Direct upgrade or mix match RAM?

[khr79]

Hi,

 

Here is my PC specs:

 

Mobo: GigaByte Z270X Ultra Gaming

RAM: 2*8GB GSKILL Ripjaw V 3000

Chip: Intel i5-6600

 

Since it has been 4 years since I built my PC and I want to upgrade from 16GB to 32GB. I use it for gaming and video editing. Since I have four slots and mobo supports up to 64GB, I have a small conundrum.

1. Should I just do direct replacement 2*8GB 3000 with 2*16GB 3200?

2. Or should I keep the 2*8GB 3000 (slots 2&4) and add 2*16GB 3200 (slots 1&3) to the other two empty slots?

3. Or should I just buy 1*32GB 3600 and go with single channel? (this is slightly expensive but I would be okay to go for it if there will be significant improvement)

 

I have been reading about mixing up RAM modules and mostly I heard it is okay but you should not overclock it. And mostly it would take up the lower speed (in my case 3000) and go with it.

 

Which of the three options to go for?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[StDragon]

Option 1.

[adarw]

welcome to the forums!

 just buy another 2*8 set, i dont think it needs to be the same version, but just make sure that it runs dual channel after you put them in. 

[adarw]

if your gaming you might want the faster ram, but for videos more ram is better even if its a bit slower. 

[StDragon]

1 minute ago, adarw said:

if your gaming you might want the faster ram, but for videos more ram is better even if its a bit slower. 

Don't OC. Officially that CPU only supports up to DDR4 2133.

https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-z270x-ultra-gaming.pdf
 

The only argument for going faster RAM is if later it will be migrated to another CPU/MB. But if upgrading from a 6th gen Intel, might as well wait it out and go with DDR5 next year.

[Rybo]

As far as I know, options 1 and 2 are effectively identical.  Within a channel, I don't think having 16 gigs on 1 sticks or 2 sticks makes a huge difference.  

One thing to keep an eye out for is memory density -- the number of chips on the actual stick.  You want lower density -- more chips.  Here's an LTT video discussing the issue (it mostly applies to laptops, but if you get cheap full sized ram, you might run into this problem):

 

[khr79]

Thank you for the replies.

 

So technically I can go for option 2.

 

If I face some problem. I can always remove 2*8GB and just go with 2*16GB and like StDragon mentioned... and do a complete upgrade later on.

 

Thank you for sharing this video Rybo... learned something new about memory density.

[khr79]

Would this work?

 

Slot 1&3: 8GB DDR4 3000MHz with CL 16-18-18-38 1.35V

Slot 2&4: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz with CL 16-18-18-38 1.35V