Installing 1 8GB ram stick with 2 4GB ram sticks

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PsychoManiac21

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May 24, 2015
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So I have a Z370M Pro4 motherboard, and I was wondering whether it would be at all possible for me to install an 8GB vengeance with two 4GB G Skill Ripjaws sticks of ram. And if so then is there some orientation where each of them would need to be in order to get the best performance out of them. If this helps at all the user manual for the board can be found here https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/Z370%20Pro4/index.asp#Manual

I looked through it but can't tell exactly what it means and what I'm supposed to do.
 
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Vic 40
If running 1x8gb in one channel and 1x4gb in the other will 1x4 (from the 8gb)+the 1x4gb go into dualchannel while the rest of the 8gb (still 4gb left) will run in single channel,this is "flex mode".

I would still try some more options to test if dualchannel is possible,like 2x4 in the first two slots and the 1x8gb in the fourth,but if what you have now is the only way to run it should that be okay in the end. Means that the 2x4gb will run in dualchannel while the 1x8gb will run single as explained above.
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Vic 40

Vic 40

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It might not work since combining ram that didn't came from one set and is not even from the same maker/model.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ddr-dram-myths,4155.html#p4
Look at "Just Adding More Dram".

If you want to try,testing is the only real way to know,put the 2x4gb in the first two slots from the cpu and the 1x8gb in the third (or other way round:1x8gb in the second slot+2x4gb in slots 3/4),this should at least give you dualchannel ram.
 
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PsychoManiac21

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So I tested some things out and got some results. The first method that you provided would result in nothing being displayed on my monitor and none of my peripherals getting power. I also tried a different way which was 8 in the first and 4 in the second and fourth. The reason I did that was that when I looked at the manual that looks like that's what it says to do if you have 2 sticks of ram (putting it in the second and fourth). This method worked, however, I'm not exactly sure that they are running dual channel. I can see the 16GB of ram in my system but when I did a benchmark it said that there was insufficient data gain. It gave me this as one of the possible problems, "When RAM sticks are plugged into the wrong slots they may operate in single channel mode rather than dual channel mode. (Usually, alternate slots should be populated - check your Motherboard's manual)"
 
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J_E_D_70

J_E_D_70

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If you run one stick in any slot without a corresponding stick in the other half of the pair, the whole memory controller reverts to single channel. No way around it.

However, my understanding is there’s only a 5-10% loss in single - the benefit of 16gb (not swapping to hdd or ssd as often) probably still gets you ahead in usability.
 
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Vic 40

Vic 40

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If running 1x8gb in one channel and 1x4gb in the other will 1x4 (from the 8gb)+the 1x4gb go into dualchannel while the rest of the 8gb (still 4gb left) will run in single channel,this is "flex mode".

I would still try some more options to test if dualchannel is possible,like 2x4 in the first two slots and the 1x8gb in the fourth,but if what you have now is the only way to run it should that be okay in the end. Means that the 2x4gb will run in dualchannel while the 1x8gb will run single as explained above.
 
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