RAM for a Phenom II X6 1090T?

[MrDeanie]

Hello,

recently built a system, with a Phenom II X6 1090T and 6GB XMS 3 RAM @1333MHz.

When Benchmarking my system using AMD OverDrive, my score is really brought down by the Memory Speed, (It's 3'000, my Integer Calculations score is 23'000!!!!)

So do I need to upgrade my RAM to improve performance? and if so, what would you recommend doing..?! More RAM? Faster RAM?!


THANK YOU 😀


Deanie

 

[swifty_morgan]

what happens if you run 4gigs in ganged mode ?....... and they're in the proper slots to run in dual channel.

 

[geekapproved]

Your bought a Intel memory kit for X58 chipset. You have a AMD cpu.

For best performance you want to run you memory in dual channel mode. This requires dimms in pairs, not in triples.

So essentially your memory is only running in single channel mode which is hurting your performance.

 

[MrDeanie]

Ohh.. 🙁 Stupid Me.

What can I do then..? New RAM?

 

[MrDeanie]

And What RAM would you recommend?

 

[MrDeanie]

Also, if I bought another 2gig's that were identical to the other 3 sticks, could I then have 2 sets of dual channel?!

Thanks 😛

 

[MrDeanie]

What about Corsair Vengeance..?! Seems like Good speeds at good prices!!

 

[geekapproved]

A) removed 1 dimm and have 2 dimms in dual channel mode

B) buy another identicle dimm to the other 3 and run 4 dimms in dual channel mode.

 

[jaquith]

A Memory score of 3,000~3,500 is typical for DDR3-1333 Dual Channel or not. The non-Dual Channel vs Dual Channel is an insignificant difference.

Example:
Phenom II x4 OC system

Scores
Integer 19520 ; FP 4659 ; Memory 3470 ; Cache 17300 {because of the FSB OC the DDR3-1333 RAM is OC to 1400MHz CAS 7}

 

[MrDeanie]

Right, so if I bought an identical 4th stick, would it boost my performance massively?

I'm a noob.

it's only about £10, so should I do that? or get like a new set of 16GB..?

 

[jaquith]

Nope, and adding a single (1) stick to a Matched set might have the opposite affect and create an instability to your system. 'I' wouldn't do it.

If you replace your RAM with 1600 MHz RAM and going from 6GB -> 16GB is fine, but a waste of money unless you can sell the 3x2GB. Most users and gamers don't benefit from >6GB. 16GB is fine if you have extraordinary sized databases or rendered large projects but it's way overkill for most users.

No, the score won't go up dramatically. I spend several minutes trying to find a score >4.000 and couldn't find one...

 

[MrDeanie]

but if the extra stick is completely identical..?!

So your advice is stick to the 6GB I've got..?

 

[jaquith]

IF the Part Number per CPU-z on your current 3x2GB perfectly matches the single stick AND you plan is NOT to OC the RAM > Rated frequency then sure get the +1 2GB stick. DDR3-1333 is not as touchy as faster sets.

See from CPU-z -> http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

 

[beenthere]

Mixing RAM even of the identical part number is never recommended and may not work and is not guaranteed to work. That is why they sell tested, matched RAM kits. See Corsair's Memory Upgrade tutorial for details.

I'd run 4 GB. in dual channel and call it a day as dual channel will almost always be faster than single channel even with more RAM capacity. Obviously you can test this but neither config. or increasing the RAM will make a big difference.

 

[jaquith]

On DDR3-1600 or faster then I would agree, but DDR3-1333 ehh not so much.

 

[geekapproved]

Mixing RAM even of the identical part number is never recommended and may not work and is not guaranteed to work. That is why they sell tested, matched RAM kits. See Corsair's Memory Upgrade tutorial for details.

I'd run 4 GB. in dual channel and call it a day as dual channel will almost always be faster than single channel even with more RAM capacity. Obviously you can test this but neither config. or increasing the RAM will make a big difference.

No that's not even close to true. A 'matched' ram kit is simply 2 sticks in the same package. You can buy them individually of the same model, and they will still be the same speed, timings and voltage. There is nothing special about a matched kit other than your getting more than 1 in the package.

It IS guaranteed to work.

Nobody stated you would see a massive performance increase by going dual channel. What I said is it's hurting your memory benchmark score.

 

[jaquith]

XMP and on 'Intel', I realize this is an AMD post, never use XMP on either 2 Kits or any mixing otherwise high chance of BSOD/Post Failure; instead set everything manually.

This problem 'can' continue on AMD IF {I said IF} the JEDEC 'SPD' information is different on any stick.

I still don't like doing this on DDR3-1600 or faster RAM and in particular on Intel for the reasons listed above. The only guarantee you'll get from the RAM manufacturer/supplier are in matched set(s) and up to Rated specs.

 

[geekapproved]

If you bought 2 sticks of the exact same model of ram in individual packages, the JEDEC SPD would be identicle.

 

[jaquith]

Yes, (2) T-W-O correct, BUT the XMP, Intel again, have a 50/50 working in both 2-DIMM and 4-DIMM configurations. Look for example the QVL list for an ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z (or ANY Intel MOBO) http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/Maximus_IV_ExtremeZ/#MSL those little 'dots' for 2-DIMM & 4-DIMM are XMP compatibility.