usage, and this results in the CPU skipping cycles in order to retrieve data. Whether or not this will be significant detrimental to your overall performance is going to vary on a case by case basis.

I would personally just leave out the 2x4GB you just took out.

[Peter.Steele]

In my workstation at the office, I'd put them in. What I do at work sucks down memory like nobody's business - I've got 20 GB and I've seen out of memory errors. I need more memory capacity more than I need optimum usage of every clock cycle.

At home, though, I'd skip adding in the extra memory, if you're looking for optimum gaming performance. 16 GB should be plenty for any game on the market today.

[vintagearms]

For gaming, the video card memory is more important than motherboard memory. You will be fine leaving the other chips out.

[TeddyBallgame]

thanks

guess i'll just leave them out, my initial plan was to never put them in anyway

[socky]

thanks

guess i'll just leave them out, my initial plan was to never put them in anyway

I would put them in. If they are not compatible, you'll know. Either the computer will have issues starting or once it's up and running, you'll get errors of running out of memory, buffer overflows etc.

One easy way you can also make sure that it'll all be alright is by looking at the sticker on all four memory sticks and see what the freq and type is. If they match up, by all means go ahead and take advantage of the increased memory.

[Cartridge]

Your motherboard may or may not support dual-channel memory. If it does, the performance increase from installing a matched pair is 10-20% at best.

Installing two matched pairs of different sizes is not going to slow the memory bus down. At least as long as each pair is installed in the correct slot for dual-channel memory pairs.

Benchmark it now and benchmark it again after you add the memory, see what happens.

[FresnoRob]

Your motherboard may or may not support dual-channel memory. If it does, the performance increase from installing a matched pair is 10-20% at best.

Installing two matched pairs of different sizes is not going to slow the memory bus down. At least as long as each pair is installed in the correct slot for dual-channel memory pairs.

Benchmark it now and benchmark it again after you add the memory, see what happens.

This but I expect you will never need more then the 16

[stilly]

Generally speaking, it's best to have the same memory (freq, CAS, size, brand, etc). Mixing different speed RAM chips will usually result in the bus just clocking everything down to the slowest memory chip. Mixing different sizes can result in unevenly distributed memory usage, and this results in the CPU skipping cycles in order to retrieve data. Whether or not this will be significant detrimental to your overall performance is going to vary on a case by case basis.

I would personally just leave out the 2x4GB you just took out.

+1

When I was working for Rancho I was given the task of bumping up RAM for 8 different engineering computers. It was up to me to purchase and install it to get them to 16GB each. They had either 8 or 12GB but they had three different models.

In doing that I found out that HP Branded RAM does NOT like Kingston.

If you put those two into those workstations they will not boot. But if you put all of HP or all of Kingston, NO PROBLEMS.

I think it probably has something to do with timings and voltage. The further off in timings the more likely something will not play nice.

And BTW, Kingston DID play nice with Lenovo RAM.

Yeah go figure.

[high_revs]

+1

When I was working for Rancho I was given the task of bumping up RAM for 8 different engineering computers. It was up to me to purchase and install it to get them to 16GB each. They had either 8 or 12GB but they had three different models.

In doing that I found out that HP Branded RAM does NOT like Kingston.

If you put those two into those workstations they will not boot. But if you put all of HP or all of Kingston, NO PROBLEMS.

I think it probably has something to do with timings and voltage. The further off in timings the more likely something will not play nice.

And BTW, Kingston DID play nice with Lenovo RAM.

Yeah go figure.

and also buying ram with same specs that HP requires but doesn't say HP compatible won't work. I bought same specs but they didn't work and had to return them. then purchase HP compatible or something like that. that was really, really strange since i've never had to match a brand specific ram other than HP.

[Cartridge]

and also buying ram with same specs that HP requires but doesn't say HP compatible won't work. I bought same specs but they didn't work and had to return them. then purchase HP compatible or something like that. that was really, really strange since i've never had to match a brand specific ram other than HP.

You probably had a board that required ECC memory. If you use something like the Crucial Advisor Tool, you will always get the right specs for your board.