Upgrading my RAM for first time...

[Emo Josh]

I was going to play a game I bought off steam only to discover that it was INCREDIBLY laggy. The minimum required RAM is 8 GB, which is what my computer runs at. So I decided I should get more RAM, probably an extra 4 GB.

My computer is an iBUYPOWER Gamer WA563R7, found here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/iBUYPOWER-Gamer-WA563R7-Black-Desktop-PC-AMD-Six-Core-FX-6300-Vishera-Processor-8GB-Memory-1TB-Hard-Drive-Windows-10-Home-Monitor-Included/35119953

I have no clue what type of RAM I would need. It says in my motherboard manual that it supports DDR3 1333+(O.C.)/1066MHz memory modules. There are 4 DDR3 DIMM sockets in my computer.

I had two products in mind, but I have no idea if they'll work:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/4GB-Module-PC3-12800-1600MHz-NON-ECC-DDR3-DIMM-Desktop-240-pin-Memory-Ram/135484509

https://www.walmart.com/ip/4GB-Module-PC3-8500-1066MHz-NON-ECC-DDR3-SO-DIMM-Laptop-204-pin-Memory-Ram/160018957

I don't have much knowledge of computer hardware, so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[temp_addict]

Which game was it? The PC you linked has a R7-250 2gb GPU (video card) that may be the culprit for your lag. The FX 6300 shouldn't be too bad, and 8gb RAM should be enough for most games unless it is using a lot of mods or something.

Your system is older, but for more RAM I believe that you should look at the RAM you already have in the system first and match it as best you can. I know the first link you posted for RAM is what you might get, the second link is laptop memory.

I think you might have 1 stick of 8gb ddr3, hopefully your motherboard supports faster speeds because 1333 seems a little low. But see what speed your current RAM is at (you can google how), and match that, going for dual channel. I think that is your best bet.

 

[Emo Josh]

Which game was it? The PC you linked has a R7-250 2gb GPU (video card) that may be the culprit for your lag. The FX 6300 shouldn't be too bad, and 8gb RAM should be enough for most games unless it is using a lot of mods or something.

Your system is older, but for more RAM I believe that you should look at the RAM you already have in the system first and match it as best you can. I know the first link you posted for RAM is what you might get, the second link is laptop memory.

I think you might have 1 stick of 8gb ddr3, hopefully your motherboard supports faster speeds because 1333 seems a little low. But see what speed your current RAM is at (you can google how), and match that, going for dual channel. I think that is your best bet.

The game was "Remothered: Tormented Fathers".http://store.steampowered.com/app/633360/Remothered_Tormented_Fathers/ I tried putting the game on the lowest possible settings and it was still too laggy.

I looked inside the computer and did see there's 4 DDR3 spots, with one 8GB stick in one of those four, leaving three extra spots. My 8GB RAM usually works for most games. But I checked all the games I've downloaded. Their requirements are low (2-4 GB RAM), while this game I downloaded is 8 GB exactly. It's a VERY high quality game. I'm not worried about the graphics, I just want it to run smoothly.

I've played games like Soma, Left 4 Dead, and Outlast 2 with no problems.

As for the 1333 speed, there was a + after that. Could that mean anything faster than 1333 will work??

After some searching around, I found my current RAM speed is 1600.

 

[Karadjgne]

I'd not get 4gb. What will happen is both sticks will run in single channel mode, which can be a 20% performance loss. I'd get a matching stick of 8Gb and run the sticks in dual channel. First, with the pc unplugged, I'd yank out the stick you do have and write down exactly what the ram is. You want the brand, the model number, size, speed, voltage and timings (voltage is important with ddr3 as many identical sticks came in either 1.65v or 1.5v versions). Then get a matching stick. You do not want to add Corsair lpx to Kingston hyperX for example, there's a good chance of incompatibility . The ram should also be placed on slots #2/#4 which start with #1 closest to the cpu.

For ddr3, your best bet will most likely be ebay, but sellers like newegg or Amazon will have a return policy if you do need it.

 

[Emo Josh]

I'd not get 4gb. What will happen is both sticks will run in single channel mode, which can be a 20% performance loss.

Why would they both run in single channel mode? And is that 20% loss possible or definite? What would happen if I bought two 4 GBs to go with my 8 GB? I'm kind of on a budget, and prices for 8 GBs are pretty up there compared to 4's.

 

[Karadjgne]

There's 4 slots. 1A,2A,1B,2B. If you run 1A,2A that's only one channel, Channel A, so both sticks run single channel. You need to use either 1A,1B or 2A,2B (recommended by most mobo's) for dual channel. It's @20% faster performance using both A+B channels as any data moved from the ram to cpu is using the bandwidth of both not sharing the bandwidth of one.
But, to get dual channel, the ram has to match or what you end up with is the first 4Gb running in dual channel and the rest running single channel. So if the game demands 8Gb, you'll get a mix whenever it uses more than 4Gb, so right when it gets the most demanding, it's also getting shortchanged.

