2 sizes of DDR3 Ram

[Dotmore]

Hi.

Currently, my pc has 5GB ram. 1x 1gb and 1x4 Gb. Both of them are DDR3 1600 Mhz. However, i have been told that due to the 2 not matching in size, the 4Gb is running running lower than when they both are the same.

1) Is this true? Could i buy a new 4gb stick of the same brand,ddr3 and clockspeed type of the current 4Gb, and replace the 1gb and be fine?

2) Would my pc actually run better if i removed the 1GB and ran purely on 4GB?


(My board is a B85m P33, so dual channel)

 

[kraelic]

The 1GB does not slow the 4GB down if they are both 1600. If the 1GB was 1600 and the 4GB was 1333, then the 4GB would slow down the 1GB and vise versa.

Your RAM is in asynchronous dual channel mode with the mismatched size, 1GB of each stick to be accessed at 128-bit combined where the remainder 3GB are just on one 64-bit channel.

You should not notice any difference during use except on synthetic benchmarks with the current setup. However, I would recommend to go 8GB ram with two 4GB sticks.