Advice on RAM and mHz

GrimmFC9990 · 11 Oct 2010 at 20:10

Ok, I've bought a new PC - one that I've not built, but its still pretty good. The first thing I immediately wanted to do with my new PC is to upgrade the RAM to the max it can take. Here is what the manual for my PC states concerning the memory:

and using CPUZ, here is what I already have in Slots 1 and 3:

Now I have very basic knowledge of anything to do with PCs, I've installed RAM before on my old (dinosaur) PC. I know that the RAM has to be DDR3, and that both of the sticks of RAM have to/can be 2GB, and that I could go for Dual Channel, but the only problem I am having is trying to determine what mHz the RAM should have, e.g. 1066, 1333, 1600 etc. etc.. So is this a factor that I have to take into account, along with the fact that I could get Dual channel RAMs, or doesnt it really matter? Plus here's a pic from CPUZ about the CPU I have if it makes a difference:

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, and I do apologise in advance if there is a topic that already exists concerning this issue.

1Day · 12 Oct 2010 at 11:28

A good starting point would be to tell use what motherboard it is and what ram it is.

Other than that you could enable the XMP profile for the ram in the bios if you wanted to. Assuming the ram has one of course. But the best way to up your ram frequency would be to incrementally (and slowly) increase the BLK of your CPU till the sweet spot between voltage needed to run stable and performance was reached.

But as I have said until more information is provided the only advice anyone can give would be generic at best.

GrimmFC9990 · 12 Oct 2010 at 12:21

appreciate your reply. well tuning the ram through the BIOS is something I am totally new to. like I said I have very basic knowledge - to be honest I've never played around with the BIOS of my previous PC, and I dont plan to with my new one any time soon until I gain sufficient knowledge. the main thing that I want to know is whether I need to buy sticks of RAM with a specific amount of mHz on them.

but here is the info that CPUZ has given about my motherboard:

my PC is an Acer Aspire M5811. dont know how everyone feels about Acer, but its been running fine so far.

bifday2k · 12 Oct 2010 at 12:47

Can you post a screen shot of the memory tab (not the spd), i have a feeling as its all stock, that the memory will be running at 1066 speeds, going by the base clock the cpu is using, but can't be sure untill i see the memory tab.

If thats the case, any extra memory you put in will default to 1066 speeds, so basicly if u plan on getting some more, don't worry about the speed, just get the cheapest branded stuff you can find, and it will automatically default to the speed and timings of the other memory, Just noticed the memory is kingston 1333mhz stuff, try and get kingston 1333mhz memory again if you ideally can, and all should be fine.

GrimmFC9990 · 12 Oct 2010 at 13:04

sorry, I forgot you wanted the Memory tab, here it is:

thanks for clearing that up for me, really appreciate it. I think I will go for two 2GB 1333mHz RAM in the two remaining slots, possibly Kingston like you said.

plus, can I ask you for your personal opinion on Acer Desktop PCs, for example are they reliable? becuase if I open my PC up to do any upgrades then it will void the 1-year manufacturer's warranty, and if - God forbids - in the next year it does breakdown due to some hardware failure, then I wont be able to send it back to them.

thanks once again for your help so far.

bifday2k · 12 Oct 2010 at 13:17

Forgot to say in my last post, welcome to the forum.

Ok your memory is running at 1333mhz, so try and match that with any you get, ideally kingston stuff, and it will match the speed and timings of the current stuff. So all you have to do is put it in, and thats it.

About the if something happens question, all you really need to do if u have to send it back, is take out the memory that you installed, remember which ones it was, and there should be no issue, but to be honest there should'nt be an issue even if you add your own stuff.

Acer are not a bad brand at all, ok a lot of us like to build our own stuff, but not everyone is comfortable, or have the knowledge to do that. That is where companies like Acer come in, they build very good PC's.

As you can imagine a lot of us here like to tweak our machines a lot, with stuff like dell, acer, hp and the like, this is extremely hard to do, so we don't buy them.

Now that being said, my mother recently wanted a new office pc for at work, and i got her an Acer, as it was cheaper then me building it, came with support and so on, and does what she needs, so all in all companies like acer offer a good service, so don't worry, acer are just as reliable as any other system builder, there support is good, if you ever need it too.

Hope this helps.

GrimmFC9990 · 12 Oct 2010 at 13:30

thanks for taking the time to help me with this issue, really do appreciate it.

I would like to modify a few things on the PC on the hardware side of things later on - mainly the graphics card, as ive been eyeing up the HD Radeon 5970, but the sizing and dimensions of that thing is certainly the big issue. Ive never really dealt with anything to do with overclocking, and playing with thie BIOS, so maybe that will be something I could do in the future should I decide to build a PC later on. but yeah, the only reason why I didnt build one this time round is because our last PC was just getting old, and I heard and read a lot about the Acer model we have so I thought it would be a good purchase. only time will tell if it is or not.

thanks once again for all your help.

bifday2k · 12 Oct 2010 at 13:45

No problem, glad to help where i can. Same for most people on here, we know not everyone is knowledgeable or confident when it comes to computer stuff, but you can't learn without asking, thats where forums like this come into there own, sharing knowledge and so forth, id class myself as confident and knowledgeable but even i still learn new stuff day in day out, its a continual learning curve lol.

So never be scared to ask questions, no matter how trivial you may think they are, its the only way to learn, gain knowledge and confidence. So i hope you enjoy your time here on the forum.