I want to upgrade my RAM

adambing

adambing

adambing

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14 Nov 2013
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Right I'm currently running with 8gb single channel RAM, i want to add another 8gb stick but not sure of the frequency im running at, i checked cpu-z and it says,
DIMM 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR3
Module format UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Kingston (7F98000000000000)
Size 8192 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
Part number 99U5403-162.A00LF
Serial number 3609795E
Manufacturing date Week 49/Year 12
Number of banks 8
Nominal Voltage 1.50 Volts

Correct me if im wrong but does this mean my RAM is running at 2400mhz x the 800 by 3 for the DDR3 if it was DDR2 you would x it by etc. Also if i do add another 8gb stick does it need to be the same make?
 
No, Your 800MHz RAM is running at 1600MHZ.. 800 MHz is the bus clock speed x 2 as it's Double Data Rate (DDR) so has an effective transfer speed of 1600MHz.

The 12800Mhz refers to it's therorectical bandbanwidth. Since there are 8 bits per byte mult by the RAM is operating at 1600MHZ it works out at 12800 MHz (8 x 1600MHz)


Where DDR3 is different form DDR2, is that DDR3 requires less memory clock speed to achieve the same bus speed off DDR2 making it more effective in terms of power consumption. This gives it plenty of headroom for increased transfer speeds for less work. This is because DDR3 transfers the data across the bus at twice the speed of DDR2 and four times the speed of standard DDR. so,


DDR2 will need a memory bus speed of 200MHz to achieve 400MHz

Whereas DDR3 only needs a bus speed of 100MHz to get the same bus speed.


Your PC3-12800 RAM has a memory clock speed of (200MHz x 4) to get 800MHz Bus speed.


Hope that helps.



What's just as important is the latency. This will be displayed in CPU-Z. Can you post them up?

edit - sorry i got the bus speed wrong on the example I've corrected this
 
Presuming you mean this

JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 6.0-6-6-16-22 @ 457 MHz
JEDEC #2 7.0-7-7-19-26 @ 533 MHz
JEDEC #3 8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
JEDEC #4 9.0-9-9-24-33 @ 685 MHz
JEDEC #5 10.0-10-10-27-37 @ 761 MHz
JEDEC #6 11.0-11-11-30-41 @ 838 MHz

That was the only other thing under memory, i think its CL11 does this matter when adding more RAM, also what does the latency mean?
 
That's the timings which are available.. there should be screen that shows what you are actually running?

The RAM needs a constant charge to hold on to your data whilst in memory.. It does this by constantly refreshing the memory which results in a slight delay (latency).

The shorter the latency (timings), the less latency occurs. Over the years, as high frequency ram has become more available, the latencies have slowed down (the number have got higher).. They have to to catch up. That said, effective memory speed is far more beneficial than the timings and have become less important.

However, if you are adding RAM to your system, it's best you match the latencies (or timings) the best you can. It's not to say it won't work, but the system will operate with the slowest latencies you have installed.

If you have CL10 installed and fit CL11, for example, the system will operate at CL11 as that;s the slowest.

Does that make sense?
 
yes but it's not crucial.. I would pick faster RAM (in terms of speed) over lower lastencies but if you can get Low latencies for the same effective speed for similar price then go foe the lower latency RAM

i.e. 1600Mhz in both CL9 and CL10 for same price, I'd go for the CL9

Bear in mind that these may be a t a premium


I couldn't find any kingston 1600MHz @ CL11

There nearest i could find is these @ CL10

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-122-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1180


However, you could sell your single RAM and buy faster dual kit.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-072-PA&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387

edit.. can you have a look at the label on the side of the ram. It should contain the model number.edit 2 - sorry It's in the CPUZ info you supplied
 
Thats cool i don't really have the money to buy complete set of sticks, i have located some equivalent memory you have been a great help, there is one more thing my timings seem odd they are 8-9-10-11 from what i have read about they are meant to be like 8-8-8-11 or 9-9-9-22 not sequential?
 
adambing said:
Thats cool i don't really have the money to buy complete set of sticks, i have located some equivalent memory you have been a great help, there is one more thing my timings seem odd they are 8-9-10-11 from what i have read about they are meant to be like 8-8-8-11 or 9-9-9-22 not sequential?
Click to expand...

Or would it be better to have quicker 8 gb or equivalent 16 gb? Much thanks in advance
 
adambing said:
Thats cool i don't really have the money to buy complete set of sticks, i have located some equivalent memory you have been a great help, there is one more thing my timings seem odd they are 8-9-10-11 from what i have read about they are meant to be like 8-8-8-11 or 9-9-9-22 not sequential?
Click to expand...

Each number refers to different stages on the refresh cycle, any numbers that are different just means one part of the process is slower than the other. It is unusual to see them different nowadays because timings aren't as tight and aggressive as they used to be. We used to play around with these to squeeze every last drop of performance but with the introduction of DDR2 and DDR3 this is effectively an obsolete tweek. If you are concerned, you could try heading in the BIOS, and resetting back to Performance settings.

adambing said:
Also what sort of differences am i looking at between CL11, CL10 and CL9 etc etc ?
Click to expand...

Nothing you'd ever notice.. Even benchmarks would show minimal difference, if any but as i said, all the RAM must run at the same timings otherwise you'll get Blue Screens.

adambing said:
Or would it be better to have quicker 8 gb or equivalent 16 gb? Much thanks in advance
Click to expand...


Are you talking about mixing the RAM?
If you are using dual modules, then you must use equivalent RAM so you can't have 1600MHZ in one bacnk, and 200)MHz in another, You'd have to operate at teh slowest 1600MHz which means you fastest RAM would be underclcoked.

If you install your ram in single configuration ( like you have) or unequal capacitiesi.e. 8gb in one, and 4gb in the other then this will work but dual channel memory will be disabled.

The general censuses is to keep everything the same :)

edit - Also aim for high capacities with high effective speed. The dual channel modules i posted above are faster than your existing RAM. Capacity does effect performance so fill your boots there.
 
I was saying keep original ram and add equivalent 8gb meaning i have 16gb or wouldit be better to remove existing and replace with a faster 8gb as i don't have funds to replace with 16gb faster. Also how easy /hard is it fiddling with bios coz in a complete noob, my mobo is an asus p8z77-m if that helps?
 
Yes, in your case get another 8GB as this will activate dual channel automatically ( this increases the memory bandwidth further).

Not that hard.. When the system boots, hit del just as the system boots. You'll enter the new efi screen they'll be a function key or setting to use "Optimal performance settings". I wouldn't worry to much until you've bought you new RAM stick.
 
Upon searching for new ram some state 1024x64 some 1024x72 and various others in different price scales what's the difference apart from the obvious price
 
64 is non EEC non registered RAM for desktop, 72 is EEC complaint and registered RAM for servers.

The system should set everything with the settings it thinks are best. I doubt you'll have any problems tbh but if you do, you will need to set the memory values manually.

If it comes to that, there are plenty of members here who can help you. :)
 
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