Question about RAM and the ASRock Z77 Extreme4

Hey fellas.

So I'm planning on getting the ASRock Z77 Extreme4. My questions are:

1. 4×240pin. This is pretty self-explanatory but I still want confirmation. This means it can ONLY fit 4 RAMs that are 240 pin?
oly use ddr-3 ram that 240 pins and 1.6v and less.
2. Do I have to fill all 4 slots or is it not necessary?
nope the min of any new mb is one slot.

3. It says Maximum Memory Supported: 32GB. So this means the maximum amount of RAM it can support is 32gb. Would it harm the Mobo if I exceeded that maximum or would it just not be efficient?
most mb wont post or wont read the extra ram.

4. Can I mix different types of RAMs from different manufacturers together or do they all have to be from the same company?
mixing ram can cause blue screens. you have to make sure the ram speed and timing and voltages are the same. the other issues is ram vendors swap ram chips from lot to lot. it always the best best to max the system out at the time of build.

5. Is there a right and wrong way of buying RAM? Would installing 2 4GB RAM be the same as installing 1 8GB RAM if they were both from the exact same company and had the exact same specs? Or would 2 run more efficiently?
new mb 1155/1156 and amd have two banks on the mb. with two dimms you run is a slightly faster two channel mode. with one dimm you run in singal channel mode.

6. Last but not least, I see most mid-to-high-end gaming builds only buying 1 RAM stick (2 at most). For my build I can see the Corsair Vengeance is pretty good. But why is it that they don't fill up the 32GB maximum? Other than trying to lower the budget, do games need that much RAM anyways or will 1 8 GB be enough? you have to think of ram as a book or page. the more ram you have the more apps and windows you can run at once. most gaming system 8g is fine your giving the os and games a lot of ram to work with. if you do photoshop or video editing or cad having a little more ram 16g will help. anything more then 16g in today system with windows 8 is a waste.


if your going to use an after market heat sink look into using low profile ram to fit under the heat sink. also with mb read the mb qal list for tested ram. not all ram will run in all mb. some ram wont run with all 4 stick in some mb. the qal list is a guild also look to see if the ram vendor tested there ram in that mb.

Thank you