Can I increase RAM later?

[lava1789]

Several doubts and questions:
1) Supposedly I have a sys. with the latest Haswell processors(i7- 5960x or 5930k or 5820k) with (2x8)16gb ddr4 ram now. Later on when my budget permits can I increase the RAM with adding another set of (2x8)16gb ddr4 ram?
Or will I have to replace the original set of (2x8)16gb ddr4 ram with new set of (4x8)32gb ddr4 ram?
2) Also, if the addition is permitted, do I need to buy same set of same manufacturer with same product no. or will similar kind of (2x8)16gb ddr4 ram set of any company will do?
3) And one more doubt: will it affect if some RAM slots are empty? I know this may appear stupid but wanna clarify. I think empty RAM slots will not affect any performance or life of the system.
Please explain.🙁

 

[pearcenc]

yes. you can always add ram till you reach your os or mobo max.
same brand and type is optimal, but its not "required", and have empty ram slots will not hurt anything
also you can keep your first set of ram. it wont be unusable like printer ink

 

[prit87]

No you can add another pair of 2x4 gb ram of the same brand and same latency and if you keep some ram slots empty nothing is going to happen.

 

[lava1789]

Thanks for the replies.
But G Skill does not recommend adding a new set even with same product. See 6th question from top in following link:
http://www.gskill.com/en/faq/Memory
So what should be done?🙁

 

[spooky2th]

You are taking a chance when mixing kits and/or sticks. The best route to take is to get the max amount of ram in one kit. That way you will have sticks that have been tested together to make sure that they work together. If you get another kit to increase your memory, even if the second kit is identical to the original kit, there is no guarantee that the kits will work together.

You need a Pro version or higher of windows to run more that 16GB.

If you already have a kit and want to increase your memory, get a kit that is exactly the same model, specs, timing and speed. But even then you are taking a chance.

And no, it won't matter if there are unused slots. For the new X99 boards a 4x8GB kit will make for a killer system.