Upgrade desktop RAM memory, and/or use 2 different dual channel memory pack and speed(MHz)

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M

mickhell

Commendable
Feb 5, 2017
4
0
1,510
Hi!
I´m new here and sorry if this is a stupid question, but better to ask than guessing.

I´ve got over an affordable RAM package: KHX24C11T3K2/8X 8GB (4GB 512M x 64-Bit x 2 pcs.)
DDR3-2400 CL11 240-Pin DIMM Kit
http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KHX24C11T3K2_8X.pdf

My desktop spec right now:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Motherboard: Asus P7P55D-E LX
Cpu: I3 550
Ram: KHX1600C9D3K2/4GX, http://www.kingston.com/datasheets/khx1600c9d3k2_4gx.pdf
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6970
PSU: Nexus NX-5000 Rev. 3

This is an old system, but still working. I recently upgraded my GPU from GeForce 210 to this Radeon HD 6970. A major drawback is that it seems as my system have some kind of lack of memory. This is why I found a memory upgrade kit.

Questions are:
First, this new RAM kit, Will it work on my motherboard?
(it seems as my motherboard only support 1300 MHz, but as far as I understand it will clock down to highest possible speed. When I got afford to buy better stuff I might use this 2400 MHz RAM kit.

Second, can I Use both kits? This means different MHz and times, but will my sytem adjust? or should I just use the 2x4Gb kit?

Thanks for aswers!
 
Solution
imsqam
Wow, fast DDR3 RAM.

You are in a bit of a grey area. Your mobo allows for DDR3 2200 at overclocked settings and allows XMP memory profiles. You have 4 DIMM slots capable of supporting 4 X 4GB. So your mobo looks to be physically capable of doing this.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P7P55DE_LX/specifications/

The 2400 RAM would have to be downclocked to run in your system but I have done just that in a couple of Frankencomputers I have built. Second, when you mix two different speeds of RAM the system will run the faster RAM at the lower setting. So in setting up the RAM your existing RAM will act as the bottleneck. But the existing RAM is fine for the system and for modern gaming I would rather have the 12GB at a lower...
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imsqam

imsqam

Splendid
Mar 25, 2011
1,912
1
23,960
Wow, fast DDR3 RAM.

You are in a bit of a grey area. Your mobo allows for DDR3 2200 at overclocked settings and allows XMP memory profiles. You have 4 DIMM slots capable of supporting 4 X 4GB. So your mobo looks to be physically capable of doing this.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P7P55DE_LX/specifications/

The 2400 RAM would have to be downclocked to run in your system but I have done just that in a couple of Frankencomputers I have built. Second, when you mix two different speeds of RAM the system will run the faster RAM at the lower setting. So in setting up the RAM your existing RAM will act as the bottleneck. But the existing RAM is fine for the system and for modern gaming I would rather have the 12GB at a lower setting than the 8GB at a higher setting.

So first step will be for you to learn how to manually set RAM speed and timings in your BIOS. Look it up in your owners manual which can be found at the link above. Once you are familar with this put all the RAM in and see if it boots. I suspect that it will by autosetting the RAM to the JEDEC settings at 1333MHz. So at this point you have two paths. First is to just leave everything at 1333MHz and 1.5V. Otherwise, pull the new RAM and see settings can be achieved with the old RAM. The older RAM was guaranteed to be able to reach 9-9-9-27 at 1.65V. I would highly advise not going past 1.65V.

I personally would just opt to leave everything at 1.5V. Increases in RAM speed are not going to make a huge difference to system performance. And with an old system increasing the voltage might stress the system.
 
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Solution
M

mickhell

Commendable
Feb 5, 2017
4
0
1,510
Thank you for helpful answer!

So, basically "plug-and-play".
I´ve tried to just use the new 2400MHz and let the system automatically detect it and set the MHz and it worked fine(system automatically set it to 668MHz), but in my opinion some kind of "lag" appeared when watching videos. So, I put in both RAM-kits and started it up again. WOW!, what a difference!
Computer started up very fast and I was able to use it way faster compared to earlier days. When playing a game and suddenly decided to switch tab(program), it actually worked! Comparing to earlier when had to wait a while before anything happened.

I even tried OC(Ai Tweaker Menu) in BIOS, and forced the system to run at 1600MHz but changed it back to auto. I did not notice any improvements at all running it at forced MHz. More likely it became slower/more thinking. (I used same program/games and Speccy to see what MHz RAM had and other info) Maybe best to not "destroy" this old computer by maxing out component performance. It was sure worth it, a 25$ RAM upgrade!
 
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