4 GB of DDR3 1600 or 6GB of DDR3 1333?

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  1. Posts : 1,663
    Windows 10 Tech Preview 9926 x64
    Thread Starter
       #11

    BCXtreme said:
    I see your motherboard only has four RAM slots. What sizes are your individual RAM chips?
    Yeah, I have 3 sticks of 2GB. I had 4, but one of the sticks was bad. They are all matching sticks, but it just feels weird to me to have 6GB of RAM. Seems more natural to have either 4 or 8.
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  2. Posts : 53,363
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #12

    All things being equal (very unlikely), I'd say go with the faster RAM unless you use very memory intensive apps. The actual timings come in to play as well. If the 1333's are 7-7-7- and the 1600's are 9-9-9- you would probably be better off with the faster timings. Those that you link to are 8-8-8-24. Here is link to datasheet pdf:

    Data Sheet

    These are specifically enthusiast RAM. Made for overclockers. You can run them at same multi as you have now, and they would not even be overclocked yet. So you have room to play with tighter timings or higher clock settings.

    I also think it is better to run 2 sticks of ram, or at least better than 1 large stick. As far as quality, it's likely these new sticks are superior. It may come down to "seat of the pants" feel. A Guy
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  3. Posts : 12,364
    8 Pro x64
       #13

    The performance 'difference' would depend on what latencies of those kits are compared to your current set. 8-8-8-24 @ 1600mhz vs ?-?-?-? @ 1430mhz

    Also, by running 6GB - with your board, does that not take the memory out of dual channel? (The noticeable difference between single vs dual is relatively small though)

    Another thing to consider is the QVL and RAM compatibility with your board, they aren't on the QVL list - but that doesn't automatically mean they won't work.

    GA-H55M-USB3 (rev. 2.0) - GIGABYTE
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  4. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #14

    If I elected to backclock the memory presently installed here that would see the 7-7-7-30 timings at 1333 over the present 9-9-9-24. The real way to test compare both brands of memory one being the faster would be trying both sets out with only 4gb installed for each and take notes. If you elect to swap dimms note that the invalid product key notification will be seen immediately.

    If you decide to run the Crucial memory you will need to perform a full clean install in order to see that activated due to the new 7 hardware profiling. I thought you would want to be aware of while deciding. I went through that when swapping OCZ memory out for the Mushkin now in use. Otherwise need to call into MS to preserve the present install.
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  5. Posts : 1,663
    Windows 10 Tech Preview 9926 x64
    Thread Starter
       #15

    smarteyeball said:
    The performance 'difference' would depend on what latencies of those kits are compared to your current set. 8-8-8-24 @ 1600mhz vs ?-?-?-? @ 1430mhz.

    Also, by running 6GB - with your board, does that not take the memory out of dual channel? (The noticeable difference between single vs dual is relatively small though)

    Another thing to consider is the QVL and RAM compatibility with your board, they aren't on the QVL list - but that doesn't automatically mean they won't work.
    Well, the RAM I'm running right now is stock 7-7-7-20, right now it's clocked to 10-10-10-28, and yeah, running 6GB does take it out of dual channel. I'm thinking that I'm just going to go ahead and see what they send me. If it's 4GB, then I'll go ahead and run that until I can get another 4GB set sent out to me. As for the QVL...I've never actually faced a problem with that. I've swapped out memory dozens of times without looking at one, and never had an issue. I'm glad you brought it up though, as that will be the first thing to pop in my head if there are any errors after install.

    If you decide to run the Crucial memory you will need to perform a full clean install in order to see that activated due to the new 7 hardware profiling. I thought you would want to be aware of while deciding. I went through that when swapping OCZ memory out for the Mushkin now in use. Otherwise need to call into MS to preserve the present install.
    As for the W7 Hardware profiling...both the set I am running now, and the set that I won are Crucial. However, even if it does invalidate my W7 install, I have a Technet account, so I have plenty of keys available. Besides, I just did a fresh install, so I don't really have much to lose if I have to do another one. Thanks for the info though. :)
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  6. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #16

    That was a stickler when first seeing that here since everything was finally on the new build and running into the need for a memory change. Since you are running Crucial you may see it slide there for you without any problem. Here it was two different brands that came into it.

    Upon the clean install plus now on another drive entirely the activation was immediate. A quick call in would be the option to save the present install if you had a lot on at the moment. It's all the software not the clean install of 7 that gets you!
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  7. Posts : 1,663
    Windows 10 Tech Preview 9926 x64
    Thread Starter
       #17

    Night Hawk said:
    That was a stickler when first seeing that here since everything was finally on the new build and running into the need for a memory change. Since you are running Crucial you may see it slide there for you without any problem. Here it was two different brands that came into it.

    Upon the clean install plus now on another drive entirely the activation was immediate. A quick call in would be the option to save the present install if you had a lot on at the moment. It's all the software not the clean install of 7 that gets you!
    Haha, yeah, that's true. I may give MS a call anyway, just to be sure. I just swapped out both my mobo and processor though, and all I had to do once I plugged the drives in was throw in another key. Better to be safe than sorry though.
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  8. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #18

    I could have done that with the old case but elected for the newer model case by the same brand and building this one for 7. What got me was that the first pair of dimms here was listed on Gigabyte's memory supported list showing a large number of 1.9v memory while the board called for 1.5-1.7v memory?

    One question would be on the first set of dimms you have there would be if they were bought together as a 4 dimm kit or as two separate pairs? For replacing the bad dimm to see 8gb newegg still sells single dimms by themselves while matched pairs is typically preferred.
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  9. Posts : 12,364
    8 Pro x64
       #19

    blackroseMD1 said:
    Well, the RAM I'm running right now is stock 7-7-7-20, right now it's clocked to 10-10-10-28, and yeah, running 6GB does take it out of dual channel.
    In that case, I'd definitely opt to lose the 2GB and go back to dual channel with tighter timings. (If they only send you a 4GB kit)

    If they send you out 8GB - bonus :)

    If the Crucial works out well, but you only receive a 4GB kit and find that you really need 8GB - the worse case scenario is that you'll have to buy another 4GB kit.

    Either way, you'll end up with better performing RAM than you are currently are using.


    Night Hawk said:
    For replacing the bad dimm to see 8gb newegg still sells single dimms by themselves while matched pairs is typically preferred.
    Preferred, but not essential.
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  10. Posts : 8,375
    W7 Ultimate x64/W10 Pro x64/W11 Pro Triple Boot - Main PC W7 Remote PC Micro ATX W7 Pro x64/W11 Pro
       #20

    True! Same brand and preferrably from the same batch at least is always a help!
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