Advice about maximum amount of ram recommended

[cesm23]

I have the M4A785TD-V EVO motherboard, which has 4 dd3 1333mhz slots, and each pair of them support functioning in dual channel. At the moment i have 1 kingston stick of 1gb (KVR1333D3N9/1G) CL9, and 1 kingston stick of 2gb (KVR1333D3N9/2G) CL9. Note that usually i have tons of programs loading at startup and i do a lot of multi tasking.

I really need some advice here, i don't know if i should go to have as much memory as possible (6gb-8gb) so that i don't have to worry about buying more in the next 5 or more years regarding intensive gaming or the windows that will come next to seven in 64bits. I say this because so soon i don't want to have a computer using lots of virtual memory, if in later years the new windows that will come out asks tons of memory or the games themselfs, much like windows 64bits is doing in relation to the 32bits versions.

Another problem i have is, if i buy 2 x 2gb sticks, if keeping the original two sticks working at single channel will affect the performance of the new ones, even if they all work at CL9-9-9 and they are in different channels...

And at last, i ask the same question as above, but in the case i choose now a different brand of sticks other than kingston and which one you recommend...

 

[linnemeyerhere]

cesm23,
I'm reading that this board only supports up to 4gb of ram. I think you should get another stick of Kingston KVR1333D3N9/2G and ditch/sell the 1gb stick.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134812
As well 32 bit W7 only supports 4gb of ram with a practical usage of around 3.4gb.

 

[OldMX]

I always buy ram in pairs to avoid issues (YMMV), being doing this for years, I recommend selling both sticks and get a 2 x 2gb matched sticks.

 

[Dwarf]

According to Asus, the maximum memory capacity for this board is 16GB. Regardless of motherboard, I recommend that all memory sticks are identical in order to give best results.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

My bad my search pulled up the wrong mobo, Dwarf is correct it supports up to 16gb of ram.

 

[cesm23]

I always buy ram in pairs to avoid issues (YMMV), being doing this for years, I recommend selling both sticks and get a 2 x 2gb matched sticks.

Hum... i think i am going to actually do that, yeah that's probably the best idea, BUT i will still see if there is any change in the speed of the new dual channel pair, if by keeping the older 2 sticks the speed/performance isn't changed in benchmarks on in memory speed testing sofware then of course i will prefer having 7gb memory

The main reason i won't sell the older sticks is because specially the 2gb one, now it's price is TWICE smaller than it was at the time i bought it, so i am not willing to get rid of it that soon, specially because i have a lot of trouble finding someone to buy used stuff from me, and generally i don't have much luck with that.

There is another doubt now... in case i choose other brand than kingston... considering i would buy also cl9 memory, would be notice any difference at all ? Because if by choosing other brand of memory i wouldn't notice much difference then it's best to stick to kingston in case the performance doesn't lower by keeping the 2 older ones.

 

[whs]

Remember, if you mix the Dimms, it will perform at the speed of the slowest Dimm installed. And mixing makes is not such a good idea either. With a 32bit OS, there is no advantage to go beyond 4GBs.

 

[cesm23]

Yeah but these two i have are all CL 9-9-9, and the new ones i see in online stores all say the same as well... and i mean, both 1gb and 2gb versions of them. Is judging by the CL9 indication enought ? If i buy them i would have three KVR1333D3N9/2G and one KVR1333D3N9/1G, and they all have CL 9-9-9, don't know if this is enough to have an idea if it would cause problems or not... Also i am using a 32bit os now, but the only thing keeping me from upgrading to 64bits is because even by having 3gb at the moment, sometimes i have virtual memory problems...

 

[linnemeyerhere]

You may want to update your spec's as I used your DFI mobo to spec it out. I would scrap the Kingston ram as it wasn't that expensive and source a faster four pack of Corsair all matching sticks and go with 8gb's for your move to 64 bit and be done with it, yes it's a bit over kill but you will love the speed and when loading intensive applications like Photoshop and such you'll flip at the added speed. The other option is getting three more sticks of the same Kingston 2gb ram.

 

[cesm23]

The other option is getting three more sticks of the same Kingston 2gb ram.

This is more like the option i am thinking at the moment, since the corsair option is more expensive, even tough there is the added risk of the 3th stick not being compatible with the old 2gb stick even tough they have the same model reference and CAS latency, the problem is i don't know if this is worth because tell me, there isn't much difference in having two pairs of 2gb sticks in dual channel when comparing to having one pair in dual channel and the other one in single chanel one of them being 1gb and the other 2gb, sure there is one 1gb less but would this worth the risk then?

Anyway now my only doubt is that one, it's more like if i buy that 3rd 2gb stick or not, probably it wouldn't make that much difference and i could save some money like this.

 

[whs]

Would probably not hurt to scan your system with the Crucial scanner. Then you know the options RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

 

[linnemeyerhere]

If you're staying with 32bit then you won't gain but less than a half a gig worth of usable ram. That will speed things up a touch but if you move to 64 bit then 8 gig's is a massive improvement. You can do this in two steps add 1 stick of matching 2 gb ram and then when you move to 64 then order 2 more sticks. When you move to 64 bit as well you can exploit ReadyBoost and add a inexpensive usb flash drive of like 8-16gb's. That as well will speed things up nicely. Heck your could add ReadyBoost to your current system by inserting a drive like this.
Patriot PEF4GUSB Xporter XT Boost USB Flash Drive - 4GB at TigerDirect