Need input on adding more ram.

[green54]

I need some advice on purchasing additional ram for my system. My CPU: i7-4770k.

I currently have:
CORSAIR Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000)
DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000)
Timing 9-10-9-27
Cas Latency 9
Voltage 1.5V

I would like to add 1 8 GB stick. I was considering:
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Single DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800 CL9 1.5V UDIMM 240-Pin Memory
DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Timing 9-9-9-24
Cas Latency 9
Voltage 1.5V

Will this work? Will the new stick slow my old ram down? Will the differences in timing and speed overall reduce performance, or will I notice a boost regardless by adding the 8GB more ram.

If this selection will not work, are you aware of an alternative 8GB stick that would work well with my current memory.

Thank you in advance for any advice.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eSMxRya2S8

 

[Ambular]

Adding a stick of DDR3-1600 will cause the system to downclock your DDR3-1866 to 1600 as well. This would have only a very small impact on performance, and the total amount of memory is more important than the MHz of the memory, so that shouldn't stop you from getting more.

I'm curious, though, why you want to add one 8GB stick to a system that already contains a 2x4 kit, instead of adding another 2x4 kit?

Generally speaking, if you're going to install additional RAM, you want to use another identical kit, or as close as you can get if the same one's not available (and even that isn't guaranteed to work, since those four specific sticks weren't tested together by the manufacturer.) Also, with only one stick, you're losing the modest performance boost you'd gain by running two in dual-channel mode.

 

[green54]

Thanks!

The heatsink is somewhat in the way of the final ram slot, making it difficult to add another stick to it. As well, my thinking was that maybe I would want to have the option to add another 8 GB down the line.

So although it would downclock the speed to 1600, the 8 GB should theoretically cause a boost in performance regardless? So far I haven't seen any 1 8 GB stick available that is closer to my original ram.

 

[Ambular]

Thanks!

The heatsink is somewhat in the way of the final ram slot, making it difficult to add another stick to it. As well, my thinking was that maybe I would want to have the option to add another 8 GB down the line.

So although it would downclock the speed to 1600, the 8 GB should theoretically cause a boost in performance regardless? So far I haven't seen any 1 8 GB stick available that is closer to my original ram.

Ah, I gotcha. Well, again, mixing different memory types is really not recommended, but the only way to know for sure whether it would work or not would be to try it. If it does, then yes, having the additional RAM should still help despite the lower frequency.

Check this out, it explains how various factors affect memory performance much better than I can:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell

If you get the new memory and it doesn't work, one of the big guns here might be able to help you adjust the timings to get it working, but it just may not be possible. Sometimes memory is pretty forgiving and other times it's extremely finicky, and which it's going to be in any given case is a bit of a crapshoot, I'm afraid.