Question couple question about RAM upgrade

[jostegogar]

hey guys i want to upgrade from single channel 1x8gb to dual channel 16GB i have several question now

1.can my i5 8400 handle 4000MHz RAM? the price is not much different then 3600

1. does RAM speed affect performance with intel?
2. there is 2 brands that i can buy now G.skill and TEAMGROUP. i know that g.skill is known brand but it costs more. is TEAMGROUP good enough or i just go with g.skill?

thanks in advance

 

[Darkbreeze]

Probably not, and even if it could you would see little benefit from anything over 3200mhz on that platform.

What is your exact motherboard model?

1. Yes, to a point. After 3200mhz gains drop off drastically except on synthetic benchmarks.

2. Depends on question three, the one I'm going to ask.

Are you trying to ADD another stick to your existing stick, and if so what are the specs for that stick?

If you are trying to add to your existing memory you would REALLY be wise to try and find another DIMM that is the exact same model as the one you already have. That still won't offer any 100% guarantees, but it will at least tilt the odds in your favor. Mixed memory is a crapshoot, especially once you go past 2400mhz on your platform.

If you are intending to simply buy a whole new kit, with matched and tested sticks, which is what I'd recommend, then I'd highly recommend that you choose the G.Skill sticks. They aren't just "known", they are much higher quality memory in most cases. Team does have SOME fairly decent memory modules but they are nowhere near the level of G.Skill when it comes to memory production quality and expertise.

Likely the Team memory will work, but if it doesn't you may be dealing with a headache of returning and purchasing other memory anyhow. G.Skill is definitely listed out on far more motherboard QVL lists than anything offered by Team. Not that the QVL lists are an all inclusive list of compatible memory modules anyhow, but it's nice to know that they memory you buy is from a company that is generally included on them in any case.

 

[jostegogar]

Probably not, and even if it could you would see little benefit from anything over 3200mhz on that platform.

What is your exact motherboard model?

1. Yes, to a point. After 3200mhz gains drop off drastically except on synthetic benchmarks.

2. Depends on question three, the one I'm going to ask.

Are you trying to ADD another stick to your existing stick, and if so what are the specs for that stick?

If you are trying to add to your existing memory you would REALLY be wise to try and find another DIMM that is the exact same model as the one you already have. That still won't offer any 100% guarantees, but it will at least tilt the odds in your favor. Mixed memory is a crapshoot, especially once you go past 2400mhz on your platform.

If you are intending to simply buy a whole new kit, with matched and tested sticks, which is what I'd recommend, then I'd highly recommend that you choose the G.Skill sticks. They aren't just "known", they are much higher quality memory in most cases. Team does have SOME fairly decent memory modules but they are nowhere near the level of G.Skill when it comes to memory production quality and expertise.

Likely the Team memory will work, but if it doesn't you may be dealing with a headache of returning and purchasing other memory anyhow. G.Skill is definitely listed out on far more motherboard QVL lists than anything offered by Team. Not that the QVL lists are an all inclusive list of compatible memory modules anyhow, but it's nice to know that they memory you buy is from a company that is generally included on them in any case.

thank u for answering the question.
my motherboard is asus prime Z370-P which supports up to 4000MHz memory speed

and about your question no im going to sell my 8gb ram and buy a kit as 2x8 G.skill trident Z.

and about the memory speed since my mobo supports it i was thinking i should get the 4GHz ram just to be more future proof. or should i?

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you have a Z series unlocked board, then you MIGHT be able to run at 4000mhz, but that's a technical possibility, not a likely probability. In order to run memory kits which are that fast you usually have to resort to at least a moderate overclock to the CPU since that's where the memory controller is located, and with that CPU you obviously cannot change the multiplier and so no legitimate overclock is possible.

It could work, but it's doubtful. You MIGHT have more luck with something in the 3000mhz range, but again, sometimes, depending on the quality of the motherboard and the memory kit, these high speed memory kits just won't work at the advertised profile speeds without also giving the memory controller a kick in the seat of the pants and the only way to do that is with an overclock.

I'd probably be willing to at least try it though at speeds of 3200mhz or less. Since the price difference between slow and fast memory kits these days is fairly minimal, even if you end up having to run them at a slightly slower speed, you don't really stand to lose much by going with a faster kit. You could even try 4000mhz sticks, but they are a lot more expensive and they are a lot more likely to not run at that speed than something more reasonable like 3200mhz or less.

Plus, you probably aren't going to see a drastic difference in performance on your current platform and by the time DDR4 4000mhz becomes mainstream (For "future proofing" as you you put it), if ever, it's likely we will have moved on to DDR5 by then.

How much are you willing to spend on a pair of sticks and are you set on Trident Z or are you willing to go with a different series from G.Skill if you can get the same speed and timings for a lower price? Ripjaws or Corsair Dominator series are very good sticks too.