[SOLVED] Replacing a bad RAM stick and upgrading memory at the same time

sergiopol

Commendable
Apr 17, 2021
19
0
1,510
I've read some posts about this before posting but from what I gathered, it depends on every situation. So, my situation is this. I'm upgrading my kind of old but still powerful PC. Asus X99 Deluxe mobo, i7 5930k processor, 48 GB RAM and I just bought a new Geforce RTX 3060 Ti to up my 3D rendering capabilities. Thing is, I've been suffering from many problems with the PC because there have been many power outages in my area. Recently I found out one of the RAM modules has gone bad and I need to replace it. The mobo has 8 DDR4 slots, 6 are in use with an 8GB DIMM each. All of them 2400 Mhz and with similar voltages. I could just buy one more 8GB and be done with it but I would like to take the chance and upgrade it. I want to buy two 16GB sticks to pair them and was thinking of buying an 8GB also to pair with the one that was left alone. Is this a good idea? I have bought RAM for this system gradually over the years and I remember it being a pain making the mobo recognize every stick. Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated.
 
Solution
Are all the current sticks the same makes?
I was going to ask if it was all one set but they don't sell them in 48gb lots.
if you got them all at same time there is a chance they all had same chips etc if they same maker.

adding ram that isn't the same as the older ram is always fraunt with danger as they might be just slightly different enough to cause errors.

nothing wrong with sizes otherwise, if you are aware it might not work without errors. It could be fine, I seen other people mix match 128gb of ram before.

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
Are all the current sticks the same makes?
I was going to ask if it was all one set but they don't sell them in 48gb lots.
if you got them all at same time there is a chance they all had same chips etc if they same maker.

adding ram that isn't the same as the older ram is always fraunt with danger as they might be just slightly different enough to cause errors.

nothing wrong with sizes otherwise, if you are aware it might not work without errors. It could be fine, I seen other people mix match 128gb of ram before.
 
Solution

sergiopol

Commendable
Apr 17, 2021
19
0
1,510
Thanks for your reply. I did mention that I bought pairs of ram gradually over time so they are somewhat different in spite of being from the same vendor. Same capacity and frequency too. Voltage and latency may vary. I'm just realizing after many years that upgrading your PC's RAM is not that easy anymore. You used to keep adding memory to your system with no problem, now it's better just to buy all RAM you plan to have at once, which in my opinion, takes a lot of what I loved about windows PC's.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
Intel CPU are generally better with adding more ram. It isn't as easy on AMD Ryzen systems

Now days if someone with a ryzen system wants more ram, its better for them to buy the total amount they need in one set instead of do what you did. Only as Ryzen more picky when it comes to ram timings.

You might find it works fine, it is not a given you will have errors.

some motherboard makers starting to make their own ram, hope we don't reverse course and have them all making their own parts and have them not work with other companies. Will a Gigabyte mb work with MSI ram? Would they even test it to see if it works.
 

sergiopol

Commendable
Apr 17, 2021
19
0
1,510
Yeah, that would totally suck. Let's hope we don't ever get to that. So, after examining my current sticks and my mobo's documentation, I've come to the conclusion I should buy the whole 8 8GB sticks for the total amount of memory my mobo/cpu support. My remaining question is, what frequency should I target? The lowest I find in today's market is 2666 Mhz could I go beyond that? What happens if you install let's say 2666 Mhz sticks in a board which CPU only supports 2133 and you dont overclock? Do they run at 2133 or would they cause stability problems?