How do you know what Memory is compatible?

[Tehkast]

Afternoon all hope weekend is going well

 

So as title suggests my question is How do I know what Ram is compatible with my system?

 

Its rather Old build but was my first so love it and still runs so thought would treat it with maybe a wee upgrade

 

Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         920  @ 2.67GHz, 2668 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BaseBoard Product    P6TD DELUXE
 

 

Long Story short every year at Xmas have a Minecraft server this year my Son may actually be old enough to play a little and join in so I want to host it on this PC so its up so just to be safe wanna bump up the ram etc.

 

My issue is I don't know what I'm doing as far as what to aim for. I know right now it runs in Tri Channel that doesn't even seem to be a thing really now days and each dim is only 2gb so bit meh.

 

Can I just put 2x8GB sticks in and it would auto run in Duel channel?

How do I know what Ram would work/ is compatible?

How do I know what slots to use?

 

Any help would be great thank you in advance.

[Tehkast]

I'm looking at Amazon just randomly and things like 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT2K102464BD160B-PC3L-12800-240-Pin-Memory/dp/B0091LG13O/ref=sxin_13_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-ZGRyMyByYW0gMTZnYg%3D%3D-ac_d_rm_rm_rm&cv_ct_cx=ddr3&dchild=1&keywords=ddr3&pd_rd_i=B0091LG13O&pd_rd_r=2fb503e7-4d39-4818-888d-848ab023187f&pd_rd_w=C2htZ&pd_rd_wg=oNXzp&pf_rd_p=c452d49c-9ea6-4fa2-861e-c1c527c521a6&pf_rd_r=7AH483SXKH2WZHX8VD46&qid=1634381716&sr=1-2-fe323411-17bb-433b-b2f8-c44f2e1370d4&th=1

 

Stand out would that be suitable etc? 

Assume similar questions get asked almost every day do apologise if that is the case. 

[DreamCat04]

If you put completely new RAM in, you should start from the Slot furthest away from the CPU and then occupy wach second Slot if they're all next to each other. If they surround the CPU, start at the in er Slots ans try to occupy both sides with the equal amount of sticks 

[Tehkast]

1 minute ago, DreamCat04 said:

If you put completely new RAM in, you should start from the Slot furthest away from the CPU and then occupy wach second Slot if they're all next to each other. If they surround the CPU, start at the in er Slots ans try to occupy both sides with the equal amount of sticks 

Thanks for the reply the slots are all on a single side but notice they alternate colours I need to clean it out anyway so if still lost tommorow will snap a picture.

 

Goal for today is hopefully order it so turns up tommorow 

[DreamCat04]

8 minutes ago, Tehkast said:

I'm looking at Amazon just randomly and things like 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT2K102464BD160B-PC3L-12800-240-Pin-Memory/dp/B0091LG13O/ref=sxin_13_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-ZGRyMyByYW0gMTZnYg%3D%3D-ac_d_rm_rm_rm&cv_ct_cx=ddr3&dchild=1&keywords=ddr3&pd_rd_i=B0091LG13O&pd_rd_r=2fb503e7-4d39-4818-888d-848ab023187f&pd_rd_w=C2htZ&pd_rd_wg=oNXzp&pf_rd_p=c452d49c-9ea6-4fa2-861e-c1c527c521a6&pf_rd_r=7AH483SXKH2WZHX8VD46&qid=1634381716&sr=1-2-fe323411-17bb-433b-b2f8-c44f2e1370d4&th=1

 

Stand out would that be suitable etc? 

Assume similar questions get asked almost every day do apologise if that is the case. 

I think that should be fine. If you are replacing the RAM, this one should be fine. Your System will automattically Switch to dual channel if you have at least one stick in each channel

[DreamCat04]

4 minutes ago, Tehkast said:

Thanks for the reply the slots are all on a single side but notice they alternate colours I need to clean it out anyway so if still lost tommorow will snap a picture.

