Mixing RAM sizes

[jelte1234]

Hi everyone,

 

I used to have 2x 4GB of Corsair XMS3 ram sticks, (1600, cl9) but I have bought the upgrade of 3x 8GB of the exact same type. (secondhand, was used with S1366 previously)

So, now I have 24 GB. However, the 4th dimm slot is still open. Would it be a bad idea to put a 4GB stick in the last slot?

Is it less than ideal to have 3 sticks in the four slots, and would I be better off just having 2 in there?

 

For info, the rest of my specs:

Win 10 x64

i7 4770

Asus Z-87 plus mobo (4 dimm slots)

Gainward Phantom GTX 770 4GB

120GB ssd (windows)

120GB ssd (programs)

Lots of HDD's

 

On my previous PC at one point I was using RAM in 4 sizes, of 5 manufacturers, rated at 2 different speeds.. 

(that gave me some trouble)

This time I'm trying to learn from those mistakes.

 

Thanks!

[themctipers]

As long as it has the same frequency and cas timings, it should work. If it had a lower or worse cas timing, your ram should try to match the same speed. 

[jelte1234]

Thanks for replying!

I see from your signature that you're mixing Corsair and Patriot ram, do you have the corsairs in the same channel, and the patriot in the second? or how is it set up?

Also, very nice setup and OC! 

 

As added info, I'm running the 4770 at a nice 3980MHZ (7%oc) It's the max that the non-K will take I'm afraid.. The RAM is currently running at 1358MHZ, according to my mobo software. Is that weird? It's labeled at 1600.

[Dzzope]

Do you need more than 16GB?

If no, it's just surplus to requirements anyway and will give more issues for little-no reward.

[jelte1234]

Hi Dzzope,

 

16 is nice, 24 does have some benefits during rendering. However that is not a daily task.

The 4GB extra is probably not worth it. But, do you mean that the 3rd stick of the same type will give me trouble?

 

[Sintezza]

This answers your question.

Here you could check what particular ram configuration would work the best for your scenario.

 

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/boards-and-kits/000005657.html

 

 

[Dzzope]

No. but it's capacity vs speed..

Though dual channel etc's benefits are debatable depending on the usage.

 

Personally, I'd try get rid of the 4gb stick and get a matching 8GB for 32.

[jelte1234]

Okay!

 

I'll stick with 3 sticks for now, because of the cost. The upgrade path is pretty obvious tough. 

According to the link Sintezza posted, dual channel should be possible using 3 dimms as well.

Anyway, I don't think that the RAM speed is my limiting factor in most applications.

 

Thanks everyone!

[Sintezza]

9 minutes ago, Dzzope said:

No. but it's capacity vs speed..

Though dual channel etc's benefits are debatable depending on the usage.

 

Personally, I'd try get rid of the 4gb stick and get a matching 8GB for 32.

In certain ram demending tasks its definitely a benefit to run full dual chanel mode vs single channel or flexmode.

In certain rendering workloads aswell.

Because you get more bandwith.

 

i would either go 2x4 + 2x8.

Or sell the 2x4 kit and buy a matching single 8 stick.

 

But yeah it mainly depends on the workloads indeed.

In most day to day tasks and things like gaming, it doesnt matter anything.