8 to 16 GB RAM

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

Hi,

I currently own this RAM: http://www.outletpc.com/un2286-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9-corsair-vengeance-8gb-ddr3-ram.html

I want to get 16 GB. I bought 2 sticks of 4 GB. Should I just get a 16 GB kit or go for a 4 x 4 GB setup? Not sure how to proceed and why which one is better than the other.

USAFRet · Nov 30, 2015

Are you running into actual situations where 8GB is not enough?

CTurbo · Nov 30, 2015

If your mobo has 4 dimms, you could just add another 2x4Gb kit.

Option number 2 would be to buy a new 2x8GB kit and try to sell your old 2x4GB kit.

Dark Lord of Tech · Nov 30, 2015

No guarantee when mixing old and new ram even if identical may or may not be compatible.

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

USAFRet :

Not necessarily, I'm just thinking that with all of the games coming out, I should have 16 to be prepared. I don't -think- I'm running into issues where 8 GB isn't enough however. All I do is play games on one monitor and watch streams on my second monitor on twitch. Sometimes everything lags but it could be because of CPU.

Specs:

-ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
-i5-3570k
-8 GB RAM
-Samsung 840 EVO SSD 256 GB
-ASUS R9 280X
-Corsair 750W PSU

milk_inc · Nov 30, 2015

just buy the another kit of 2x4gb if your mobo is 4 dimms, with 16gb you have enough ram for a while, at less you are looking something for heavy use that need 16 GB of ram.
I believe when you need to upgrade for 32 GB you will switch to ddr4 in a future, use money wise.

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

CTurbo :

Yes, my motherboard has 4 RAM slots. Why would option 2 be considerable? Is 2 x 8 GB better than 4 x 4 GB?

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

What do you mean? I am buying the exact same RAM sticks. Can you elaborate?

Dark Lord of Tech · Nov 30, 2015

2X8 is better , less stress on the MC.

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

milk_inc :

I will. With all the new games coming out, I'm really just future-proofing my build.

USAFRet · Nov 30, 2015

Mixing new RAM in with your old RAM is a crapshoot. It might not work. Even if you buy the exact same make/model.

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

Are we talking substantial changes or is it so minor that its not even worth considering?

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

USAFRet :

Oh. I did not even know that.

affinitydesigns · Nov 30, 2015

8GB vs 16GB, especially for gaming you will see no difference in performance. That money would be better spent elsewhere in the build. As another poster mentioned, adding additional memory can cause instability in a system. Even identically branded sets or RAM can be incompatible and cause extremely difficult to diagnose issue and random crashing. The less RAM sticks the better is always the rule of thumb. The more DIMMs you occupy the higher likelihood that one can encounter an incompatibly issue. Overclocking can also be an issue as you will only be able to overclock as fast as the slowest stick. Faster memory could improve your performance, SLIGHTLY. From your previous post I believe that your current bottleneck is going to be your CPU more-so than anything with gaming. Grabbing 16GB of DDR3 RAM for future-proofing just isn't the way to go. If you want to get a longer lifetime out of your pc, you'll want better a better processor or graphics card. Once games will have caught up to your 16GBs of RAM, your CPU and GPU will be long obsolete. Since everything will have already moved to DDR4 or whatever it is at the time, your purchase of 16GBs of DDR3 RAM right now will have been for nothing.

In summary, no. Do not upgrade your 8GB to 16GB.

CTurbo · Nov 30, 2015

2x8GB is better. Mix matching different RAM is not a an issue 99% of the time though.

Ironsounds · Nov 30, 2015

Hello... Sometimes you need to up your MC voltage in the MB, for four sticks to work... Cosair has a wonderful return policy and lifetime warranties... and easy to talk to and RMA/work with... I would suggest buying the 2x4gb kit to "Match" to your existing RAM.

I don't feel a whole lotta risk here for you... other than, your MB will not support 16gb, OR Where the product is sent from and if they had any storage problem.

