Ram questions

OnionRings · December 28, 2016

Hey all, couple questions.

1. Can you upgrade RAM in any amount? EX if I have 8 can I add 2 or 4 or do I have to add another 8? If I choose a lower amount, it still dual channels right?

2. I stream and game at the same time, everyone says 8GB is enough for gaming and normally I agree but with multiple browsers open for the stream chat and such and the recording program growing, I find my ram maxed out at 74% quickly and I *think* it's causing stutters in my games (it can't be a vram stutter as I have 8GB) I'm not 100% positive this is causing the stutters and if my ram IS maxed or not, but I do know that windows will never use all of your ram, now my question is do you think an extra 4GB on top of my 8GB will be enough? I wanted to just go 16GB but ram is a bit pricey right now and I'm finding 48$ (with shipping and taxes) a bit hard to give up for more ram, so will 4 be enough? Or should I suck it up and just go for the 16gb and future proof a little bit?

3. How can I tell exactly how much ram I'm using? I know the task manager attempts it but is there a better way?

4. Can you use a different brand as long as its the same speed? I had a friend who said he used 2 different types and it worked fine for him, but almost everyone else I know says make sure its the same brand and speed.

Thanks.

ARikozuM · December 28, 2016

9 minutes ago, OnionRings said:

Hey all, couple questions.

1. Can you upgrade RAM in any amount? EX if I have 8 can I add 2 or 4 or do I have to add another 8? If I choose a lower amount, it still dual channels right?

You can add RAM in any amount. Dual channel will activate once you place two sticks in their set, but only for the same amount of memory, i.e. you have a 4 + 8 in the channel 4GB from each will work dual-channel and the remaining 4GB will be single channel.

9 minutes ago, OnionRings said:

2. I stream and game at the same time, everyone says 8GB is enough for gaming and normally I agree but with multiple browsers open for the stream chat and such and the recording program growing, I find my ram maxed out at 74% quickly and I *think* it's causing stutters in my games (it can't be a vram stutter as I have 8GB) I'm not 100% positive this is causing the stutters and if my ram IS maxed or not, but I do know that windows will never use all of your ram, now my question is do you think an extra 4GB on top of my 8GB will be enough? I wanted to just go 16GB but ram is a bit pricey right now and I'm finding 48$ (with shipping and taxes) a bit hard to give up for more ram, so will 4 be enough? Or should I suck it up and just go for the 16gb and future proof a little bit?

Going 16GB with two sticks is better than 8GB on two sticks for the reason of maximizing your potential should you need it. (scenario is for a 4-slot board)

I would say that 8GB is good for light gaming, but having 16GB is better since more games are coming out with x64 and more RAM utilization.

9 minutes ago, OnionRings said:

3. How can I tell exactly how much ram I'm using? I know the task manager attempts it but is there a better way?

Task Manager and Resource Manager are the native tools used. TM is rather basic, but RM gives a bit more information.

9 minutes ago, OnionRings said:

4. Can you use a different brand as long as its the same speed? I had a friend who said he used 2 different types and it worked fine for him, but almost everyone else I know says make sure its the same brand and speed.

You can use different speeds, but both channels will downclock to the lower speed, but CAS latency is separated between channels. Getting faster RAM on Z-boards is a good investment if the price isn't increased drastically.

9 minutes ago, OnionRings said:

Thanks.

Have any more questions?

OnionRings · December 28, 2016

3 hours ago, ARikozuM said:

You can add RAM in any amount. Dual channel will activate once you place two sticks in their set, but only for the same amount of memory, i.e. you have a 4 + 8 in the channel 4GB from each will work dual-channel and the remaining 4GB will be single channel.

Going 16GB with two sticks is better than 8GB on two sticks for the reason of maximizing your potential should you need it. (scenario is for a 4-slot board)

I would say that 8GB is good for light gaming, but having 16GB is better since more games are coming out with x64 and more RAM utilization.

Task Manager and Resource Manager are the native tools used. TM is rather basic, but RM gives a bit more information.

You can use different speeds, but both channels will downclock to the lower speed, but CAS latency is separated between channels. Getting faster RAM on Z-boards is a good investment if the price isn't increased drastically.

Have any more questions?

Nope thank you perfect answer, I'll probably just shell out the extra dough and go for 16GB, I only have 2 slots BTW so max of dual channel for me, using a very budget board. And I'll probably just grab really cheap ram anyway because I already have the cheapest possible so buying a different type isn't needed.