Using 3 sticks out of 4

[lokiguesty]

Hi all

i currently have 3x2gb sticks in my pc.

i did a system scan at a different site and it said i needed 12800 speed sticks so i was planning to order

2X http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-300-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

and use 3 of the 4 sticks in the 3 available slots in mobo.

would this work ok?

*edit incase u need to know its a gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard, *

 

[wazza300]

what make/model ram you have installed atm?

 

[lokiguesty]

Corsair XMS 3 is what it says on the sticks. im presuming its DDR3 PC3-12800 or some such

 

[wazza300]

best if you can pick up the same kit,mixing makes/models of ram doesnt work verywell

 

[lokiguesty]

as a sub question then, if i had already ordered the 2 sets prior to thinking of actually asking advise.

would i be better with

4 sticks of the new stuff
4 sticks new + 2 old
or 3 + 3

 

[wazza300]

four sticks of the new stuff,youd be running in dual channel mode but with 8gb,you wouldnt notice any difference from 3 sticks of the old stuff running in triple channel

i wouldnt mix the ram it might need a huge amount of dram voltage to get it stable or just might crash a lot,

 

[lokiguesty]

with 4 sticks of the new stuff i would be up at 16gb would that tip it back in the favour of the new sticks?

 

[wazza300]

with 4 sticks of the new stuff i would be up at 16gb would that tip it back in the favour of the new sticks?

ahh thats right,i keep forgetting there 4gb sticks and you have 2gb sticks atm,

just use one kit of the new ram so two sticks of 4gb each=8gb in dual channel vs what you have atm which is 3 sticks of 2gb=6gb in triple channel mode

8gb vs 6gb will be better so you wouldnt see any performance drop from triple channel mode

 

[tjp148]

If that board is triple channel memory then surely you need multiples of 3 RAM sticks. i.e. 3 or 6?