RAM Questions

[DEvilgodspidER]

I currently have a AMD FX-8350 (Stock), ASUS M5A99X Evo R2.0 with a Kingston Genesis 1x8GB DDR3-1600MHz.
I was thinking, mostly because I've seen (to my surprise) Star Citizen requires 12GB for Ultra, 6GB VRAM or greater for Shadow of Mordor...

Of upgrading my RAM, anyway, I recently found that Dual Channel makes the RAM a bit faster, however, I wanted to know if in order to make 2x8GB on Dual Channel, would I need the same specific RAM? (Kingston Genesis 1x8GB)
Or can I just buy a some other RAM from Kingston (i.e. Fury) and run them on Dual Channel?
I am aware that Fury is CL10 too btw, I wanted to know if I would have to maybe underclock the Genesis to CL10.
Is there anyway to overclock the Fury's CL? lol

[CowsGoRoar]

They can be different, as long as the brand, speed and CL timings are the same. Even with that, some RAM will still refuse to work. Try it and find out.

[TheMcSame]

I was thinking, mostly because I've seen (to my surprise) Star Citizen requires 12GB for Ultra, 6GB VRAM or greater for Shadow of Mordor...

 

Hmmm... High GBs of RAM for ultra graphics?

 

Sounds like you've mixed RAM (system memory) up with VRAM (The RAM you're GPU uses).

Anyway, I'd avoid both of those games with a barge pole, the fact that they need high amounts of VRAM means the developers have been lazy and they haven't bothered to optimise the game properly. 

[DEvilgodspidER]

Hmmm... High GBs of RAM for ultra graphics?

 

Sounds like you've mixed RAM (system memory) up with VRAM (The RAM you're GPU uses).

Anyway, I'd avoid both of those games with a barge pole, the fact that they need high amounts of VRAM means the developers have been lazy and they haven't bothered to optimise the game properly. 

 

I didn't mix it:

-Star Citizen requires 12GB of RAM on it's Ultra requirements.

-Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor requires 6GB VRAM or greater for Ultra.

 

They can be different, as long as the brand, speed and CL timings are the same. Even with that, some RAM will still refuse to work. Try it and find out.

 

I can't really afford to "try it out".... I don't know what you meant by that :\ I was thinking of buying the Kingston Fury if possible, it is 1x8GB DDR3-1600MHz CL10

The differences from mine is that it is not the Genesis Series and it is CL10, unlike the Genesis that is CL9.

[DEvilgodspidER]

Oh! And if not, I also wanted to know if I could add a 2x4GB Genesis DDR3 1600MHz...

Simply put, I would like to know if that would make my system 16GB of RAM total without problems or if I would need to have my 8GB Genesis to be 2x4GB as well or something like that. (OS is 64-Bit btw)

[DEvilgodspidER]

Is it possible for the system to recognize that I have 16GB if I do this:
-Have Two 4GB Genesis DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Sticks in Dual Channel

-Have a single 8GB Genesis DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Stick in Single Channel?

Or will it only recognize one of the 2 options?
Please, please answer

[Priller]

Is it possible for the system to recognize that I have 16GB if I do this:

-Have Two 4GB Genesis DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Sticks in Dual Channel

-Have a single 8GB Genesis DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Stick in Single Channel?

Or will it only recognize one of the 2 options?

Please, please answer

 

That will make the ram run in single channel mode. Only run a 2x8GB kit with 1600mhz CL7 to 2133 CL9. AMD CPUs respond nicely to lower latency and you want atleast 1866mhz speed with latency no higher then 10

[DEvilgodspidER]

That will make the ram run in single channel mode. Only run a 2x8GB kit with 1600mhz CL7 to 2133 CL9. AMD CPUs respond nicely to lower latency and you want atleast 1866mhz speed with latency no higher then 10

I'm sorry I didn't get it.

So I should ditch my current RAM (8GB Kingston Genesis DDR3-1600MHz CL9) for a 2x8GB Kit with 1600MHz AND CL7 or 2133 CL9?? Sounds expensive

I currently have 8GB (the one I said the line above) and would like to upgrade to 12GB-16GB (minimum-maximum)

explain further on what I should do please

And thank you for answering really need some answers

[Priller]

I'm sorry I didn't get it.

So I should ditch my current RAM (8GB Kingston Genesis DDR3-1600MHz CL9) for a 2x8GB Kit with 1600MHz AND CL7 or 2133 CL9?? Sounds expensive

I currently have 8GB (the one I said the line above) and would like to upgrade to 12GB-16GB (minimum-maximum)

explain further on what I should do please

And thank you for answering really need some answers

 

You can add another stick of the 1600 CL9 and hope that it works at 1866 CL10. However matched sets of ram are more reliable it terms of how they work and overclock together. It is possible that if you bought the different dims far enough apart that the IC manufacturer may even be different with slightly different sub timings.

 

1600 CL7 to 2133 CL9 seems to be the sweet spot. Not so fast that the FX IMC cant cope with using the large 8GB dims but also low enough latency you will see higher performance.

