NOOBISH RAM QUESTION

[martheus25]

Hey there hahaha. Sounds stupid but what will happen if I add a new stick of RAM?

I have a H81m-k board from Asus. Only 2 RAM slot. I have a cheap Kingston 4GB Value RAM 64bit OS. What if I add another of that RAM which states that it cant run as dual channel or whatever. I just dont get it. Will it work? I know I should buy a kit that works together. But will it become 8GB and still work? Thanks!!

[LemonSpice]

if it is the exact same stick it wil work. If it is a different stick it cannot dual channel

[MeltingPoint]

Best to buy the same brand of ram with the same speed. It will work fine

[Lingering]

crucial.com have a great tool on there site that analysis what you have (and what will fit on the motherboard) so you can go get the same.

[Johannes_Lazor]

That is not a noob question, RAM is more complicated than throwing graphics cards in you PC.


Buy another stick of the same Kingston 4GB Value RAM so you wont have any timing issues.

[martheus25]

crucial.com have a great tool on there site that analysis what you have (and what will fit on the motherboard) so you can go get the same.

Thanks for replying. I'll check it out.

Best to buy the same brand of ram with the same speed. It will work fine

I'll go and buy another one. Thanks for replying.

if it is the exact same stick it wil work. If it is a different stick it cannot dual channel

Ill get the same stick to make it run dual. What will be the difference if uts a different ram? Will it still run?

[martheus25]

That is not a noob question, RAM is more complicated than throwing graphics cards in you PC.

Buy another stick of the same Kingston 4GB Value RAM so you wont have any timing issues.

Haha. I guess its not. All recommended RAM guide is buying RAM at the same time in a single package and almost everyone is doing that so its hard to find an answer. Will I know if the RAm is sync or running on dual channel? Thanks for replying btw

[Johannes_Lazor]

Haha. I guess its not. All recommended RAM guide is buying RAM at the same time in a single package and almost everyone is doing that so its hard to find an answer. Will I know if the RAm is sync or running on dual channel? Thanks for replying btw

It is recommended to buy all the RAM at the same time But it doesnt really matter much since RAM sticks barely degrades.

If the motherboard supports dual-channel it will use it as long as they are in the right slots.

If the RAM aint in sync the system will not boot.

Is it a 1333Mhz or a 1600Mhz?

[martheus25]

It is recommended to buy all the RAM at the same time But it doesnt really matter much since RAM sticks barely degrades.

If the motherboard supports dual-channel it will use it as long as they are in the right slots.

If the RAM aint in sync the system will not boot.

Is it a 1333Mhz or a 1600Mhz?

My motherboard only have 2 slots for RAM and it says on the website that its a dual channel.

The RAM is only 1333MHz should upgrade or wait till I can buy 2 1600MHz?

[LukaP]

My motherboard only have 2 slots for RAM and it says on the website that its a dual channel.

The RAM is only 1333MHz should upgrade or wait till I can buy 2 1600MHz?

you need to be sure that your ram is working at the same frequency (btw 1333 is fine) and same timings (since its valueram probably 10 10 10 24) and then it should run dual channel. and even if it doesnt, no worries, you wont feel the difference if you arent rendering (which i assume you arent, with 4gb of ram)

[typographie]

Ill get the same stick to make it run dual. What will be the difference if uts a different ram? Will it still run?

 

To be as clear as possible, there are a few different issues at play here:

 

The first is that, as said above, you need DIMMs of identical size installed in alternating (usually color-coded) memory slots to enable dual-channel mode. If you just install any size in any slot it will run just fine but only in single-channel mode. Chances are you'd never notice the difference as a gamer but its best to avoid when possible.

 

The other issue is that, regardless of dual-channel mode, your RAM must all run at the same timings and frequency, though in theory your motherboard should correct that automatically by running your RAM at the speed of the slowest module. There is also some concern that mixing brands/models of RAM can result in incompatibility and there's probably some truth to that, but I haven't experienced it personally. Best to try to buy an identical kit whenever possible.

[martheus25]

you need to be sure that your ram is working at the same frequency (btw 1333 is fine) and same timings (since its valueram probably 10 10 10 24) and then it should run dual channel. and even if it doesnt, no worries, you wont feel the difference if you arent rendering (which i assume you arent, with 4gb of ram)

Yeah I only play games. I will be buying from the same store and bring my RAM box and ask for the same item.

[LukaP]

Yeah I only play games. I will be buying from the same store and bring my RAM box and ask for the same item.

then it will be fine, and even if it isnt, you wont feel it at all

[martheus25]

To be as clear as possible, there are a few different issues at play here:

The first is that, as said above, you need DIMMs of identical size installed in alternating (usually color-coded) memory slots to enable dual-channel mode. If you just install any size in any slot it will run just fine but only in single-channel mode. Chances are you'd never notice the difference as a gamer but its best to avoid when possible.

The other issue is that, regardless of dual-channel mode, your RAM must all run at the same timings and frequency, though in theory your motherboard should correct that automatically by running your RAM at the speed of the slowest module. There is also some concern that mixing brands/models of RAM can result in incompatibility and there's probably some truth to that, but I haven't experienced it personally. Best to try to buy an identical kit whenever possible.

Thanks for helping me out again. You're almost all on my posts. Hahaha. Thanks. Ill be buying the same cheapo Kingston Value ram, bring my old box to compare.