RAM Upgrade: Adding 2x4gb to existing 2x4gb set up

[achtung_kid]

Hi All,

Hi All!

I built my machine almost 5 years ago, and am definitely a little out of the loop on my hardware. I am looking into buying new ram and was hoping for some advice:

I currently have 2x4gb of Patriot Sector 5 DDR3 Ram:
Clock: 1333MHz
Timing: 9-9-9-24
CL9
1.65V

I want to upgrade to 16GB of RAM. about 150$ CAD to upgrade to 2x8gb so I want to know if I can add 2x4gb, which is more in my budget at around 80$ CAD. I have a dual channel motherboard with 4 dim slots (2 pairs). Trying to match as best I can I found this item:

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324
Corsair
1600MHz
9-9-9-24
CL9
Voltage 1.65

Two questions:
1) Would a match like this work in my setup?
2) In this example, I don't match clock speeds. I have read this should be fine. Of the timings, CL, speed and voltage, are there any that HAVE to match?

Any help is appreciated. Best thanks in advance!

 

[nyheart]

Hi, I'm also upgrading my RAM but from 6gb to 16gb. In my case the current ram I have installed is no longer sold and its impossible to find 3x2gb ram - plus its a bad idea not to upgrade to 16gb when ram is practically free. I believe you can adjust the clock frequency, timings, voltage in the BIOS. I've read you can at least change the voltage going from your power supply to your ram in the BIOS but I don't really know about the rest.

I also need to find out the interaction between ram speed and cpu speeds. Heres a link to my thread incase it gets answered: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3370901/ram-configuration-management.html

 

[CmdrJeffSinclair]

Hi All,

Hi All!

I built my machine almost 5 years ago, and am definitely a little out of the loop on my hardware. I am looking into buying new ram and was hoping for some advice:

I currently have 2x4gb of Patriot Sector 5 DDR3 Ram:
Clock: 1333MHz
Timing: 9-9-9-24
CL9
1.65V

I want to upgrade to 16GB of RAM. about 150$ CAD to upgrade to 2x8gb so I want to know if I can add 2x4gb, which is more in my budget at around 80$ CAD. I have a dual channel motherboard with 4 dim slots (2 pairs). Trying to match as best I can I found this item:

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324
Corsair
1600MHz
9-9-9-24
CL9
Voltage 1.65

Two questions:
1) Would a match like this work in my setup?
2) In this example, I don't match clock speeds. I have read this should be fine. Of the timings, CL, speed and voltage, are there any that HAVE to match?

Any help is appreciated. Best thanks in advance!

1) You can certainly add to your existing RAM *if you find the exact RAM again* or else they might not work together properly or at all. It's a big grey area. Also if it works, performance may suffer and stability may be affected.
2) Most people buy the kit they want/need in one fell-swoop to prevent issues with compatibility
3) You want to buy the total RAM that matches your needs. Windows uses 4GB, the rest will sit there doing nothing unless you use it. Whatever programs you run you will easily be able to see in Windows Task Manager how much they consume then get a little more than that. You can get RAM kits in divisibles of 2GB most commonly up to 16GB for good prices
4) Check your motherboard for how many DIMMs you can hold (2 or 4)
5) Also check the max speed of RAM your motherboard and CPU can handle (for a 5 year old machine it might be called the Front Side Bus, FSB)
6) You can buy RAM that is rated faster MHz than your FSB however it will downclock automatically. I have done this and it's perfectly OK
7) You did not post specs of your PC so it will be tough for anyone to know if your PC or laptop can hold DDR2 or DDR3 and if it is dual channel or quad channel. This affects purchase decisions.
8) Don't mix RAMs of different types or speeds, get all one kit. You will eventually have issues, if not immediately. You can buy a kit that is too fast or slower than your PC's specs and it will adjust accordinly, but mixing RAM is almost always a disaster, assuming you'll even boot up. People have done it in the same way some people ride motorcycles without proper safety gear, lol most don't do it

My advice, fill up all 2 or 4 of your motherboard's RAM slots to the max MHz of your FSB with the max supported RAM and then forget about it until your PC kicks the bucket. RAM is pretty cheap and long lasting to bother considering a few bucks here and there.

Any RAM maker below is reputable and all perform basically the same

Kingston
Corsair
G.Skill
Patriot
Crucial
Samsung

Good luck!

 

[Vic 40]

Upgrading ram can give issues,
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ddr-dram-myths,4155.html#p4
look at "Just Adding More Dram".


I would with older ram like that look at something like these,
http://www.gskill.com/en/finder?cat=31&prop_2=0&prop_6=Dual+Channel+Kit&prop_3=0&prop_4=0&series=606&prop_14=DDR3
look at their 1333mhz sets. They will run without issues at 1.65V as well.
Didn't check that link before,the "XMS" series from Corsair should probably do fine as well.

Looked at newegg for those G.Skill sticks,
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231643&cm_re=F3-1333C9D-8GNS-_-20-231-643-_-Product
Looked for Patriot,
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220771CVF
Somewhere else with heatspreader,
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/x3K7YJ/patriot-memory-psd38g1333kh

Don't know what cpu and motherboard,but it might be a good time to get abit higher speed ram as well if supported well.