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

affinitydesigns :

8GB vs 16GB, especially for gaming you will see no difference in performance. That money would be better spent elsewhere in the build. As another poster mentioned, adding additional memory can cause instability in a system. Even identically branded sets or RAM can be incompatible and cause extremely difficult to diagnose issue and random crashing. The less RAM sticks the better is always the rule of thumb. The more DIMMs you occupy the higher likelihood that one can encounter an incompatibly issue. Overclocking can also be an issue as you will only be able to overclock as fast as the slowest stick. Faster memory could improve your performance, SLIGHTLY. From your previous post I believe that your current bottleneck is going to be your CPU more-so than anything with gaming. Grabbing 16GB of DDR3 RAM for future-proofing just isn't the way to go. If you want to get a longer lifetime out of your pc, you'll want better a better processor or graphics card. Once games will have caught up to your 16GBs of RAM, your CPU and GPU will be long obsolete. Since everything will have already moved to DDR4 or whatever it is at the time, your purchase of 16GBs of DDR3 RAM right now will have been for nothing.

In summary, no. Do not upgrade your 8GB to 16GB.

Thanks. My problem is that my motherboard can't accept anything better than the i5-3570k because it's an LGA 1155 socket type. I'm worried that I will have to put alot more money to get the upgrades you are describing...

USAFRet · Nov 30, 2015

The 3570k is still a VERY viable CPU. Moving from 8GB to 16GB RAM will probably not result in any real bennies.
I have that CPU and 16GB RAM, because I run a lot of VM's.

By the time you really need 16GB, you will have to change everything else anyway.

affinitydesigns · Nov 30, 2015

khubani :

affinitydesigns :

Thanks. My problem is that my motherboard can't accept anything better than the i5-3570k because it's an LGA 1155 socket type. I'm worried that I will have to put alot more money to get the upgrades you are describing...

I understand, and that is my point. You're better off saving the money spent on the extra 8GB of RAM and save that towards new components that are viable options for future-proofing.

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

USAFRet :

Should I consider OC even though I've never done it before? lol

lodders · Nov 30, 2015

You only need to change something on your PC if there is something wrong with it...
What is it that you can't do with yours?

USAFRet · Nov 30, 2015

khubani :

It can't hurt, unless you do it wrong.

Ironsounds · Nov 30, 2015

Hello... "Lag" problems are not typically fixed by going from 8gb to 16 gb ram... unless your using a lot of Professional Software, Audio samples, Graphics design, and CAD.
Lag is typically from internet traffic, Multiple streaming Web pages ( Chome)... and I've seen Flash Player can use a lot of RAM, if left on/streaming for a few days... And then your CPU/GPU and the How high of ( Eye candy ) settings you are running your Games.

khubani · Nov 30, 2015

affinitydesigns :

khubani :

I understand, and that is my point. You're better off saving the money spent on the extra 8GB of RAM and save that towards new components that are viable options for future-proofing.

I see. Would you mind replying to my case fan upgrade thread that you were speaking to me about? I replied and I'm interested in your thoughts.

affinitydesigns · Nov 30, 2015

I replied to that thread.

You could definitely overclock, but if you don't have an aftermarket CPU cooler you won't get too far. That would be a better investment and you could stay around the same budget as the extra RAM. You'll want to download a stress test like AIDA 64. DO NOT USE PRIME94. Prime94 can push your CPU past it's thermal threshold and cause permanent damage. DO NOT USE IT. Look up a guide on how to overclock your CPU. You have an unlocked multiplier, so you'll want to start there and gradually increase it and test stability.
Here's a previous post about overclocking your same processor: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1737864/safe-overclock-3570k.html

Please keep in mind they may have had a different cooling solution and not every chip overclocks the same.

You will see an increase in performance by overclocking, but you will also see more heat and more power consumption. Keep that in mind.

8 to 16 GB RAM

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