Looking to Upgrade from 4GB to 8GB. What's compatible and what's not?

Olivarius · Oct 14, 2015

Hi experts,

I'm looking to upgrade my RAM from 4GB to 8GB as I've been playing H1Z1 and Star Wars: Battlefront for the past few months.

When I'm playing the game, the Memory Usage is usually at 3.4GB - 3.8GB. And when I'm in a gunfight or going to a populated area, the Frame Rate will drop drastically and I'd lag badly. So I was wondering if the increase in RAM will help with smoother gameplay.

Here are some of the Specs of my rig:

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3220 CPU @3.30GHz, 3300 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS

Memory: ADATA Premier DDR3-1600 CL11

GPU: PowerColor HD7770 GHz Edition 1GB GDDR5

Operating System: 64 Bit Windows 7 Home Premium

Some questions that I have are, 'Which memory stick should I get and how do I know if it will be compatible. Heard that it has to be the same speed? How do I check for that?'

I "think" my processor is in the low end and so 'would I still lag when I have 8GB of Memory?'

Do let me know if additional information is needed.

Thanks in advanced.

Extra: Motherboard compatibilty, when to upgrade rig to prevent other hardware that's past warranty to corrupt other components.

why_wolf · Oct 14, 2015

If you are trying to keep your old stick then you should buy an identical stick from the same manufacturer and the same size. This is not a guarantee it will work though. The problem with RAM is it should just mix and match but sometimes it won't and there is no way to know when it won't. Headaches ensue.

If you want the best chance zero problems buy a new set either a single 8 or two 4s.

As for if this will solve your lag. I honestly can't say for sure. 8gigs is what I recommend as the base for a gaming PC and its not that expensive to upgrade to it, so it doesn't hurt to add it. But more RAM does not automatically mean things will run smoother.

Your CPU is on the low end, but not terribly so. Also what GPU do you have? Its more likely any game lag is caused by your GPU chocking.

mjslakeridge · Oct 14, 2015

According to your motherboard's web site, the specifications are as follows:

Dual Channel DDR3 memory technology
- 2 x DDR3 DIMM slots
- Supports DDR3 1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- Max. capacity of system memory: 16GB*

Are you using a 64bit operating system? If not, the maximum memory will be 4GB.

As Why Wolf said, it is best not to mix and match memory size, brand, speed, etc.

Olivarius · Oct 14, 2015

why_wolf :

Wait, if I buy another identical stick, it might not work too?

What must I make sure for 2 sticks to work together a 100%?

My GPU: PowerColor HD7770 GHz Edition 1GB GDDR5 (For games is it GPU over CPU?)

mjslakeridge :

Yes, I'm using a 64Bit OS.

What must I make sure for 2 sticks to work together a 100%? How do I check those?

Tradesman1 · Oct 14, 2015

For a 100% (actually about 99.%) buy a 2x4GB set. There's no guarantees when mixing from different packages, more in my article, item 2, here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ddr-dram-myths,4155.html

Olivarius · Oct 16, 2015

Tradesman1 :

Hi Tradesman, if I get the identical one, it will have the highest chance of working together right?

What other things should I look out for when moving more RAM? Thanks.

Olivarius · Oct 16, 2015

Tradesman1 :

Hi Tradesman, if I get the identical one, it will have the highest chance of working together right?

What other things should I look out for when buying more RAM? Thanks.

Tradesman1 · Oct 16, 2015

Yes, but still no guarantees, if you try it and have a problem, let me know and we can try adjustments

Olivarius · Oct 17, 2015

Tradesman1 :

Ok will do that.

Tradesman1 · Oct 17, 2015

C U around

RainPC · Oct 17, 2015

Here's the list of all the memory supported by your MB:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/B75M-DGS/?cat=Memory

And a link to some of the fastest memory that it will support in an 8 gb kit for 47.99 :>

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231476&cm_re=F3-17000CL9D-_-20-231-476-_-Product

With that you will have the maximum amount and speed your MB can handle for under 50 bucks :>

Olivarius · Oct 17, 2015

Tradesman1 :

See you

RainPC :

I see that under 'A-DATA' 4GB Memory Stick, there's 'AX3U1600GC4G9' and 'AX3U1600GC4G9-DG2'. Will the DG2 affect compatibility? How do I check if mine's has 'DG2' or not?

Thanks.

RainPC · Oct 17, 2015

Either one will work... is that the stick you have now? If so you need to get the exact same one.

Olivarius · Oct 18, 2015

RainPC :

Yes that's the one I have right now.

Okay I'll get it.

Paulos74 · Jan 25, 2016

I don't know if this helps or not but I just upgraded my laptop ram from 4gb to 8gb and it works perfectly fine. All I did was open up my PC and look at my two 2gb ram chips and ordered two 4gb ram chips of exactly the same type/brand etc off eBay. Works fine

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Looking to Upgrade from 4GB to 8GB. What's compatible and what's not?

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