Ram Upgrade

[sirholmes]

Hello,

My current desktop gaming PC setup is:

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-v Pro
CPU: Intell i5-2500
PSU: 900w Antec
Heatsink: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212+
Current RAM: Patriot Sector 5 G Series 2x 4GB DDR3-1600MHz (PC3-12800)
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 560
Chassis (Case): NZXT H2
HDD: [ OS Installed here -Seagate ST2000DL001 (9VT156) 2TB 5900RPM 32MBCache SATA 3.0Gb/s], and 2 [Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s] extra storage
SSD: 64GB OCZ SATA 6.0Gb/s SSD (Intell RST Enabled)
OPTICAL Drive: Samsung SH-B123L (Blue Ray Drive)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

I just purchased these ram cards (http://tinyurl.com/79pzqnu) because I do a lot of heavy computing and am pushing the limits of my current ram cards. I do not plan on overclocking soon and just want to use everything out of the box for now. I have a few questions.


Are these ram cards an acceptable upgrade such as a good series and brand name?

Should I look into other brands that are better (Corsair, Giel, Kingston, Patriot, Crucial, Mushkin, Transcend, PNY)?

Are there any known difficulties, errors, or high rate of failure associated with these?

Will I be having to make any wattage bios tweaks to make these ram cards work in my current system?

Also is there any major downside to having "larger" individual ram sticks? IE: 4x8GB sticks VS 8x4GB sticks? (I understand my specific mother board could not hold 8x4GB sticks, but this is for the sake of the example to help elaborate and clarify my question.)

And the last thing is I think that these should be compatible with my current system and have done a tremendous amount of research, but please correct me if I am wrong and these will not work.

Thank you so very much.
Appreciatively,
Trent

 

[americanbrian]

I am curious what "heavy computing" you feel that you need that much RAM for.

Unless you transcode Hi Def Video and make HUGE graphics in photoshop it won't give you a huge performance increase over a slightly cheaper doubling of your RAM with another pair of 4GB modules.

They are fairly reputable and should be fine for your system to answer the main question. No voltage tweaks should be required. But as far as I am aware the SB only utilise 1333Mhz RAM as a limit on their controller.

 

[ko888]

Since when was G.Skill not a good brand name?

The G.Skill [ RipjawsX ] F3-1600C9Q-32GXM (8Gx4) should work just fine on the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO since that motherboard is on G.Skill's Qualified Motherboards List for that memory model.

That means that G.Skill/ASUS has actually tested that specific memory with the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO running it at 1600 MHz.

 

[americanbrian]

^^ no-one said they weren't I said they were reputable (this means has a good reputation).

 

[ko888]

^^ no-one said they weren't I said they were reputable (this means has a good reputation).

I was referring to the OP's questions:

Are these ram cards an acceptable upgrade such as a good series and brand name?

and

Should I look into other brands that are better (Corsair, Giel, Kingston, Patriot, Crucial, Mushkin, Transcend, PNY)?

 

[americanbrian]

My mistake. Sorry.

 

[sirholmes]

Do you guys have an answer to my middle question of:

Also is there any major downside to having "larger" individual ram sticks? IE: 4x8GB sticks VS 8x4GB sticks? (I understand my specific mother board could not hold 8x4GB sticks, but this is for the sake of the example to help elaborate and clarify my question.)

 

[ko888]

Do you guys have an answer to my middle question of:

Also is there any major downside to having "larger" individual ram sticks? IE: 4x8GB sticks VS 8x4GB sticks? (I understand my specific mother board could not hold 8x4GB sticks, but this is for the sake of the example to help elaborate and clarify my question.)

No downside that I can see. Memory accesses won't be any slower than 4GB DIMMs with the same timing specs.

Is there any reason why you might think there is a down side?

 

[sirholmes]

No downside that I can see. Memory accesses won't be any slower than 4GB DIMMs with the same timing specs.

Is there any reason why you might think there is a down side?

Actually Yes, I read this info here on this thread.

"8GB/stick densities run a little slower, but in very rare instances do you 'need' >8GB unless you're rendering, databases, video, etc or want/need a RAM Drive. For gaming I don't advise 8GB/stick densities. The negative to 8GB is their current stability issues and in most cases you'll need to tweak some voltages to avoid occasional errors and BSOD's."

 

[ko888]

Actually Yes, I read this info here on this thread.

"8GB/stick densities run a little slower, but in very rare instances do you 'need' >8GB unless you're rendering, databases, video, etc or want/need a RAM Drive. For gaming I don't advise 8GB/stick densities. The negative to 8GB is their current stability issues and in most cases you'll need to tweak some voltages to avoid occasional errors and BSOD's."

Send a PM to the OP of that thread and ask them if they're experiencing any speed or stability issues.

None of the 9 customers, that posted a review of their G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series F3-1600C9Q-32GXM, reported a stability issue.

Your current Patriot G series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) PGV38G1600ELK 1.65V DIMMs have 9-9-9-24-2T timings.

The G.Skill [ RipjawsX ] F3-1600C9Q-32GXM (8Gx4) 1.5V DIMMs have 9-9-9-25-2N timings.

I don't see how it's going to be slower than your current memory.