Upgrading my pc ram. need help to get correct type.

gorro187

Hello and thank you for looking. I am currently buying a new video card gforce 1060 6 gig and I want to go from 8 gigs of ram to 16. I have 2 4 gig sticks atm and 2 empty slots. My issue is on sites like newegg. Im not sure which one is the correct one to buy. I downloaded a program called cpu z. It says I have DDR 3. each stick being 4096 megs of ram. Max bandwith is Pc3-12800(800mhz). brand g.skill and part number is f3-12800cl9-4gbrl. the dram frequency is 799.9 mhz. If anyone can help me with a link to the sticks that I have I would appreciate it. I could find ones that say pc3-12800 but not 800 mhz. Thank you reguardless.

Vrika

You've got 1600 MHz RAM.

DDR stands for double data rate, and transmits data twice in a clock cycle. That's why depending on how it's measured you may get the number of clock cycles (800 MHz), or the number of transmissions (1 600 MHz).

So just get memory that's sold as PC3-12800 1 600 MHz, and that should work.


EDIT: If you can get the exact same part (F3-12800CL9-4GBRL) somewhere at decent price that would be the best so that you could be sure there are no compatibility problems. But if you can't, likely any PC3-12800 part will work without problems.

gorro187

ok so just look for pc3-12800 1600 MHz thank you

gorro187

Ok would this work? I can not seem to find 4 gb sticks. only sets of 2 gig ones. But if I buy https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231489&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Memory+(Desktop+Memory)-_-N82E16820231489&gclid=CjwKEAiAz4XFBRCW87vj6-28uFMSJAAHeGZbbtP1EA_REhhKgWLlsPn3BxaWpjijaiwAO4LQE0gRuRoCl3Xw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds should that work fine?

Vrika

There are a lot of 4GB sticks available, example:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

The one you linked should work too.

Disclaimer: This post was written in 2 minutes before leaving for work. If someone else links other RAM then he's likely had time to give his choice more though. I just linked the first one I found

Stuka1000

Go to the website of your motherboard manufacturer and look up the board.  There will be a memory compatibility table that lists all the ram that works okay with your mb.  This is important as not all ram is created equal and the memory from one manufacturer may be fine while from another it may not.

You could also simply look at the ram you have at the moment and do a google search for the same type.

gorro187

ok im sorry to be posting again I see on newegg all of them I seem to find have the timing on the ram set to Timing 9-9-9-24. when I use cpu-z on my pc. Unless im being a idiot I believe it says my ram of the same model is 11-11-11-28. Am I wrong or am I reading it right? Therein my question is will I run into problems since its the same model ram and same size? I have 2 empty slots and 2 in use for ram. Thank you all for your help again.

Quizzical

You could also just pull out the old memory and replace it entirely.  For example, 8 GB:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455

Or 16 GB:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231560

What CPU do you have, anyway?

I'm not sure where you're looking to buy, but the GTX 1060 looks rather overpriced at the moment.  Even the 6 GB version is barely any faster than the Radeon RX 480 on average, but it's a lot more expensive.  For example:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202270

Or if you want more memory, here's an 8 GB version:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131694

gorro187

I believe I said it earlier I am loyal to gforce by personal preference. Nothing more. My cpu is a I5 3570 k.

Quizzical

Your CPU is definitely new enough that the motherboard will support 8 GB memory modules for 16 GB in total if you want to go that route.  You could justify moving to 8 GB or 16 GB, but it's probably simpler to just replace the old memory and not supplement it.  Mixing different memory kits can work fine so long as you pick common speeds and timings that everything supports, but it does prevent the motherboard from auto-detecting settings.

Vrika

gorro187 said:

ok im sorry to be posting again I see on newegg all of them I seem to find have the timing on the ram set to Timing 9-9-9-24. when I use cpu-z on my pc. Unless im being a idiot I believe it says my ram of the same model is 11-11-11-28. Am I wrong or am I reading it right? Therein my question is will I run into problems since its the same model ram and same size? I have 2 empty slots and 2 in use for ram. Thank you all for your help again.

Strange. It says CL9 in the part number you posted on your first post, that should means that the RAM can get case latency of nine.

Also doing a bit of searching on G.Skill's website, your RAM is likely same as this
  http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-12800cl9d-8gbrl
  https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

If I understood their naming standards correctly, the D-letter just means it's dual channel kit of that RAM, and 8 means size of the kit. That's also released already in 2010 so you could have got that RAM type when you bought your original computer.


But maybe I've missed something.

I'd suggest opening your computer and looking that sticker on the RAM to see the model. If Newegg picture is to be believed, both of your RAM sticks should have a white sticker showing the model and timings.

Vrika

Quizzical said:

Your CPU is definitely new enough that the motherboard will support 8 GB memory modules for 16 GB in total if you want to go that route.  You could justify moving to 8 GB or 16 GB, but it's probably simpler to just replace the old memory and not supplement it.  Mixing different memory kits can work fine so long as you pick common speeds and timings that everything supports, but it does prevent the motherboard from auto-detecting settings.

My opinion is that mixing kits is good idea because incompatibilities are rare. If it does work you've saved 35$ compared to buying completely new RAM, if it's incompatible buying another kit of the new RAM means you've only wasted maybe 17$ compared to buying completely new RAM in the first place.

There's no need to spend $35 extra just because it could be incompatible. Especially with DDR3 RAM, 1 600 MHz is fast enough for OP's computer, and there's no sense buying faster DDR3 RAM for future upgrades because future upgrades will be with DDR4 anyway.

gorro187

ok. I know I sound back and forth. ive decided im buying my 1060 6 gig card now. and when money permits ill just buy 2 8 gig sticks together so I know they will work. I truly appreciate everyones insight. thank you.

Quizzical

Oh, I just realized that I misread the original post.  He's upgrading from 8 GB to 16 GB, not from 4 GB to 8 GB.  That makes a huge difference.  In that case, yeah, just buy two more 4 GB modules and you're set.  Get something with good specs and it can probably run at the speed and timings of your previous memory.

Still, I'd question why you're bothering to upgrade from 8 GB.  Do you do anything where you're running out of memory?  If not, then there's exactly nothing to gain by adding more.  Memory is a case where you have enough or you don't, and if you already have enough and add more, all you do is waste money and burn a little more power for zero benefits.  More memory can perhaps help a little bit due to prefetching if you don't have an SSD, but the solution to that is to get an SSD.

Ridelynn

XMP and BIOSes are notorious for not setting the best clock, so it's not uncommon for you to have, say, purchased 9-9-9-24 and the BIOS autodetects it as 11-11-11-28. Usually you can just go and manually enter the stock settings for your DIMMS and they will be happy.

dagg405

gorro187

I ipgraded my pc ram from 4 to 16 recently. I took 2x8Gb with 1600Mhz and I`m completely good with it.