Question Need Help

spummerr

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New here, I have a Gigabyte X58-USB3 Motherboard with 6 GB of Corsair AMS DDR3 Memory. Motherboard has six slots. Right now there are 3 sticks of 2 GB
Called Corsair, and they told me they don't make DDR3 memory anymore. I want to upgrade to say 8,10, or 12 gB. total
What brand should I buy? Can I mix brands? Best place to buy?
Also, Do I need to fill the 3 empty slots for it to work properly?
I'm not a computer person. Thank You everyone
 
https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CMZ1...sktop-Memory/dp/B004CRSM4S?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1


Use those, remove the old sticks. Or, you can try it with the old sticks as well but there is no guarantee that mixing any old and new memory is going to work together and since your current memory is probably a slower speed, ?? since you don't say what speed your current sticks are, then that would force all sticks to run at the slower speed.

That kit should work fine on that board though.
 
Can you post an image showing that, because 400mhz isn't a supported memory speed on that system. 800mhz is, and it is possible that you could be running the slowest memory allowed on that platform which is 400mhz, but x2 for double data rate (DDR) would mean 800mhz.

What is the exact model of your current memory kit? Probably, it would just be best that you ditch the current memory and use only the new memory. You may be able to sell the old memory kit but I wouldn't be too optimistic about that since it's both very old and low speed even given the platforms age.
 

spummerr

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Can't copy it?? I'm looking at the task manager under performance/memory. Windows 10
It say speed 400 MHZ Slots used 3 of 6 Form factor DIMM
Installed memory says Corsair AMS on the sticks

I ordered from Amazon what you recommended in your first reply
 
Ok, so here's what I'd recommend. Download and run CPU-Z.

Click on the the SPD tab. Select one of the DIMM slots that contains memory from the drop down menu in the upper left hand side of the SPD tab window. Take a screenshot of the CPU-Z SPD tab window and post that here. Also, take a screenshot of the CPU-Z memory tab window as well. Post that here too, as follows:

 

spummerr

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I can't figure out the screen shot thing. I'll put down the CPU Z Info


Memory Tab
Type DDR3-6GB-Channel Triple-
NB Frequency 2158.6 MHZ
D Ram frequency 539.7 MHZ
  • FSB Dram 2:8
  • CAS Latency CL- 7.8 clock
s- Ras to Cas Delay Trcd-- 8 Clocks
RAS Number Precharge 8 Clocks--
Cycle Time 20 clocks--
Row Refresh Cycle Time 60 Clocks
Command Rate 1T

SPD PAGE
SLOT ONE
DDR3-2 GB- Maximum Bandwidth PC3 10700H (667 MHz) BRAND Corsair, PN CM3X2G1333C9
RANKS Dual

Timings Table
Frequency-JEDEC #1 to #4 ---
444--518--592--666 Mhz
CAS Latency--
6.0-7.0--8.0--9.0
RAS To CAS 6-7-8-9
RAS Precharge 6-7-8-9
tRAS 16-19-22-24
tRC 23-27-30-34
VOLT 1.5
 
Well, for one thing, if it will POST and go into the BIOS or boot into Windows, that's helpful.

Then, if all of the memory is being recognized in the BIOS and you can then set the XMP profile and save your BIOS settings and AGAIN be able to POST and get back into the BIOS, that's another positive.

Then we can verify the rest from within Windows using CPU-Z and HWinfo.
 
Cool. Good deal man. You're sure it's running at it's full speed and in dual channel/flex mode? I say flex mode, because with two sticks, which should be installed in the 2nd and 4th slots over from the CPU, those should be in dual channel, while the oddball stick which should probably be in the 1st DIMM slot over from the CPU, would be running in single channel, hence flex mode. Sometimes though with oddball configurations you end up with it not running in dual channel.

If that's the case, you might actually be better off with only 8GB of memory installed as the doubled bandwidth probably lends itself to a bigger boost in performance than the extra 4GB UNLESS you know for sure you are running games or applications that are trying to take you beyond the need for only 8GB of memory.

You can verify by running CPU-Z and looking on the memory tab.
 

spummerr

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New Readings

Memory Tab
Type DDR3-6GB-Channel Triple-
NB Frequency 2158.6 MHZ
D Ram frequency 539.7 MHZ

  • FSB Dram 2:8
  • CAS Latency CL- 6.0 clocks
s- Ras to Cas Delay Trcd-- 7 Clocks
RAS Number Precharge 7 Clocks--
Cycle Time 20 clocks--
Row Refresh Cycle Time 140 Clocks
Command Rate 1T

SPD PAGE
SLOT ONE
DDR3-4 GB- Maximum Bandwidth
PC3 10700H (667 MHz
) BRAND Corsair,
PN CM3X2G1333C9
RANKS Dual

Timings Table
Frequency-JEDEC #1 to #4 ---
457--533---666 800 Mhz
CAS Latency--
6.0-7.0--9.0--9.0
RAS To CAS 6-7-9-9
RAS Precharge 6-7-9-9
tRAS 17-20-24-24
tRC 22-26-33-41
VOLT 1.5
 
That looks like it's only running at the default speed, not the actual memory speed that it should be running at. Did you go into the BIOS and enable the XMP profile after you installed the new memory?

It's very hard to tell anything from that data as it's not complete.

It would be very helpful for you to take screenshots, by opening to the correct tab on CPU-Z and then pressing the Windows key plus the printscreen key, simultaneously.



And then follow the guide I linked you to on how to upload to imgur.com and post here.

Or, just upload to imgur and then post a link here to your uploaded images. Or Google drive. Or ANY place where you can upload the image and I can see both the memory and SPD tab windows.

As is, based on that, it looks like you are only running at, ah hell, it's too hard to even guess off that info because it doesn't tell you which info is the JEDEC profiles and which is what it is actually running at. I'd need to see the screenshots to tell anything for sure.

You could also, preferably, download and install HWinfo: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

Then run it, choose the "Sensors only" option. Uncheck the "Summary" option. Then click run. Once the sensors dialogue finishes opening, scroll down to the memory section and take a screenshot of that and post it.

Should look something like this, but your memory information will of course be different than mine, seen here:



C8xz9Wk.png
 
Usually, you will want to set it to the XMP profile 1.

In some cases, you may want the XMP profile 2.

Whichever profile, usually 1, shows the correct specifications for your memory when set which is I believe 1600mhz for that memory kit.

You will need to also remember to go to the exit tab in the BIOS and save settings before exiting.