Not sure if RAM will work with my current motherboard.

[chris052692]

I recently watched a video on how to install RAM (12gb [3x4gb]) into my motherboard and I noticed that he had a total of 6 slots for Ram with the RAMs going into every other slot.

My current motherboard only has 4 slots for RAM total and I have 3 sticks of RAM to install.

Should I be worried? Did I waste my money on 12Gb?

Current motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519

Current sticks of RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231405

Please help! I'm not a tech-savvy guy at all.

 

[abekl]

You didn't waste your money, but definitely made a mistake. You should have ordered either 2 sticks or 4 sticks of memory. With 3 sticks, your system will operate in single channel mode, which is slower than the preferred dual channel mode you get when the sticks are paired up evenly.

My recommendation is to either just use 2 sticks of memory and keep the third as a backup, or buy a 4th stick of memory to make a full dual channel setup.

 

[chris052692]

You didn't waste your money, but definitely made a mistake. You should have ordered either 2 sticks or 4 sticks of memory. With 3 sticks, your system will operate in single channel mode, which is slower than the preferred dual channel mode you get when the sticks are paired up evenly.

My recommendation is to either just use 2 sticks of memory and keep the third as a backup, or buy a 4th stick of memory to make a full dual channel setup.

Crap . . . apparently these sticks of RAM are for Intel motherboards only. Why the hell do they make RAMs for specific motherboards? Why can't RAM just be universal?

 

[abekl]

There is no such thing as memory for Intel systems only. It's just marketing hyperbole referencing the fact that this is a triple channel kit, which currently only intel offers. The memory will work on AMD systems as well.

 

[chris052692]

There is no such thing as memory for Intel systems only. It's just marketing hyperbole referencing the fact that this is a triple channel kit, which currently only intel offers. The memory will work on AMD systems as well.

Oh, that lifted a lot of worries. Thank you so much for helping me.

I don't want to hassle with RMA so I think I'll just use 8Gb and save the third as backup in case one of the sticks fail, is faulty, or something else.

Thank you once again for your assistance!

 

[chris052692]

Best answer selected by chris052692.

 

[chris052692]

You didn't waste your money, but definitely made a mistake. You should have ordered either 2 sticks or 4 sticks of memory. With 3 sticks, your system will operate in single channel mode, which is slower than the preferred dual channel mode you get when the sticks are paired up evenly.

My recommendation is to either just use 2 sticks of memory and keep the third as a backup, or buy a 4th stick of memory to make a full dual channel setup.

One final question,

You said that if I do utilize all three sticks of RAM then it will go from dual-channel to single-channel and single-channels are slower.

I did a little checking on Tom's Hardware and I found this benchmark which measured both single channels and dual-channels.

For gaming, there seems to be slight to nearly zero changes in performance. Nothing above 5%.

For such a small change, and I'm only going to be using this PC for gaming, nothing that would require RAM intensive work, what is your take on this situation?

Should I still just use 2 sticks of RAM or should I force it into single-channel?

 

[abekl]

I've never had to run in single channel mode, so I can't personally vouch for what it feels like. Try it both ways, if the performance trade-off is acceptable, you have your answer.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr