8GB RAM + 2x 2GB RAM for my motherboard?

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Delythien

Delythien

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Sep 1, 2015
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Hello.

So I basically assembled a new computer.

I have a MSI Z97 GAMING 5 Motherboard and a 8GB HyperX FURY blau DDR3-1866 DIMM RAM. My computer works perfectly.

My old motherboard had 2x 2GB RAM installed, Team Xtreem 2GB 240-Pin DDR3-1600 (PC3 12800).

I'm pretty satisfied with my 8 GB RAM Memory, but I don't know what to do with my old Memory modules. I'll either give it to a friend or keep them for later use.
But I want to know, should I keep them, would they even be compatible for my Motherboard + already installed RAM?
I know that my old RAM has 1600 MHz and my new one runs with 1866 MHz, but is that a problem? How would that work if I had all three sticks on my motherboard?
In theory that would be 12 GB RAM, but how would it function? Would it slow down due to the older Memory sticks?

Thanks in advance :)
 
Solution
Rogue Leader
Two problems, one is that ram will only run as fast as its slowest module, so you will be slowing yours down a bit. That though really isn't noticeable. The other issue is that the ram may not be compatible. It may be as simple as ram timings are not. But even if they are exactly the same the chips used may not get along, etc. You can try it and see if its stable, but if its not, no amount of fiddling will really help.
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Rogue Leader

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
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Dec 22, 2014
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Two problems, one is that ram will only run as fast as its slowest module, so you will be slowing yours down a bit. That though really isn't noticeable. The other issue is that the ram may not be compatible. It may be as simple as ram timings are not. But even if they are exactly the same the chips used may not get along, etc. You can try it and see if its stable, but if its not, no amount of fiddling will really help.
 
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Solution
photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
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Stick with the 8GB you have.

The above is correct, you may have problems.

If you want to use MEMTEST and mess around with manual settings in the BIOS to configure you can, however since there's no pressing need right now for more memory I'd avoid that.

If you really needed more memory I'd just say get an identical 2x4GB kit.

Other:
You should close any web browsers before playing games as a general rule. I had only TEN tabs open in Google Chrome and they just kept eating up memory just sitting there (new video adds loading?) and until I got a low memory warning (8GB used).

I've also ran out of memory due to problems with search (Indexing) using way too much memory (and CPU usage too at times) so I disabled that. Had problems with W7, W8 but not sure about W10 as I disabled it right away.
 
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