Windows 7 - ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO Needs New RAM

Okay, so I build my own systems and I try to figure all these things out on my own, but I'm beyond lost on what RAM to get my motherboard. Recently, Memtest86+ is registering defective areas in addition to a BSOD BCCode124 (hardware failure), so I'm pretty much positive the RAM is shot.

Since I now have Windows 7 64bit on the system, I'd also like to take the time and upgrade from 4GG to 16GB. My questions are below and pertinent information beneath that. Thank you TH Community for all your outstanding help!!

1.) Is there such a thing as too much RAM? I am a graphic designer so I use the Adobe CS5 suite regularly.

2.) What does the 1066, 1333, 1600 mean? I'm not interested in OCing or anything crazy.

3.) The RAM I want is not on the Qualified Vendor's list because my MB is too old (there isn't a single 8GB or higher listed on the QVL). How can I figure out if the RAM would be compatible with it?

4.) Anything I'm missing? Any tips or suggestions? I'm open to any RAM really, but would like to stay under $150.

Thanks guys and gals! I really appreciate your help!

My motherboard: Newegg.com - ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
My current RAM: Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ

What RAM I'm looking at: Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9Q-16GBRL

or two sets of this kit from Crucial:

Newegg.com - Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT51264BA1339

Please let me know if you need any other information!

1. Technically no, If you PhotoShop like made, mucho amounts of RAM is something to consider.

2. Those are RAM timings. Apparently, AMD processors don't like RAM faster than 1333 since it can cause damage to its memory controller. DDR3 RAM at 1333Mhz with timings of 7-7-7-21 is the best way to go since tight RAM timings help performance.

3. I've seen that with my motherboard, I have an ASUS madreboard too. It's compatible for 8 gigs of RAM, but there are no qualified vendors for 1333 RAM for 8 gigs, but there are some for 6 gigs, which makes no sense since I don't have a triple channel config. Most likely, if you madreboard can handle 16 gigs, it should and can.

4. DDR3 RAM right now is uber cheap! From newegg, I'd go for 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM, with a CAS latency of 7, and the best rated by the newegg reviews of customers.

Since DDR3 RAM is so cheap, it makes my 4 gig kit that was a 100 dollars a year ago less than 50 and icky....

Either or...one's faster than the other, but I'd wait and see from the community on if fast RAM speeds are incredibly important (I'm in the market for RAM too )

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7Q-16GBXH

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7Q-16GBRL

Thanks for the information! With 16GB of RAM, will the 1066 vs 1333 matter that much? I think the 1066 kit you listed is actually compatible with my board according to GSkill's site.

This stuff can be infuriating.....feel like I can't pull the trigger on anything because I'm too afraid of making a bad purchase with my limited "play" funds.

I have an AMD board and running GSkill RAM at 1656 currently, stable. your board will support 1600DDR3, but will take some easy BIOS tweaks, such as adjusting the RAM voltage and NB frequency. GSkill has been very helpful in getting my RAM settings correct.

On my AMD board I ran DDR3-1600 and as Britton30 said, with a few bios tweeks you can run the ram at 1600. By default, the fastest ram your motherboard will run at default settings is DDR3-1333. You can run DDR3-1600 at DDR3-1333 and lower the timings and get close to the same performance as 1600.

Also, it is important not to mix ram. If you have DDR3-1600 4GBNQ in your board now and it runs well then add the exact same thing to it 4GBNQ. And others will tell you that you can mix ram. And they are right, but it usually requires several tweeks in bios to stabalize it. It's much easier to run all the same.

You can run 1600 RAM, I've gotten my RAM to run around 1600 before. But I did that through CPU overclocking. If you don't plan on overclocking, which for certain Phenom processors(I'm not sure with yours) overclocking is definitely an art and a process that takes time.

BUT, I do believe, forum people please correct me, if you overclock your processor and the system requires the RAM to run faster than what it's rated for, it'll clock the RAM higher. If you don't plan on overclocking, having RAM at 1333Mhz will be fine.

The diff between the two RAM kits performance is that one might be better suited for overclocking than the other. But high RAM speed on really matters if you're running a solid state drive and not a hard drive since your system will need to process data much faster. The general rule of RAM that I've gone by is more is better than faster.

AMD processors actually are only rated to go with RAM at 1333Mhz for AM3 sockets.
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING AMD AM3 CPU's and RAM SPEEDS