computer RAM speed and upgrade

[dasdoing]

I have a new mainbrad and CPU arriving.
I have two of these older 4GB RAMs https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX424C15FB_4.pdf
the mainboard doesn't even suport them anymore so the would be running at 2133?
I want to upgrade to 16GB anyways.
I know if I add a 3rd 8GB 3200 stick it would run at 2133? and could even cause problems?
So I should be getting two 8GBs?
BUT, I am not a gamer at all. how important is that speed diference if you don't game or render or something like that?

 

[Apesbrain]

What mainboard did you order?

 

[dasdoing]

What mainboard did you order?

MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4

Powered by Intel 12th Gen Core processors, the MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 is hardened with performance essential specifications to outlast enemies. Tuned for better performance by Core boost, Memory Boost, Extended Heatsink, M.2 Shield Frozr,

www.msi.com

plus a i3 12100f
and an overkill (for an I3) cooler for quiet operation https://www.deepcool.com/products/C...formance-CPU-Cooler-1700-AM5/2021/15222.shtml

 

[dasdoing]

the mainbaoard is a little overkill for a non gamer, too
for 2 reasons:
again, quiet operation. I will be using it semi-passive.
and I live by the see, the less air I throw at it, the better

 

[Deleted member 48726]

You should only use two or four sticks of RAM to gain the benefit of parallel bandwith. Identical sticks also. Do not mix RAM.

 

[digitalfrost]

The memory will always run at the lowest common speed, so you getting another 8GByte module would not improve things, speed wise. I would recommend you buy 8G modules with 3200Mhz if you want 16G. They are cheap at the moment. But sure to put them into the correct slots for dual channel, your motherboard manual will tell you which.

 

[dasdoing]

You should only use two or four sticks of RAM to gain the benefit of parallel bandwith. Identical sticks also. Do not mix RAM.

The memory will always run at the lowest common speed, so you getting another 8GByte module would not improve things, speed wise. I would recommend you buy 8G modules with 3200Mhz if you want 16G. They are cheap at the moment. But sure to put them into the correct slots for dual channel, your motherboard manual will tell you which.

I know, for optimal speed that is.
my question is how much a diference this would make for me which will hardly use the machine at it's limits, if ever.
Is RAM really cheap? 2 cheap(er) modules will cost me half the price of the CPU lol

 

[digitalfrost]

It will be fine. You can try it like that, you can always get an identical 8G module later.

DDR4 prices are historically cheap since it's being replaced by DDR5 but the stockpiles are still full of DDR4. To give you a comparison you can buy 4x8G 3200Mhz for 40€ at the moment. In 2017 I had to pay 350€ for this.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

...cheap(er) modules will cost me half the price of the CPU lol

Because it is a cheap CPU.

 

[dasdoing]

In 2017 I had to pay 350€ for this

wow

 

[Music707]

As long as you have sufficient RAM for your applications you should be perfectly fine. Neither memory clock nor the timing parameters will have a big impact on overall performance. Most likely you would not "feel" a difference when operating your PC with faster RAM.

 

[pseudoid]

Motherboard RAM slots are usually labeled as "DIMM_A1/_A2/_B1/_B2".
Motherboard UserManuals usually state populating these slots in this order:

1 RAM stick goes in DIMM_A2
*2 RAM sticks go in DIMM_A2 and DIMM_B2 (*best config w/o hogging resources)
*3 sticks = *never recommended!
*4 RAM sticks populate all for memory slots (some say that 4 sticks and XMP have issues together).

Some of the newer RAM modules w/RGB lighting have issues due to their extended height that may interfere with certain CPU coolers.
I am sticking to the above and have had good results with 2x16GB DDR5 (+XMP) in my latest Asus CreatorZ790ProArt build w/13th gen (Raptor) Intel i7-13700K.

 

[amirm]

my question is how much a diference this would make for me which will hardly use the machine at it's limits, if ever.
Is RAM really cheap? 2 cheap(er) modules will cost me half the price of the CPU lol

Speed of RAM makes single digit percentage difference in performance. So not worth it in general unless you have an app that is known to be super data intensive (which audio is not). In contrast, if you run out of memory performance of the system drops massively. So best to have a lot more RAM than less RAM with faster speed.

 

[pseudoid]

Speed of RAM makes single digit percentage difference in performance. So not worth it in general unless you have an app that is known to be super data intensive (which audio is not). In contrast, if you run out of memory performance of the system drops massively. So best to have a lot more RAM than less RAM with faster speed.

Things get even more complicated (and slower), when you are using the CPU w/built-in video processing... w/o a dedicated GPU (which has its own RAM/memory)... you will definitely see the sluggishness if you are doing intensive video stuff, and sharing RAM between CPU/Video.

 

[nerdstrike]

Agreeing with others that RAM speed is more vanity than anything else for the most part. The effect of going from 8GB to 16GB is huge in terms of OS caching and general quality of life in use. I've considered 16 GB of memory to be my minimum (power user) for the last decade or so, and the software has only gotten bloatier since. From 16 to 32 is much less useful for all but the heaviest of jobs, but that extra 8 GB is a delight if the machine stays powered for long periods and you love browser tabs.

 

[Berwhale]

the mainbaoard is a little overkill for a non gamer, too
for 2 reasons:
again, quiet operation. I will be using it semi-passive.
and I live by the see, the less air I throw at it, the better

Generally, I would install new RAM with a new CPU and motherboard as a matter of principle, especially as it's relatively cheap at the moment.

 

[Doodski]

Generally, I would install new RAM with a new CPU and motherboard as a matter of principle, especially as it's relatively cheap at the moment.

That's what I did. I bought the latest greatest high speed RAM slots that I could afford and populated them accordingly with 32GB of DDR5 with the tight timings of the day. This baby is going last me till ~2033 at least. I'm looking for a new gaming box in the future and then I'll have 2 for cooperative gameplay action. That will be veryyy fun.

 

[Berwhale]

That's what I did. I bought the latest greatest high speed RAM slots that I could afford and populated them accordingly with 32GB of DDR5 with the tight timings of the day. This baby is going last me till ~2033 at least. I'm looking for a new gaming box in the future and then I'll have 2 for cooperative gameplay action. That will be veryyy fun.

Me too, but Amir is still right about the marginal gains with faster RAM. I've been playing around with my new PC today and it doesn't make that much difference...

My Ryzen 9 7900 running 'stock' with 32GB of DDR5 running at 2,400...

With AMD Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), EXPO enabled (RAM now at 3,000) and Gigabyte's PBO Enhancement (90 Level 2)...

That's a 9.1% improvement in multicore performance. It's 'free', so i'm not complaining, but it's not a lot compared to the almost 3x performance over my 5 year old Ryzen 7 1700X (to be fair, it has 2/3 of the cores of the my new CPU and doesn't appear to be tuned very well!)...

I remember when overclocking was all about the FSB (and gains were huge!) now it's massively complicated, for example here's the guide i've been following for my 7900: https://skatterbencher.com/2023/02/16/skatterbencher-54-amd-ryzen-9-7900-overclocked-to-5616-mhz/

 

[thewas]

I want to upgrade to 16GB anyways.

No need, here is the solution of the future

SoftRAM - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Doodski]

I paid for the gamble of future proofing. That and I can swap out major parts and upgrade 2x before MS will have a hissy fit on this Win10 Home USB.