 

If you are going to buy ram the slowest I would get would be 1866 CL10. You have to be around 2200mhz at CL11 in order to be faster with the higher latency and those higher speeds may be problematic for the FX IMC to run. The FX IMC runs best on 2 dims and 1866+ speed is much easier to do then 4X4GB dims at 1600mhz. Most 8350s for example simply can't run 4X4GB dims at speeds of 1866 or higher without raising CPU/NB voltage through the roof.

 

For example:

 

For the same price you would get

1866 CL9:  F3-1866C9D-16GXM

Instead of:

1866 CL10: F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL

 

Dont forget to look at voltages. If they are 1.6 or 1.65 Volt dims then the chances of overclocking them further is not that likely.

[DEvilgodspidER]

You can add another stick of the 1600 CL9 and hope that it works at 1866 CL10. However matched sets of ram are more reliable it terms of how they work and overclock together. It is possible that if you bought the different dims far enough apart that the IC manufacturer may even be different with slightly different sub timings.

 

1600 CL7 to 2133 CL9 seems to be the sweet spot. Not so fast that the FX IMC cant cope with using the large 8GB dims but also low enough latency you will see higher performance.

 

If you are going to buy ram the slowest I would get would be 1866 CL10. You have to be around 2200mhz at CL11 in order to be faster with the higher latency and those higher speeds may be problematic for the FX IMC to run. The FX IMC runs best on 2 dims and 1866+ speed is much easier to do then 4X4GB dims at 1600mhz. Most 8350s for example simply can't run 4X4GB dims at speeds of 1866 or higher without raising CPU/NB voltage through the roof.

 

For example:

 

For the same price you would get

1866 CL9:  F3-1866C9D-16GXM

Instead of:

1866 CL10: F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL

 

Dont forget to look at voltages. If they are 1.6 or 1.65 Volt dims then the chances of overclocking them further is not that likely.

Mmmm...

Well like I said my current ram is a single stick Kingston Genesis 8GB at stock speeds, the model is KHX16C9/8

I want to upgrade by adding more RAM, which at start was going to be 2x4GB Kingston Genesis Kit, but since I can't run RAM like that, it has to be adding another 8GB stick. 

So what RAM should I buy? I thought I should buy the same KHX16C9/8 instead of your Fury (I say Fury because your models start with a F3, which to me translates do Fury DDR3 from Kingston).

[Priller]

Mmmm...

Well like I said my current ram is a single stick Kingston Genesis 8GB at stock speeds, the model is KHX16C9/8

I want to upgrade by adding more RAM, which at start was going to be 2x4GB Kingston Genesis Kit, but since I can't run RAM like that, it has to be adding another 8GB stick. 

So what RAM should I buy? I thought I should buy the same KHX16C9/8 instead of your Fury (I say Fury because your models start with a F3, which to me translates do Fury DDR3 from Kingston).

 

Those are G Skill part numbers.

 

The cheapest would be to add one more dimm to the existing one you have.

[DEvilgodspidER]

And that would work correct?
If I buy the same model (K

 

Those are G Skill part numbers.

 

The cheapest would be to add one more dimm to the existing one you have.

So if I buy another stick of the same model (KHX16C9/8) it will work right?
But CowsGoRoar said that even being the same model it might not work
Is that true?

 

They can be different, as long as the brand, speed and CL timings are the same. Even with that, some RAM will still refuse to work. Try it and find out.

[CowsGoRoar]

Is that true?

If the models are the same and the heatspreader color is different, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Just what I said, brand, speed and CL timings are the same and it will most likely work. I've seen people mix brands and it still works, so you should be fine.

[DEvilgodspidER]

If the models are the same and the heatspreader color is different, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Just what I said, brand, speed and CL timings are the same and it will most likely work. I've seen people mix brands and it still works, so you should be fine.

Thank you Well then I'm buying a 8GB Genesis

Oh also, since we're on the topic of RAM, what do you guys think of the RAM prices? do you think they'll never be lower again? They've been keeping getting slowly but surely higher where I live

[CowsGoRoar]

Thank you Well then I'm buying a 8GB Genesis

Oh also, since we're on the topic of RAM, what do you guys think of the RAM prices? do you think they'll never be lower again? They've been keeping getting slowly but surely higher where I live

It used to be pretty cheap, DDR3 was around $6/GB a few years ago, now it's around $10/GB. It'll drop when DDR4 is more popular, but until then, which is probably a full year, DDR3 will stay the same price.  <_<

[DEvilgodspidER]

It used to be pretty cheap, DDR3 was around $6/GB a few years ago, now it's around $10/GB. It'll drop when DDR4 is more popular, but until then, which is probably a full year, DDR3 will stay the same price.  <_<

But you sure after DDR4 becomes it will drop right? If yes, I'll wait no problem.

[CowsGoRoar]

But you sure after DDR4 becomes it will drop right? If yes, I'll wait no problem.

Yes. Previous gen stuff always drops prices. Look at DDR2.

[DEvilgodspidER]

Yes. Previous gen stuff always drops prices. Look at DDR2.

Then I will wait a year before going to 16GB RAM let's just hope that doesn't increase like VRAM

Thank you so much for your help!