Optimum Ram Usage

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DJMatt

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Jul 24, 2015
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Hi,
I have 2 x 4, 1866 kit of hyperx fury ram in my rig. I wanted to upgrade to 16gb because when I'm playing games and surfing the web I get a warning report by windows that says memory usage is almost full. So I could by another 2 x 4 kit or I could buy a single 8 gb stick. The single 8 gb stick would be better for upgradability. However the 2 x 4 kit would run faster in dual channel. I have an asus Z97-A mobo, the user manual said it would map the excess ram from one channel into single channel operation. I was wondering what this meant, and, what kit of ram I should buy.
 
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Tradesman1
Couple of things on this - first is there are no guarantees when mixing DRAM from different packages (even if same identical model #s), they might play - might not. That said if you do mix and have problems you can often get mixed sets to play anyway with minor voltage/timing adjustments. If you have to add DRAM you can go either way, just need to keep in mind to try and keep the DRAM balanced equally between channels. i.e. if you add another 2x4GB and they play all is fine - 8GB in each channel will be full dual channel mode. If you go to an 8GB stick and put it in an open slot and are currently in dual channel (don't want to do this) then effectively you hav 4 GB in one channel and 12 GB in the other - so the original 8GB will still...
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why_wolf

why_wolf

Splendid
Aug 28, 2015
3,532
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best recommendation is to buy a new 2x8 kit and not use your old 2x4 kit. However if you want to save money get another 2x4 kit. To minimize potential problems get the exact same model# of RAM you already have. If this can not be done than get one from the same manufacturer with the same timing and speed settings.
 
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why_wolf

why_wolf

Splendid
Aug 28, 2015
3,532
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realistically only professionals doing stuff like video work, large CAD files and such actually need more. Regular users should have 8 with a recommended of 16 if they play games and are trying for ultra settings. I would not expect this to change for some time. So unless they next Xbox comes with 32gb of RAM and changes the game as a result, 16 is the sweet spot you should aim for.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
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Couple of things on this - first is there are no guarantees when mixing DRAM from different packages (even if same identical model #s), they might play - might not. That said if you do mix and have problems you can often get mixed sets to play anyway with minor voltage/timing adjustments. If you have to add DRAM you can go either way, just need to keep in mind to try and keep the DRAM balanced equally between channels. i.e. if you add another 2x4GB and they play all is fine - 8GB in each channel will be full dual channel mode. If you go to an 8GB stick and put it in an open slot and are currently in dual channel (don't want to do this) then effectively you hav 4 GB in one channel and 12 GB in the other - so the original 8GB will still run dual, but the odd 8GB will be running single channel mode. You can get around this, by placing the 8GB stick in slot 1 next to CPU (slots 1-2 are channel A) then put the 4GB sticks in slots 3-4 (Channel B) then you have 8GB in each channel and all runs in dual channel mode via Intel's Flex technology
 
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