replace or add to RAM

[scampaboy]

Hi,

 

Im just looking for a quick piece of advice I currently have 8gb, I bought with my meager funds a new 16gb stick.

 

Its a different manufacturer and model but the timings and volts are the same.

 

Do I replace and stay with 16 gb or do I add to what i've already got and have 24gb? bearing in mind i can sell the 8 gb and put it towards a new GPU in the future.

 

What do you guys think? I normally play single player and i'm running 1.5.8 because foe me the microstutters in 2.5 really affect me.

[BitMaster]

Ehhh, you very likely did a little mistake !

 

YOu should have bought TWO modules, not ONE.

 

YOur system has DUAL CHANNEL, that demands that you always plug them in pairs.

 

If you cannot take it back and get 2 8GB instead I highly recommend to just ADD the new module. That way you have 128bit data bandwidth for the first 8GB ( I really hope those are 2x4GB modules ! ) and "only" 64bit data bandwidth on the RAM 9-24GB.

 

It may not even boot properly, you really have to try it out.

 

If you only plug in the new 16GB stick, then you have 64bit only, single channel.

 

RTFM of your motherboard as how to plug them in and where. It does matter in which slot they are inserted.

[Demon_]

Give us more info about your pc. :smilewink:

[scampaboy]

Ehhh, you very likely did a little mistake !

 

YOu should have bought TWO modules, not ONE.

 

YOur system has DUAL CHANNEL, that demands that you always plug them in pairs.

 

If you cannot take it back and get 2 8GB instead I highly recommend to just ADD the new module. That way you have 128bit data bandwidth for the first 8GB ( I really hope those are 2x4GB modules ! ) and "only" 64bit data bandwidth on the RAM 9-24GB.

 

It may not even boot properly, you really have to try it out.

 

If you only plug in the new 16GB stick, then you have 64bit only, single channel.

 

RTFM of your motherboard as how to plug them in and where. It does matter in which slot they are inserted.

 

My current RAM is in the recommended RAM documentation which is single channel, so i bought another single channel stick. I will plug it in and see if it works, it works with the recommended 8gb so i'm sure it will work with the recommended 16gb.

 

But my question is will they work together?

[scampaboy]

sorry

 

i5 6400

8gb single channel

1050ti 4gb

240 ssd

 

i should put them in my sig.

Edited February 15, 2018 by scampaboy
add an image

[BitMaster]

OK, you bought a budget PC that only has 1 slot populated. That is sadly common on some PC's.

 

What I wrote is still valid, it is even worse as your 8GB is a single module.

 

You need TWO identical chips, best from 1 Kit sold as Dual-Channel.

 

You can try, but it will be anything but optimal and chances are high that it wont work as intended.

 

Any i-Series Intel CPU 2011 and later is at least dual channel, some are tripple, some are quad-channel. Even the C2D were Dual Channel. One channel is 64bit data width, 2 = 128..aso.

You have to have matching pairs to avoid pulling your hair usually.

[scampaboy]

OK, you bought a budget PC that only has 1 slot populated. That is sadly common on some PC's.

 

What I wrote is still valid, it is even worse as your 8GB is a single module.

 

You need TWO identical chips, best from 1 Kit sold as Dual-Channel.

 

You can try, but it will be anything but optimal and chances are high that it wont work as intended.

 

Any i-Series Intel CPU 2011 and later is at least dual channel, some are tripple, some are quad-channel. Even the C2D were Dual Channel. One channel is 64bit data width, 2 = 128..aso.

You have to have matching pairs to avoid pulling your hair usually.

 

I actually built a budget pc with one slot populated :doh:

 

If i installed the 16 gb that i have bought i wouldn't see any benefit from it ?

[JG3Siggi]

Be cautious about trying with both sticks in. I swapped blue GSkill for red with my son, so I could add the cheap extra two sticks of red I got from ebay but forgot to adjust the timing in the BIOS. When I switched on it trashed my OS and I had to do a Windows reset (essentially a reinstall and lost all my programs but kept my files and folders).

 

Stick just the 16GB in but make sure it's setup correctly in the BIOS before booting into the OS. You won't need more than 16GB anyway.

[Rudel_chw]

If i installed the 16 gb that i have bought i wouldn't see any benefit from it ?

 

 

The performance benefit of dual channel operation are a bit overrated .. I've never see it increase overall performance of a PC by more of 5%.

 

 

On the other hand, going from 8 GB to 16 GB on DCS gives a tangible improvement on stuttering.

 

 

The modules have to be of identical size in order to use dual channel, so using both 8 + 16 GB modules will not result in dual channel operation, in my opinion you should keep the 16 GB one and sell the other.

[scampaboy]

The performance benefit of dual channel operation are a bit overrated .. I've never see it increase overall performance of a PC by more of 5%.

 

 

On the other hand, going from 8 GB to 16 GB on DCS gives a tangible improvement on stuttering.

 

 

The modules have to be of identical size in order to use dual channel, so using both 8 + 16 GB modules will not result in dual channel operation, in my opinion you should keep the 16 GB one and sell the other.

 

Thanks !! that was what I was trying to figure out

[RedShoes]

I would say, stick it in and see how it works.

Before you stick it in, read your motherboard manual about which RAM slots to use.

You have not told us yet what exact motherboard you have, but what you told us so far, I would assume it supports dual channel. Therefore try first to stick one on channel A and the other on channel B.

 

Check in your BIOS that the both sticks are recognized before booting to OS for the first time.

 

Basically it should work.

 

You might have to make sure your motherboard bios is up-to-date. If it is not working, check your MB manufacturers support page for bios update.

 

When investigating DCS 2.x microstutters and game freeze problems, I once actually configured 2 identical RAM sticks for single channel (i.e. 2 sticks in, one in channel A, the other in channel B) and compared that to dual channel configuration and found no noticeable in-game fps or performance difference. Back then I was testing with i7-4790K and a MSI Z97 gaming 5 MB and Corsair Vengeance 2400 DDR3, 2x8GB sticks.

[BitMaster]

8+16 will result in 16GB in 128bit and the overlapping 8GB from the 16GB module will be adressed with 64bit only...IF..IF it fires up at all !

 

YOu can try both.

 

It is a good habit to NOT boot your Windows but any bootable Linux from a USB stick. Dont risc your OS when fiddling !!!

 

make a USB stick with Ubuntu or Linux Mint, easily done in 30min, use F8 for boot menue and boot that USB. YOu may change boot order in bios as well to block the standard drive. This may pay out.