Time to add ram?

[username455]

Hello,
My build is a few years old now (i7 920, p6t deluxe v2, 6gb ram, gtx 275) and I wanted to know if additional ram would be beneficial?

My current ram is:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

I was playing a flight sim (DCS A10) and got a message that memory was running low. It uses 5.5gb of ram when I checked task manager.

So some questions I had, If I were to add some ram:

obviously my current ram is discontinued. Would I need to buy a completely new set of 12gb? or could I somehow match 6gb with my current 6?

Prices between 1600 and 1333 ram are pretty significant. However, if anyone is familiar with the way overclocking works with the p6t board, my ram is currently running at 1411. I am completely happy with my current OC because it is completely stable. If I got 1333 ram that had to be overclocked to run at 1411, would that still be stable? Also, I believe newer ram now only uses 1.5v where I am currently using 1.64v.

any suggestions?

 

[crewton]

You can find 1.65V ram so that shouldn't be a problem. Your ram is triple channeled I assume? Your ram will match the worst frequency/timings. Therefore if you buy 1333 ram your other ram will reset and reclock to match them. Then you can try to reoverclock and hope the new sticks are stable at that frequency.

Just an aside, didn't realize flight sims used so much memory. Is it taking up the 5.5GB or is there something else taking up some of that RAM? Also curious if it is refering to your RAM or your graphics memory.

 

[username455]

So my best option would be to find 6gb 1333 ram? Ive never overclocked ram (only underclocked) so will it be "easy" to get it to match my current bios settings at 1411? I cant really lower that without lowering my cpu clock speed :/

Also, it may be my graphics memory that is the issue since it is pretty old. (plan on upgrading that as well). However I am basing the 5.5gb number off of the task manager performance tab. I just tested in a very small mission (just me flying, no enemies, no AI, no other players) and it was running at 4.8gb. Its only the big multiplayer missions that get up past 5gb.

Also, while running the sim, I also have my flight stick software running, teamspeak running, and face tracking software (poor man's TrackIR). Cant really do without those so I count them all as one.

 

[Raiddinn]

If it were me, I think I would just get 3x 4gbs and throw away the others rather than trying to match sticks of ram with old no longer sold stuff.

Yes, different kinds can be made to work together but it is cheap enough that I wouldn't want to try.

Using Crucial sticks, an extra 3x 2gb would cost about $35, whereas a regular 3x 4gb would cost about $56. That is a $21 difference. Is it worth possible configuration headaches to save that $21? Only you can decide that.

I have a pretty low tech budget myself and I would think pretty hard about saving that $21. Especially if I could try to ebay the old sticks to recover some of it.

 

[username455]

thanks raiddinn, and initially thats what I was gonna do. But getting 12gb 1600 ram cas7 is $160 :/ 12gb 1333 ram is $75, but then the overclock issue arises.

would I not notice a difference with say CAS 8 or 9 to save some money?

 

[capt_taco]

4GB memory sticks have gotten so cheap now that you're seriously better off just getting all new sticks and making throwing stars out of you current set. Not worth the trouble, and in all likelihood, if you try to match with your old ones, one set or the other will take a performance hit as the system downgrades to the lowest common denominator.

Also -- anyone remember when a single 4GB stick of RAM was, like ... $400? Those were the days. Sounds funny talking about how cheap they are now.

 

[etk]

Don't worry about latency.
12GB, $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148481
Ram is so cheap, it's worth the piece of mind alone; I'm tempted to jump up to 16GB myself just so I don't end up in your situation in a few years.

 

[Raiddinn]

thanks raiddinn, and initially thats what I was gonna do. But getting 12gb 1600 ram cas7 is $160 :/ 12gb 1333 ram is $75, but then the overclock issue arises.

would I not notice a difference with say CAS 8 or 9 to save some money?

There are always going to be ways to spend 2x more to get 20% more gain in the computer world.

If you are on a budget, it really doesn't make sense to pursue those sorts of opportunities, though.

They are mostly there to serve the people who have more money than they know what to do with.

It is possible to spend $20,000 on a computer, but it plays games like 20% better than a computer that costs $2,000.

There is a $500 video card that is like 30% better than one that costs $230.

Anyway, that isn't where the bang for your buck is at.

Just get 3x 4GBs of regular 1333 RAM and I think you will have the best all around outcome. The speed does make a lot of difference, but not enough to be worth the price for someone on a budget.

 

[Raiddinn]

4GB memory sticks have gotten so cheap now that you're seriously better off just getting all new sticks and making throwing stars out of you current set. Not worth the trouble, and in all likelihood, if you try to match with your old ones, one set or the other will take a performance hit as the system downgrades to the lowest common denominator.

Also -- anyone remember when a single 4GB stick of RAM was, like ... $400? Those were the days. Sounds funny talking about how cheap they are now.

My first computer was like a million times slower than my current computer and costed tremendously more in inflation adjusted dollars compared to the computer I have now.

It was a 486 dx 2 66mhz, yes 66 megahertz processor, single core, it had a stick of RAM in it that was 64 kb, the hard drive I think could hold a whole 8 megs worth of files. If you inflation adjusted the price someone paid to buy it for me it would probably be about $3000 USD currently. I remember oohing and aaahing when 1mb ram sticks came out.

Those were the days, weren't they?

 

[etk]

My first computer was like a million times slower than my current computer and costed tremendously more in inflation adjusted dollars compared to the computer I have now.

It was a 486 dx 2 66mhz, yes 66 megahertz processor, single core, it had a stick of RAM in it that was 64 kb, the hard drive I think could hold a whole 8 megs worth of files. If you inflation adjusted the price someone paid to buy it for me it would probably be about $3000 USD currently. I remember oohing and aaahing when 1mb ram sticks came out.

Those were the days, weren't they?

Yea but you couldn't have just one stick back then, it was like 2 or four sticks per channel otherwise it wouldn't run, which made i cost even more.