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Need advice on buying RAM

Post Date: 2016-05-08
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Holman View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Holman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Need advice on buying RAM
    Posted: 08 May 2016 at 5:27pm
Hello all,

I've got a Digital Storm Vanquish I system (level 3) that I bought in March 2014. 

I'm not ready for a new system, but I believe I'd like some more memory.  The stock memory that came with the system is listed as "8 GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Performance Series."  Looking at my motherboard, it looks like my memory comes as two sticks of 4 GB each, and I only have the two slots to work with.

I'd like to kick that up to 12 GB or even 16 GB, but I don't know RAM and I don't know what to buy.  What do I need to know?  How do I pick reliable, strong performance memory (doesn't have to be absolute top of the line), and what does it cost?

Thanks for any advice!  My processor is an i5-4570 quad core, if that makes a difference.  I run Win 10 64-bit.  Is there any other info I should supply?

 
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Snaike View Drop Down
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Posts: 9462 		  Quote Snaike Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 May 2016 at 10:54pm
From what I understand, and I could be wrong...

Because you only have the two slots to work with, you will be replacing, not adding. So any matched pair of DDR3 RAM would work. You should look for 2x8Gb like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-231-568

Edited by Snaike - 08 May 2016 at 10:55pm
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 09 May 2016 at 2:53am
I'll 2nd Snaike's suggestion.    

No need to spend more, it's 9-9-9-24 timing and XMP support all you need. It'll probably come in at 1333 and if it doesn't auto setup to 1600, just go into Bios and select a XMP profile.

Have fun.

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Holman View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Holman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 09 May 2016 at 7:02am
Thanks for the quick replies!  I'll look into this.

Another question:  my MB is "ASUS Z87-C (Intel G87 chipset)."  Does that make a difference in picking memory?


Edited by Holman - 09 May 2016 at 7:04am
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 09 May 2016 at 7:54am
The Z87-C should have 4 DIMM slots for 4 sticks of ram, not just the 2 being used. 

For your upgrade you could just buy another pair of 2X4gb ram and add to what you have, but I personally would just swap out the two you have for new ones to keep the voltage, timing etc. the same. 

That being said, your sticks from DS are probably the 1.5 v and 9-9-9-24 timing, so just adding the 2x 4gb version of the ones Snaike showed might work just fine.

You can use CPU-Z under the Memory tab to check what timing you have.  The Dram Frequency will show as half of what you have, it reading the ram a s single data rate and DDR meaning double data rate.

Other than matching the sticks as close as possibel, your Z87 board takes the same ram as newer boards, minus the latest Skylake. 






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Holman View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Holman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 May 2016 at 6:56pm
I went ahead and bought two sticks of 8GB RAM from Crucial (these here), and I see that they are 9-9-9-24.

Looking at the old sticks of 4GB RAM actually inside my computer, however, I realize that they are labeled 11-11-11-28.

Am I right in assuming that these four sticks will not play well together, and that I should just replace the old with the new?
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db188 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2115 		  Quote db188 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 13 May 2016 at 10:41pm
you need matching memory.  sometimes you even get incompatible with the same ram from different kits.  
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Snaike View Drop Down
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Posts: 9462 		  Quote Snaike Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 May 2016 at 12:26am
Originally posted by Holman

Am I right in assuming that these four sticks will not play well together, and that I should just replace the old with the new?


Yep.   
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 14 May 2016 at 2:50am
It's possible the new faster ram will play well if the motherboard auto sets it to run at the slower speed. 9-9-9-24 is faster than 11-11-11-28.   BUT, you really should match them.   That's why I suggested using CPUZ to check what you have.

If you can, send them back and get 2x8gb matching ram. If you can't send them back, try it and see.



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