There's other reasons why matching ram gives better chances, it has a lot to do with voltages and timings etc but mainly the further apart the ram is the better the chances of incompatibility. Not to say it's perfect with mat Jing sticks there's always a strong possibility of incompatibility when mixing ram of any kind, that's in the nature of the silicon the ram is made of. Some silicon just doesn't like others, no matter what, which is why it's always the first recommendation to buy a full kit, don't mix.

 

[Emo Josh]

Alright, I took a good luck at the RAM and wrote down everything I saw.

There was a tag/sticker on it with the model name, number, etc. although I don't know which numbers are which.

It looked like this:

Adata
AD3U1600W8G11-B
DDR3 1600(11)8GX16 U - DIMM
10242281
There was also a barcode on the sticker, and underneath read: 0G1400003190

Also, there were several little black rectangles on the stick, I don't know what they are, but they all read:

SKhynix
H5TC4G83BFA
PBA 604V
DWMAN624H

Lastly, there was a tiny little imprint at the bottom of the stick that read:

BP ML
E186014
94V-0
1543

Aside from the fact that the brand name is Adata, I don't know what any of this means.

 

[temp_addict]

Yes so you should buy 1 stick of 8gb ddr3 1600. The recommendation for RAM is to always buy matching sticks, so you are going against that unless you buy some new ddr3 16gb 8x2 (RAM comes in kits, matching sticks that are made to work together).

You could add another 4gb stick in but I think it would be in single channel, and still going against the matching sticks for optimal performance and compatibility.

But see here: https://www.amazon.com/ADATA-Premier-1600MHz-Modules-AD3U1600W8G11-R/dp/B007UHFW2W

I am confident it would work with your current RAM, and if not it is returnable. Obviously more expensive than a low speed 4gb stick.

In the end you want to match that stick of RAM you already have as best you can, so try to get the same speed (1600mhz) in the same capacity (8gb).

 

[Karadjgne]

AD3U1600W8G11-B
That's the model number
AD - Adata
3 - ddr3
U - udimm (240pin Unbuffered DIMM, for pc's, not laptops)
1600 - speed
8G - 8Gb
11-B is the timings, it's a value line (B) with a Cas of 11.

The other number under the bar code is the batch number, it was the 3190 stick made in that batch.

The little black rectangles are the ram IC chips themselves, the maker (OEM) is SkHynix, who makes very good ram.

You can tell the difference in kits by the last numbers, if it's a stick that originally came in a set, it'll read 8G11 - 2, which means it was originally a 16Gb kit with 2x sticks of 8Gb, or 4G11-2 would have been 8Gb with 2x4Gb sticks.

You can find the same ram on ebay, or there's a newer revision at Amazon.

 

[Emo Josh]

AD3U1600W8G11-B

You can find the same ram on ebay, or there's a newer revision at Amazon.

Would it be okay to get a different brand of RAM as long as they have the same size, speed, etc? I noticed that Adata is one of the more expensive brands and wondered if I could opt for something cheaper

I did find this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-DATA-TECHNOLOGY-USA-CO-L-AD3U1600W8G11-B-ADATA-PREMIER-DDR3-1600-8G-CL11/142465954172?epid=2254617643&hash=item212ba1f17c:g:fJEAAOSwPK5ZhHZY

But the seller doesn't leave a detailed description, so I'm not sure if it's the same one.

 

[temp_addict]

There's 4 slots. 1A,2A,1B,2B. If you run 1A,2A that's only one channel, Channel A, so both sticks run single channel. You need to use either 1A,1B or 2A,2B (recommended by most mobo's) for dual channel. It's @20% faster performance using both A+B channels as any data moved from the ram to cpu is using the bandwidth of both not sharing the bandwidth of one.
But, to get dual channel, the ram has to match or what you end up with is the first 4Gb running in dual channel and the rest running single channel. So if the game demands 8Gb, you'll get a mix whenever it uses more than 4Gb, so right when it gets the most demanding, it's also getting shortchanged.

There's other reasons why matching ram gives better chances, it has a lot to do with voltages and timings etc but mainly the further apart the ram is the better the chances of incompatibility. Not to say it's perfect with mat Jing sticks there's always a strong possibility of incompatibility when mixing ram of any kind, that's in the nature of the silicon the ram is made of. Some silicon just doesn't like others, no matter what, which is why it's always the first recommendation to buy a full kit, don't mix.

I am doing just this with 2x4gb 1600 and 1x8gb 2400. I have the 8gb stick in slot 2, and the 2x4gb in slots 3 and 4. Is this correct to get dual channel? If I put 2x4gb in slots 2 and 4, and the 8gb stick in slot 3, wouldn't that be 4gb in channel A and 12gb in channel B? Or would it be 8gb in dual channel with 8gb left over in single channel? I get confused...