I had a stick of 4Gb Patriot G2 RAM pop. As they are now out of circulation, I have ordered a 2x4Gb Corsair XMS3 kit which will arrive tomorrow (thanks to a post somewhere in these here forums). I've still got a good stick of G2 sitting there, but I can't work out definitively if it is a good idea to try to use it and go to 12Gb or just stick with my matched 8. All the essential details are the same between the G2 and XMS3 (voltage, synchs, CL9, 1600, etc). I know I don't need the extra RAM for the games I have going now, but am looking towards a Star Citizen filled future. I also run dual monitors where I play in one and web in one....so the extra may help there. I also hate to park some RAM that is good to go.... Any advice? I nearly tried to test the RAM the other day by licking it while it was still plugged into the mains...so I need all the help I can get.
don't go down the route of miss matched ram. It can give you all sorts of problems. 8g is more then enough for current gaming, still probably be plenty for sc to.
Actually, from the looks of things, 16 might be better for SC. I could be wrong, but it's shaping up to be a next gen of computer components game.
yes to all of the above...just don't want to abandon something seemingly useful....oh well, maybe I will just fire this spare g2 rocket into space on a left over roman candle from guy fawkes. SC is going to force me to upgrade a lot of kit anyways so I will 16Gb it at that point... Thanks!
I've used mismatched RAM before. As long as the specs are the same you should be fine... >>should<< being the important word. Actually at this time, I'm running Corsair and PNY RAM in my computer because one of my Corsair sticks was DOA and I didn't want to wait for a replacement. Voltage and speeds were the same, everything works. The manufactures are supposed to abide by JEDEC specifications, as long as you are not overclocking, things should run smoothly. If you have a test bed, i.e. another motherboard, try it there first. If it breaks, call the manufacturer and they'll replace it pretty easily. EDIT: Corsair is especially easy to work with. One of there options is, "I'm an IT professional and I know what I'm doing. Replace it.".
That ain't nothing....I didn't have a hairdryer in my hotel room to warm my moustache wax last Thursday.
A little late, but ... what are you using it in? If you are using a dual channel motherboard and add a third stick the first two will likely no longer function in dual channel and bog your system down.
I've gone with just the straight 8. The mobo is indeed dual channel. My understanding of the numbers though is that the loss of dual channel would not have been a killer when compared with the extra RAM. That was based on systems with less RAM though and may not have born out in this case.
It's hard to say, though where it really makes the most difference is in overclocking. OC'ing RAM can go really easy or it can go south real fast. My personal preference is to take my risks with CPU and GPU as they are more forgiving due to safeties built into them and into good motherboards like Asus and Gigabyte, and be conservative with the RAM. Good luck whichever way you go with it.
