Questions about RAM.

[halpimnubby]

Heyy!

 

I recently started looking forward installing a little bit more RAM to my computer. At the moment I only have a single 4 GB stick.

I have used only 0,19 GB of it so I have 3,81 GB usable RAM but I read some games need atleast 8 GB of usable RAM.

Also, should I buy 2x 4GB RAM sticks or single 8 GB one? Does it matter if I put a, for example, HyperX RAM stick and a Samsung 

one in the same computer? Do they need to have same amout of GB? Can I not put a 4 GB and 8 GB together? Is there a limit aswell?

Can I actually get 4x 16 GB sticks in one computer? Is it like you can not put 16 GB stick in i3 or something like that?

Do you have any suggestions of which brand sticks to get?

Few specs of my pc: https://gyazo.com/2b57dfb40a8eed9917005483b620f134

 

Thanks for any of you that took time to respond!

 

P.S. I'm not really good at english. As bad is my knowledge about computers. Don't judge me.

[DocSwag]

Could you check how many RAM slots your computer has?

[themctipers]

It is better to go for 1 stick of 8gb opposed to 2 sticks of 4gb because you are leaving more space for future upgradability 

[Biggerboot]

There's a lot more to the equation than just the RAM if you're trying to make your computer ready for gaming.  Most 3D games these days also need a good graphics card.  You also may need a better power supply to power said video card.  If you don't know what either of those are: look here, and here.

 

In response to your original question, another 4gb of RAM is probably all you need.  That way you can take advantage of the dual channel (if it supports it) on your motherboard.  Plus I don't think your i5 will be suited to take advantage of more than 8.

4 minutes ago, themctipers said:

It is better to go for 1 stick of 8gb opposed to 2 sticks of 4gb because you are leaving more space for future upgradability 

Sound advice for a new build, but in this case I think this is the 'future' for his build.

[VVoltor]

Just now, themctipers said:

It is better to go for 1 stick of 8gb opposed to 2 sticks of 4gb because you are leaving more space for future upgradability 

I don't agree. If he's using an ATX board, it probably has 4 RAM slots, so could be upgraded to 4x4 if needed.

 

@halpimnubby Yes, you can just buy another 4Gb stick to upgrade your RAM to a total of 8. It doesn't really have to be the same brand, but it's important to get a stick with the same speed and timings and voltage.

Speed is measured in Megaherz, timings looks something like cl9-9-9-24, see image below for illustration. 

 

[themctipers]

Just now, VVoltor said:

I don't agree. If he's using an ATX board, it probably has 4 RAM slots, so could be upgraded to 4x4 if needed.

 

@halpimnubby Yes, you can just buy another 4Gb stick to upgrade your RAM to a total of 8. It doesn't really have to be the same brand, but it's important to get a stick with the same speed and timings and voltage.

Speed is measured in Megaherz, timings looks something like cl9-9-9-24, see image below for illustration. 

 

I'm saying maybe in the future he wants to get more than 4x4gb (16gb total, ivy does 4x8gb max for 32gb) he doesn't need to get totally new ram

 

he could get 1x8gb and continue using his 1x4, then he could get another 1x8gb in the future if needed, and again another, and at the end replace the 1x4

[Biggerboot]

6 minutes ago, themctipers said:

I'm saying maybe in the future he wants to get more than 4x4gb (16gb total, ivy does 4x8gb max for 32gb) he doesn't need to get totally new ram

 

he could get 1x8gb and continue using his 1x4, then he could get another 1x8gb in the future if needed, and again another, and at the end replace the 1x4

It just makes better sense to me to try to get use out of your current sticks first, and the potential for dual channel.  Then replace them later on if you have to, RAM is cheaper these days.  With a 3rd gen i5 he's not going to see much added benefit from 32gb.

[Epic_Nex]

I would not try mixing and matching different RAM types/storage/speeds etc.  I would recommend just buying the same RAM you currently have and putting that in. Make sure you put it in the correct RAM slot so that it is running in dual channel.  I doubt you would ever need more than 16GB of RAM if you ever chose to go that high.

[halpimnubby]

1 hour ago, DocSwag said:

Could you check how many RAM slots your computer has?

My computer has 4 RAM slots.

[JoostinOnline]

Technically you only need 2GB. However, your computer won't really run optimally until it has 6-8. Anything after that is just nice to have, but not really necessary. 

[DocSwag]

1 hour ago, halpimnubby said:

My computer has 4 RAM slots.

In that case most likely you could just add more RAM. Find out the speed and timings as well as how many sticks of RAM you currently have and just buy some new RAM that has the same specifications and you should be fine.