building new system

[timeless]

my question is pretty simple.. l already have 8gb DDR3 ram tho its slightly dated however l plan to use it in my new system however my money wont stretch to getting 32GB (as ld hoped) however l can purchase another 8GB. the 8Gb l currently have is a matched pair of Kingston (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz i5 Memory Kit Non-ECC CL9 1.5v essentially lm wondering if there would be any stability issues if l bought second matched pair of 4gb sticks with the same voltage and speed to make my system up to 16GB ram.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

If you actually need 16 GB of RAM, you only have 2 choices:

Throw away what you have and buy 16 GB of new sticks.

Add 8 to the 8 you now have.

If money is no object, throw away what you have and start over.

If the cost is of some concern, add 8.

The closer the added 8 matches the original 8, the less likely you will have issues.

Matching would include details such as brand, model, part number, voltage, timings, non-ECC, and any other factor you can find in the specifications.

I don't think you can know with absolute certainty what will happen until you add the new sticks to the old. All you can do is reduce the chances of a poor outcome. Most people would take the chance and I would myself.

You're the one who knows about your budget and willingness to take a chance. If you are indifferent to the price, then of course you would start over.

I assume all of this RAM will go into a new motherboard that you don't yet own, so I'd at least take a look at the qualified RAM list for that board and pound on Google to see if any owners of that board are having any RAM issues.

 

[timeless]

well l know the ram l intend to go for is on the supported list. and the ram l have is pretty much labelled the same as what lm picking ( same manufacturer, non-ecc,1.9v and CL9), the stuff l have l got it from ebuyer on my last upgrade, so lm unsure if its on the list of supported for the board lm contemplating. that said it should still work, however while lm confident working inside PCs most of my acquired knowledge is for outdated hardware back when l used DDR2.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

timeless,
Unless you are audio or video rendering the likelihood of you even noting a difference of 8 vs 16 and for sure a massive 32gb of ram is slight if any. Use what you have till you can pop for 4 matched sticks of high speed ram.

 

[timeless]

tbh, part of the reason l wanted new sticks is because if l have issues with my current one at least lve aimed for some that specifically state they are supported on the board meaning if l have compatibility issues with my old sticks l have new supported ones. and seeing as l'll have an extra 8gb anyway it made some sense to just use my old an new if there are no problems until l can afford a matched set of 32gb rather than have it sitting around gathering dust.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Believe me Kingston ram will slide right into the new build and allow you to recover from all the other expenses and then save for that 16-32 of killer supported high speed ram. Ram isn't cheap and using yours would be a great phase one !

 

[timeless]

well, lve just purchased the parts (havent got ram yet as lm getting that elsewhere with some amazon vouchers lve got) but lm fitting a Gigabyte GA-Z87-D3HP really like the fact its got more USB ports as lve run out on my current rig and the added bonus being that it has DVI, HDMI and VGA onboard as well so l could dual monitor if l so wished with a Intel Core i5 4440 and a larger SSD than l currently have. just hoping l can mount it to the ocz mounting plate l got last upgrade.. the only ruddy annoyance was my budget was nearly messed up by the fact that when l woke up to check if the last part of my money had cleared (about 6hours after l checked none of the components l was looking to get had any price changes) to find that the ruddy CPU price went up by £10 which left me with nothing left of my budget, l cant go down the pub for a pint or two now no biggie l get more enjoyment out of my PC anyways. that said, as l have 2 8GB matched pairs now l guess at least l'll have 16GB ram which will hopefully run fine with no issues until l can afford a full 32GB.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Great well take lots of pictures and post your build in our "Show Us Your Rig" section!

 

[timeless]

the only downside is l'll prolly be using the stock heatsink.. ld have liked to use a better one.. but my case is well cooled (Coolermater Elite, has places for 6 120mil fans [bottom/front/side/back/top x2] tho lm wondering if l should use the side one) the current heatsink l have in there is a arctic cooling pro 7 rev2 but spacewise l dont think l could change its direction as l dont think ld have the clearance with my top fans to use it or one bigger that coupled with the fact l dislike doing thermal compound tho its the first intel build lve undertaken as before ld always opted for AMD. that said lm told that the stock cooler doesnt do too bad a job and without the chunky heatsink in there ld assume less airflow resistance theoretically meaning cooler case temps.

 

[Berton]

If you add all the fans possible you might think about a higher-capacity power supply. Also note whatever else is plugged into the wall outlets in the room, might be getting close to the 15-Amp or 20-Amp limit of the AC circuit/circuit breaker.

 

[timeless]

lm putting in a new 550W semi modular PSU in which should meet my power needs.. and apart from my monitor and system/laptop l have few other things on the circuit in my room so shouldnt have issues lve run more on less years ago when systems were more power hungry and didnt have to be so eco friendly.