 

Goal for today is hopefully order it so turns up tommorow 

So then you can apply the first thing I said for putting in the RAM. If you add RAM, you need to check the timings and frequency. The Old and new one should be matching. If you replace it, you don't need to care as much about timings etc. I'd recommend getting something similar than you had but it should be fine to go either higher on the frequency or lower on the timings

Edited October 16, 2021 by DreamCat04

[Tehkast]

Just now, DreamCat04 said:

So then you can apply the first thing I said for putting in the RAM. If you add RAM, you need to check the timings and frequency. The Old and new one should be matching

I just plan on taking out all the old sticks and swapping em as they're only 2gb each seems more hassle then worth to keep em in.

[mariushm]

There's DDR3 and there's DDR3L  - DDR3 runs at 1.5v (1.65v for high speed memory), DDR3L runs at 1.35v and is more modern.

The link you posted is a DDR3L memory.

 

The computer you currently have uses regular DDR3 memory. It can probably work with DDR3L memory but if you plan to mix the new memory with the existing memory, then the DDR3L memory will work at the higher voltage which is probably 1.5v

The memory sticks you seem to have now in the computer run at 1066 Mhz ( 2x534.5 = 1069 Mhz) so they probably run at 1.5v but you should double check. Software like Aida64 can give you much more detailed view about memory.

DDR3L will work at 1.5v but the chips may get a bit hotter than normal.

 

The motherboard can work in single channel, dual channel or triple channel mode...it's not a requirement to have sets of 3 sticks.

Single channel would be low performance, dual channel would be a noticeable improvement, triple channel is probably just a few percent better than dual channel in most games and applications so it's not really a must.

 

For example, you could remove one stick and remain with 2 sticks of 2 GB, then add 2 sticks of 4 GB to end up with 12 GB of memory in total  (dual channel mode, 2 sticks per channel)

 

I'd suggest buying whatever cheap regular DDR3 1066 or better memory sticks you can find. You'll be fine with 2 x 4 GB sticks, if you find a cheap kit like that.

 

You should check the manual of the motherboard, it may not be able to work with 8 GB sticks, so I'd suggest sticking with 4 GB sticks.

 

[Tehkast]

2 minutes ago, mariushm said:

There's DDR3 and there's DDR3L  - DDR3 runs at 1.5v (1.65v for high speed memory), DDR3L runs at 1.35v and is more modern.

The link you posted is a DDR3L memory.

 

The computer you currently have uses regular DDR3 memory. It can probably work with DDR3L memory but if you plan to mix the new memory with the existing memory, then the DDR3L memory will work at the higher voltage which is probably 1.5v

The memory sticks you seem to have now in the computer run at 1066 Mhz ( 2x534.5 = 1069 Mhz) so they probably run at 1.5v but you should double check. Software like Aida64 can give you much more detailed view about memory.

DDR3L will work at 1.5v but the chips may get a bit hotter than normal.

 

The motherboard can work in single channel, dual channel or triple channel mode...it's not a requirement to have sets of 3 sticks.

Single channel would be low performance, dual channel would be a noticeable improvement, triple channel is probably just a few percent better than dual channel in most games and applications so it's not really a must.

 

For example, you could remove one stick and remain with 2 sticks of 2 GB, then add 2 sticks of 4 GB to end up with 12 GB of memory in total  (dual channel mode, 2 sticks per channel)

 

I'd suggest buying whatever cheap regular DDR3 1066 or better memory sticks you can find. You'll be fine with 2 x 4 GB sticks, if you find a cheap kit like that.

 

You should check the manual of the motherboard, it may not be able to work with 8 GB sticks, so I'd suggest sticking with 4 GB sticks.

 

Thank you very much for this info I don't have the book so will have to find a PDF online once work out exactly what board it is to check if even works with 8gb sticks seen a 16gb set on amazon £60 seems reasonable but been 7 years since really touched any hardware so all my expectations are outdated.

[mariushm]

Your board is Asus P6TD Deluxe.. I can see that in the CPU-Z picture.

