Doubling Memory

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9 Oct 2008
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Wimborne Minster,Dorset
I am hoping to go from 6GB to 12GB of memory Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel (CMX6GX3M3A1600C9) [CMX6GX3M3A1600C9]
I have an OC Ultima Viper system which came with 3X2GB installed in the 3 blue slots of my Asus P6X58D-E Motherboard.I wondered if I got another 3X2GB of identical memory,can I just slot it into the 3 remaining memory slots (which are black) and that would be it,or would I need to adjust any settings?
Thanks in advance.

Intel Core i7 960 3.20GHz Overclocked to 4.00GHz
Asus P6X58D-E
OCZ ZS 1000w PSU
6GB DDR3 1600MHz Tri-Channel
MSI GeForce GTX 580 OC Twin FrozR II 1536MB GDDR5
Windows 7 64
Corsair OcUK H2 Flo Extreme CPU Cooler
 
In theory if you get 3 more identical sticks and put then in the black slots then that's it.

However there's a possibility that filling all 6 RAM slots will affect your overclock.

There's really no way of knowing unless you try it.
 
Thanks for prompt reply.
So if it did affect the overclock,would that go back to normal and stay that way if I removed some/all of the new sticks or could it do long term nasty things?
I don't really want to upset a stable system.
 
If it affected the overclock it would likely just become unstable and if you removed the extra 3 sticks it should go back to how it was before.

Just make sure you have an overclocked profile stored in the BIOS in case it resets itself if the overclock becomes unstable.

If it does become unstable then a bit of tweaking would hopefully sort it out.

You can buy a 3x4GB kit for £65.99: Kingston HyperX Genesis 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel

You could then sell the 6GB you have now.
 
That's not a bad idea to just replace the existing memory. Only a few quid more than getting the extra.Didn't even think about that option to be honest!I take it that would also be a more stable option as well?
 
3x4GB will be the option least likely to give you any problems.

You may have to tweak the timings slightly as the Corsair is 9-9-24 and the Kingston 9-9-9-27 but I'd just bung it in and see how it behaves.

There's always someone here if you do encounter any problems.

Remember the £65.99 price is only valid until Wednesday morning when the new weekly offers come out.
 
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Thanks for your advice,mate.Much appreciated.Think I'll treat myself Tomorrow morning.;)
 
Update:
Just thought I would let you know how things have progressed so far (especially Surveyor) after his kind help.
I put 3 of these in as replacement Kingston HyperX Genesis 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel
and after nearly 10 hours of gaming/web/and switching on and off,there have been no problems whatsoever (touches wood!)
My resource monitor shows 12GB of RAM installed.
Dunno if the overclock has been affected as not sure how to check this out,or how to see if RAM is running effectively,but as I said,no errors or BIOS bleeps so far.
Waiting impatiently for Skyrim now.Thanks again. :)
 
I'm glad it's all worked out.

Download CPU-Z.

With the CPU tab open stress the processor (run Prime95 or similar) and you'll see what speed the processor is running at under load.

Click on the Memory tab (not SPD) and you'll see the speed and timings the RAM is running at. Your RAM should show timings of 9-9-9-27 and a speed of 800MHz. As it's Double Data Rate RAM the speed is effectively doubled so 800MHz x2 = 1600MHz.
 
Nice one,thanks for that. Have seen CPU-Z but most of it didn't make sense to me. Will have a go at it Tomorrow.
 
Just checked on the memory tab on CPU-Z and the D ram frequency is only showing 695.5 MHz and not 800 MHz.Any suggestions?
 
Just checked on the memory tab on CPU-Z and the D ram frequency is only showing 695.5 MHz and not 800 MHz.Any suggestions?

yeah, skip into the bios and go there might be a setting ehich determines whether your ram runs at 1333 or 1600, just switch it to 1600. (or a similar option/number)

Or else you may just need to refer to the appropriate voltage, timings and frequency of your ram, and enter it manually.
 
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