[SOLVED] Looking for piece of mind on a very simple RAM puzzle.

[doumqc]

Hi, I'll be brief: I managed to build/upgrade 2 PCs with various parts, and am faced with too much RAM. I never understood memory well; so many numbers on the labels, ddr4, pc1333, 9-9-12-24, dual and single channel blablabla.
I am not really looking for explanations about the numbers at the moment, I would simply really like to have a confirmation that I am doing the optimal thing with the sticks I have with me.
I have:

• 1 x 16 GB of TForce Dark Za DDR4 like this: https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/dark-z-alpha-ddr4 (They are always sold in pairs it seems, not sure why I have only one.)
• 4 x 4 GB of Samsung DDR3-1600 M378B5173QH0-CK0. That is not quite true, I have 3 of them with model no. finishing with CK0 and 1 finishing with YK0. I can't see the difference and have no idea if they are compatible in dual channel. (See links: CK0 and YK0 )
• 2 x 4 GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 CMP8GX3M2B1333C9 (Here: CMP8GX3M2B1333C9 )

The two gaming PCs that need RAM are these (Both a few years old, one being lower in specs compared to the other.)

1. AMD Ryzen 5 1600 on MSI B350M MORTAR ARCTIC (MS-7A37) (AM4)
   4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
   
   
2. Intel Xeon E3 1270 @ 3.40GHz on Hewlett-Packard 3396 motherboard.
   2048MB ATI AMD Radeon RX 460 (Dell)

I think that the following is the best and only solution:

• Single 16GB stick of Tforce Dark in the first rig.
• 4 x 4 GB of Samsung sticks in the second (running in 2x dual channels i suppose? Does that make sense?)
• The two Corsair dominator sticks cannot help in any way and are good for garbage.

Could someone knowledgeable confirm this and give me the piece of mind I'm looking for? Thank you so much for taking the time.

 

[rgd1101]

yes. ddr3 only work with ddr3 motherboard. same with ddr4

 

[doumqc]

yes. ddr3 only work with ddr3 motherboard. same with ddr4

I suppose you are telling me that the Corsair are not compatible with either of those motherboards and I could not have used them even if I wanted to? I now have piece of mind, but that was a big waste of time 😀 Thank you.

While I'm here...How much "better" is the single 16 GB bar of Tforce compared to the 4x4 GB setup? Would you say the difference would be noticeable if they were switched?

 

[rgd1101]

the 4x4gb is ddr3. not compatible with MSI B350M MORTAR ARCTIC

 

[doumqc]

the 4x4gb is ddr3. not compatible with MSI B350M MORTAR ARCTIC

Oh yea, I should have known... Let me rephrase my question if you have another to spare: Is the performance gap between the last generation ddr3 and the more recent ddr4 significant, or is only a slight improvement?

Oh and last question (sorry to keep this going): suppose I only had 2 sticks of those Samsungs, would it be advised to use the 2 additionnal Corsairs in that case, or would that be detrimental since they are 1333 instead of 1600?
Not gonna lie, RAM is confusing. Thanks for your replies.

 

[rgd1101]

depend on the speed on the ddr3/ddr4. generally ddr4 is faster

mixing ram sometime work, sometime don't but you can try it