Discussion Will 4 sticks of ram harm / affect my pc ?

Feb 6, 2019
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Specs :
Motherboard - Asus Z170-A ( Dual-channel i believe )
CPU - i5-6600k

I consider to buy 2x4GB at the moment and 2x4 more in future (for aesthetics reason).
My question is : Will filling all 4 slots on the mobo harm / slow down my PC in some way or the fact i'll not buy them 4 together? 1 kit of 2x4 for slot 1/3 and another kit for 2/4 in future , exact same brand and everything? (Based on slot colors , thats how it works)
 
Getting the "exact brand and everything" may be difficult. DRAM vendors change suppliers all the time and sometimes the chip densities change, in which case the earlier and later modules will not work together.

You could buy 2 now but later you should buy 4 of the same kind and sell the original 2.
 
Mixing RAM is a gamble, even with identical kits bought at the same time.
If you decide to go with buying now with the plan to add later, do know that no matter how close the sticks there may be a chance for them to not work.

Having 4 RAM sticks on a dual channel board also puts ever so slightly more load on the memory controller. So ideally you want 2x8 over 4x4.
 
Feb 6, 2019
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Mixing RAM is a gamble, even with identical kits bought at the same time.
If you decide to go with buying now with the plan to add later, do know that no matter how close the sticks there may be a chance for them to not work.

Having 4 RAM sticks on a dual channel board also puts ever so slightly more load on the memory controller. So ideally you want 2x8 over 4x4.
With that being said i'll go for 2x i guess. Why does motherboards come with 4 slots if its so complicated and may not work..
 
I have 2,4GB of RAM it's been about a year since I built my computer. Sure I can get a different model of RAM and have 4, 4GB of RAM. It's certainly not recommended. So I could get an exact 2, 4GB set to ensure perfect compatibility but it would cost me almost twice as much as getting a 2, 8GB set.

You're best bet is to spend more on RAM now or upgrade completely later and sell the old set.

Also keep in mind that memory timings and speed tend to change for the worse if you get 4x4GB vs 2x8GB in a dual channel config.
 
Feb 6, 2019
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I have 2,4GB of RAM it's been about a year since I built my computer. Sure I can get a different model of RAM and have 4, 4GB of RAM. It's certainly not recommended. So I could get an exact 2, 4GB set to ensure perfect compatibility but it would cost me almost twice as much as getting a 2, 8GB set.

You're best bet is to spend more on RAM now or upgrade completely later and sell the old set.

Also keep in mind that memory timings and speed tend to change for the worse if you get 4x4GB vs 2x8GB in a dual channel config.
As i said , i want 4 for aesthetics , not performance. I was curious if it'll harm my pc / slow it down a lot. Also don't want issues like being unable to start my pc or so , so guess i'll go for 2x8GB.