 

I don't see a manual on Asus' website but I see the memory QVL list and there's no memory stick higher than 4 GB tested - I'll attach the pdf in this post :   P6TD Deluxe-DDR3-QVL list_20091019.pdf

 

Now, the pdf seems to be from 2009 based on the file name and dates on Asus website, so there's a slim chance 8 GB ram sticks were simply not a thing back then but it could also be a chipset/cpu limitation, so I strongly recommend not trying your luck with 8 GB sticks and just sticking with 4 GB ram sticks.

 

Two or three of these would probably work well : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT51264BD160B-PC3L-12800-240-Pin-Memory/dp/B005LDLUW8/

 

eHere's the kit of 2 link, but it's more expensive than buying the sticks separately using link above : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT51264BD160B-PC3L-12800-240-Pin-Memory/dp/B005NU49DG/

 

3 of those will run you ~70 pounds and you could probably run them in parallel with your existing sticks, and you'll end up with 3x2 + 3x4 = 20 GB of memory.

But if you do that, all 6 memory sticks will run at 1066 Mhz.... Minecraft will probably be better off with more ram vs only 12GB at 1600 mhz.

[Tehkast]

36 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Your board is Asus P6TD Deluxe.. I can see that in the CPU-Z picture.

 

I don't see a manual on Asus' website but I see the memory QVL list and there's no memory stick higher than 4 GB tested - I'll attach the pdf in this post :   P6TD Deluxe-DDR3-QVL list_20091019.pdf

 

Now, the pdf seems to be from 2009 based on the file name and dates on Asus website, so there's a slim chance 8 GB ram sticks were simply not a thing back then but it could also be a chipset/cpu limitation, so I strongly recommend not trying your luck with 8 GB sticks and just sticking with 4 GB ram sticks.

 

Two or three of these would probably work well : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT51264BD160B-PC3L-12800-240-Pin-Memory/dp/B005LDLUW8/

 

eHere's the kit of 2 link, but it's more expensive than buying the sticks separately using link above : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT51264BD160B-PC3L-12800-240-Pin-Memory/dp/B005NU49DG/

 

3 of those will run you ~70 pounds and you could probably run them in parallel with your existing sticks, and you'll end up with 3x2 + 3x4 = 20 GB of memory.

But if you do that, all 6 memory sticks will run at 1066 Mhz.... Minecraft will probably be better off with more ram vs only 12GB at 1600 mhz.

Thank you very much for all your research and suggestions I'm gonna take the plunge and order 3 of the 4gb sticks and run then along side the current 6 for 18gb total 

[Tehkast]

Actually one follow up question may be stupid but if plan on just buying 2 more sticks that would be 5/6 slots occupied would that cause a issue?

[mariushm]

6 minutes ago, Tehkast said:

Actually one follow up question may be stupid but if plan on just buying 2 more sticks that would be 5/6 slots occupied would that cause a issue?

The board may not start/work with 5 sticks. You should keep it either dual channel or triple channel, so either 2-4 sticks in dual channel configuration (using just two channels on motherboard),  or 3-6 sticks in triple channel configuration. 

 

The QVL pdf does mention something about having one stick in each channel PLUS one stick in one of the other 3 slots, maintaining the triple channel configuration, but I don't know if that's an error or not.

 

If you buy 2 sticks, you could just remove one of the current sticks and run the motherboard in dual channel configuration (2 sticks in 2 channels = 4 sticks in total).

[Tehkast]

7 minutes ago, mariushm said:

The board may not start/work with 5 sticks. You should keep it either dual channel or triple channel, so either 2-4 sticks in dual channel configuration (using just two channels on motherboard),  or 3-6 sticks in triple channel configuration. 

 

The QVL pdf does mention something about having one stick in each channel PLUS one stick in one of the other 3 slots, maintaining the triple channel configuration, but I don't know if that's an error or not.

 

If you buy 2 sticks, you could just remove one of the current sticks and run the motherboard in dual channel configuration (2 sticks in 2 channels = 4 sticks in total).

Wonderful thank you very much for all your assistance