RAM upgrade questions; number of sticks and size.

So I'm looking to upgrade my RAM from 8GB to 16GB, since it's been a long time coming (thanks Firefox).





And before RAM prices get any higher than they already are. I'm looking at this Corsair Vengeance 16GB Kit (2x8GB), since it's compatible with my motherboard, and I can't go any higher than 16GB on Windows 7 Home Premium anyway. Given that I use my PC mostly for gaming in general use, would I even need more than 16GB in any situation?


But I was also looking at this Corsair Vengeance 8GB Kit (2x4GB), which is the same as the current RAM I have installed now (9-9-9-24 timing, 1.5V voltage, etc.), except in color (mine is Blue, this set is Black, which is the only color available). This also costs less.



The thing is, doing research shows that while I could mix the 8GB Kit with my current set, there's some potential issues. I asked Corsair tech support about this and was told that I could go for the 8GB Kit, but there's no solid guarantee that, despite the tech specs being the same, ALL of the RAM sticks will play nice together. Would that ever be worth the risk to just save some money?



Also, I'm seeing that there would be some performance differences between 2 sticks vs. 4 sticks, as well as putting more pressure on the memory controller. But how much lower would the performance of 4x4GB sticks be vs. 2x8GB sticks? I've seen some people say that it's negligible, but if it's a heavy hit, then I'll just go for the 16GB Kit. On top of that, my motherboard supports Dual-Channel memory, but not Quad-Channel.



Any help making a choice here would be appreciated.

All I know is that mixing RAM is not a good idea. It may or may not work as was told.

Nitesco said:

But I was also looking at this Corsair Vengeance 8GB Kit (2x4GB), which is the same as the current RAM I have installed now (9-9-9-24 timing, 1.5V voltage, etc.), except in color (mine is Blue, this set is Black, which is the only color available). This also costs less.

If the RAM is same brand and type and has the same chipsets being the only difference the color, I would say that there will be no issues.
Just as a precaution, use the old and the new as a pair. In other words, fist 8G (channel 1 & 2) = Old sticks and remaining 8G (channel 1 & 2) = New sticks

DDR3 A1 & B1 = Old sticks
DDR3 A2 & B2 = New sticks

Megahertz07 said:

If the RAM is same brand and type and has the same chipsets being the only difference the color, I would say that there will be no issues.
Just as a precaution, use the old and the new as a pair. In other words, fist 8G (channel 1 & 2) = Old sticks and remaining 8G (channel 1 & 2) = New sticks

DDR3 A1 & B1 = Old sticks
DDR3 A2 & B2 = New sticks

Yes, that would be the plan, placing the 4 RAM sticks into corresponding paired slots.


What about any possible performance hit from having the RAM arranged like this? How noticeable is it?

As a normal user, I don't think you will ever use more than 8G. I've seen that you're using 6G and you've probably have a LOT of programs running on the background.

On my computer I have 8G and right now I'm using 2.0G with 4.9G available. 1G is for internal graphics.

I use Autocad and Flight simulator and never needed more memory.

About any possible performance hit from having more RAM depends on the game you intent to run.

If you don't have any SSD on your desktop and you want to do a huge performance upgrade, you should buy a small SSD (128G) to install Windows and programs and use the HDD for data. It will cost you around US$25.
I have one of this. So far so good. PNY CS900 120GB 2.5" SATA III INTERNAL Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD7CS900-120-RB - Newegg.com

So I decided to get the 16GB RAM. I know you said that you don't think I'll ever use more than 8GB, but I find myself multitasking more than ever, so I want to make sure I've got enough for that.


As for the SSD, that's something I've been considering for a while. I have my own questions about where to go with that, but I'll save that for another thread.


Thanks for the answers, both you and F22.