Questions about adding RAM, speeds and "XMP".

[Knight Tarkus]

Hey all,

So the thing is, my 8Gb of DDR 3 is getting bit cramped right now. It will be another 5 - 6 months before I can make full upgrade for new Mobo, DDR4 16Gb and CPU. So I started thinking that I should just get some extra RAM right now, since I can afford it and I would be very happy with the gains. For reference, even during non gaming use, my RAM is usually around 60% - 70% and whenever I start a game, some black magic probably happens so it can actually fit the game in there (I run quite a few programs on background + couple of layers of Anti Virus.)

Anyway the real questions are the following:

Provided I get RAM that is same brand and same frequncy, within the same voltage limit, it should work correct, even if not 100% identical RAM (I dont think they sell the thing I have anymore).

I currently have 2x 4Gb 1600Mhz, and since I have dual channel motherboard (Asus Z87-K), I should get another 2x4Gb, instead of one stick of 8Gb because of the weirdness that could happen with 3 stick set up’s?

I checked around in CPU-Z and in memory tab, the DRAM frequency reads ”801.3Mhz”. I understand it should be 800Mhzm since DDR = Double Data Rate, but whats that extra 1.3Mhz about?

XMP. This is disabled for me. Should I enable it? The UEFI EZ Mode has it on its front page with options of ”Disabled” and ”#Profile 1”. This option is also in the AI Tweaker tab next to all the CPU stuff with Auto, Disabled and XMP option under the lable of ”AI Overclocker Tuner”. Whats the difference between this and and the ”EZ mode” option? (Also if it matters, I have manual overclock of 4.2Ghz on my CPU)

My full specs, and picture of CPU Z bellow:

Asus Z87-K

EVGA GeForce GTX 1070

Intel i5-4670K @ 4.00GHz

HyperX Genesis DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GB

Samsung 850 EVO 240Gb SSD

Windows 10 64bit

Western Digital Blue 1TB HDD

Seasonic S12 II 520W BRONZE

 

Thanks everyone!

[Knight Tarkus]

woah, got burried fast. Bumping!

[NotTayyeb]

Firstly, I'd say go with 2 sticks instead of 3.. 3 could work, but 4 definitely will, and my OCD is screaming that you should have 4 instead of 3 lol 

 

Regarding your ram running at 801mhz, did you increase your CPU core ratio when you dialed in your overclock? Increasing CPU core ratio indirectly changes the RAM clock speeds. XMP mode is something to do with RAM overclocking, but i don't use it seeing as RAM overclocks don't make a huge difference... Not sure what EZ mode or AI tweaker are though, theyre probably ASUS specific - but in any case, they do automatic overclocks i think? If so, dont worry about them, they just overvoltage your RAM and CPU, like most auto overclockers do.... 

 

Hope I helped