Will buying 4GB of RAM do any difference in this case?

[Spietres]

Hello everyone.

I'm currently using Ballistix DDR3, 1600MHz 2x4GB. I am wondering now, if I were to buy for example an HyperX DDR3, 1600MHz 1x4GB and put it in my third slot on motherboard, would that actually give me some performance boost to my overall RAM usage?

Personally I'm using a lot of stuff in background (like Discord, Steam, MSI Afterburner, RTSS), and I do play a lot of heavy games. CSGO, Rainbow, PUBG, Battlefield 1 to name few. I noticed that playing some of these games and having stuff run in a background eats all of my RAM and in the case of PUBG I'm suspecting it's actually causing a lots of stutter because of it. I'm wondering if getting a single 4GB stick would help me in any way, or if that would be the waste of money.

Like would 4 GB of RAM on 1 stick help me take care of background stuff while 8GB takes care of game only?

I would appreciate the answer!

 

[maruniverse7]

Hello everyone.

I'm currently using Ballistix DDR3, 1600MHz 2x4GB. I am wondering now, if I were to buy for example an HyperX DDR3, 1600MHz 1x4GB and put it in my third slot on motherboard, would that actually give me some performance boost to my overall RAM usage?

Personally I'm using a lot of stuff in background (like Discord, Steam, MSI Afterburner, RTSS), and I do play a lot of heavy games. CSGO, Rainbow, PUBG, Battlefield 1 to name few. I noticed that playing some of these games and having stuff run in a background eats all of my RAM. I'm wondering if getting a single 4GB stick would help me in any way, or if that would be the waste of money.

I would appreciate the answer!

You could but make sure its in a different slot and not in a slot where its trying to match the same models. I recommend getting another 4GB Ballistix same as the others so you don't run into compatibility issues

 

[SkyNetRising]

I'm wondering if getting a single 4GB stick would help me in any way

Yes - most likely.
You have to monitor ram usage and pagefile usage. If pagefile us used excessively, that causes significant performance hit.
Launch your game and monitor graphs in MSI afterburner. If pagefile usage graph goes past physical amount of ram in your system, increase of ram will be beneficial.

 

[Calvin7]

Memory is guaranteed for compatibility in the form it is sold.

No one will guarantee what you propose will be successful. If you enjoy "do it yourself" compatibility testing then go ahead.

 

[InvalidError]

Having different memory loadout between channels means you're going to lose symmetric dual-channel and that usually translates into worse 1%/0.1% lows, which typically means more perceivable stutter. Ideally, you should add 2x4GB or swap to 2x8GB.

 

[Spietres]

Having different memory loadout between channels means you're going to lose symmetric dual-channel and that usually translates into worse 1%/0.1% lows, which typically means more perceivable stutter..

Can you explain in more detail?

From what I understand if I have my Ballistix in port 1 and 3, and then put my HyperX in 2nd or 4th it shouldn't mess with the dual channel. But maybe I do not understand how dual channels work.

Can a 4GB stick break the functionality of other 2 sticks from different brand just like that?

 

[InvalidError]

To simplify, if you put 4GB in 1/2/3, you will have dual-channel speed on 1/3 for the first 8GB of RAM and then single-channel speed for the last 4GB. If a piece of your game that happens to be particularly sensitive to memory performance lands in single-channel pieces of RAM, you may get significantly lower performance than you would with a uniform dual-channel configuration that operates at full dual-channel speed across the whole range.