Is upgrading to the ballistix or skilljaw type memory sticks beneficial

[texascedd]

I was just wondering if I would see or notice any significant changes by using the I call it "premium" memory versus standard sticks.

I am doing fine with what I have. Just curious.

I currently use 2 x 2gb factory sticks and one 4gb Crucial.

Most I can tell is there fancy looking but I don't really need all of that.

 

[smorizio]

with newer mb with two or four memory banks with two of the same size ram chips the mb will run faster and there less chance of memory errors. on ram if your looking for 8g of ram or 16 i would use two stick of a matched ram kit.
if it ddr3 or ddr4 dont go crazy or super speed ram look at 1600/1866 for ddr3 and 2100/2400 for ddr4 ram.

 

[captaincharisma]

it depends on the speed of your ram really. although from your post it sounds like you are mixing different brands and maybe speeds of ram which is not really recommended due to how it may hinder performance

 

[geofelt]

No.

If you are using integrated graphics maybe.
That assumes your motherboard is capable of using faster ram.
What is your cpu and motherboard?

Heat spreaders are useless; they are mostly marketing.
They are useful only if you are trying for ram overclocking records.

 

[photonboy]

sigh. question can't be answered yet.

It depends on:

1) CPU you are using
2) if APU or CPU with integrated graphics do you use that?
3) what memory do you have now?
4) Do you game?

You've really told us very little that is useful.

It's also worth noting you are in SINGLE CHANNEL mode right now thus have reduced the memory bandwidth to HALF of what the slowest stick is. You need a multiple of 2x such as 2x4GB 1866MHz (memory speed assumes DDR3) installed in the recommended slots (see motherboard manual)

If your CPU is slow enough, or you don't tax it much then going higher than what you have won't help.

BENCHMARK TESTING:
If you remove the 4GB module, and ensure the 2x2GB sticks are in the proper slots then you'll increase the bandwidth. You could run some benchmarks BEFORE and AFTER you do this.

I'll post this and think of a suitable test for the CPU.

 

[photonboy]

https://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/legacy

1) Download and install PCMark05 (copy in the now free code)

2) ignore the missing file warning when starting

3) Select ONLY the CPU components on the left for a short test (or select EVERYTHING but that takes over 30 minutes).

The CPU is the main thing we care about since if the memory bandwidth is too low the CPU ends up waiting. This doesn't always affect games or other programs as the bottleneck may be the GPU or elsewhere.

4) Write down the score or scores on the right

5) REPEAT and compare scores. They should change slightly but not too much (if too much another program may have started up in the background like anti-virus thus ruining the results).

Also.. make sure to reboot PC before starting testing and leave alone for two minutes or so. Don't run any other programs until testing completes.

6) REMOVE 4GB stick, verify 2x2GB placement (#2 and #4 slots? See motherboard manual) then repeat the testing and compare scores

 

[texascedd]

thanks for that info
extra thanks photoboy

just to answer back

Athlon II X4 630 2.8 GHz -
DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) 1x4gb crucial the other 2 are factory
r7360 gpu 2gb

no hardcore gamer just wondered what all the fuss was about so i picked up a graphics card