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I need an answer fast on ram!

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Gang,

I'm running a stock intel i7-950 on an asus sabertooth x58 mobo. I currently run 1 6 gig kit of corsair xms3 7-8-7-20 @ 1600mhz 1T ram.

I plan on upgrading ram tomorrow morning to 12gigs. Should I:

1) Get another 6 gig 7-8-7-20 kit at 1600mhz

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

2) Return my 6 gig kit at get a 3 stick 12 gig kit of patriot viper 2 sector 7 9-9-9-24 1600 mhz ram?

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

I really want to get the best timing at a 1T rate if possable. Is there any concern on populating all 6 slots?

What should I get and why?

More about : answer fast ram

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Motherboard Authority

You haven't told us what you do with the rig. But generally speaking, you won't notice the speed difference between your options, nor whether you are 1t or 2t.

OTOH, while it should work its often more difficult to get 6 slots running well. While 3x4GB sticks should be easy to install, they also seem to put a bit more pressure on your mobo.

If you need 12GB, I'd take the path that costs the least or go the Corsair route if the price difference is meaningless to you.

Sorry, I should have mentioned what i'm doing with my rig. It's for gaming 99% of the time only. Some multitasking while gaming might happen.

Cost on the ram is about the same. $300 for x2 6 gig kits vs $300 for 1 12 gig kit with 3 sticks.

I would really like to run my ram at the rated speeds of 1600mhz at 1T is possable. I have heard that running 1T or OCing your cpu might be problematic with all ram slots full. I have also heard that some bios don't work perfectly with 4 gig ram sticks.

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Motherboard Authority

Er, not 4 sticks - 6 sticks. Your mobo uses DDR3 in three-channel mode.

In any case, yes, that's what I said - filling all 6 slots (or all 4 on an 1156 platform) puts a lot of strain on mobo circuitry. Some mobos/ram don't play nice in that configuration.

But using 3x4GB sticks also stresses it a bit more than 3x2GB sticks.3x2GB sticks is the easiest build to stabilize.
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