Memory upgrade advice for optimal performance

[Violet_Shift]

I currently have 16GB and while that's enough for gaming, since I've been forced to work from home, I've had to do some extremely memory intensive tasks and only having 16GB has slowed me down (I'd rather be able to do these tasks in parallel but currently I'm restricted to one at a time since my tools don't play nice and tend to crash if I max out on memory).

I currently have two 8GB sticks of Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 CL16. (I know nothing about memory specs so I'm willing to provide more info if needed).

Will I compromise performance if I put in two 16GB sticks with identical frequency and timing in the two empty slots? I'm unsure about how to maintain dual channel performance and since this is a gaming rig as well as a work one I don't want to undermine that. But I feel that 48GB, if I could reach it, would give me more room to work with than 32.

This is really an idiot question I know, but memory is the one aspect of PC builds where I am woefully uneducated.

 

[mstenholm]

I currently have 16GB and while that's enough for gaming, since I've been forced to work from home, I've had to do some extremely memory intensive tasks and only having 16GB has slowed me down (I'd rather be able to do these tasks in parallel but currently I'm restricted to one at a time since my tools don't play nice and tend to crash if I max out on memory).

I currently have two 8GB sticks of Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 CL16. (I know nothing about memory specs so I'm willing to provide more info if needed).

Will I compromise performance if I put in two 16GB sticks with identical frequency and timing in the two empty slots? I'm unsure about how to maintain dual channel performance and since this is a gaming rig as well as a work one I don't want to undermine that. But I feel that 48GB, if I could reach it, would give me more room to work with than 32.

This is really an idiot question I know, but memory is the one aspect of PC builds where I am woefully uneducated.

You could help speeding up the process by updating your System Specs including the timings. Adding more RAM can be a problem even if you add seemingly identical sticks. I would avoid mixing different sizes but please try and report back. You most likely have to manually set the timings, but there are several people on this forum that love giving advice on how-to.

 

[joemama]

Adding 2 sticks even with the same spec isn't promised to work, but it is likely that manually adding some voltage to it can push it to work at the same frequency/timings.
Also if it doesn't work, you can still lowering the frequency until it works.

 

[Violet_Shift]

Okay, detailed specs:

i9-9900k, no OC
MSI Tomahawk Z390 motherboard
RTX 2080 Super
2x 8GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4-1600 CL16-19-19-39
Corsair TX650-M 80+ gold PSU

 

[mstenholm]

Okay, detailed specs:

i9-9900k, no OC
MSI Tomahawk Z390 motherboard
RTX 2080 Super
2x 8GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4-1600 CL16-19-19-39
Corsair TX650-M 80+ gold PSU

?. Maybe the full name would be better. F4-3600C16D-16GTZNC?

 

[Violet_Shift]

?. Maybe the full name would be better. F4-3600C16D-16GTZNC?

​

They're the F4-3600C16D-16GTZNC, yes. Sorry, I wasn't aware that the part number was important.

 

[mstenholm]

​

They're the F4-3600C16D-16GTZNC, yes. Sorry, I wasn't aware that the part number was important.

It was only because you mixed up the numbers I/we wanted to be sure about what we have in hand. If I was you I would buy a decent 2x16 GB set with similar timings or close and try it with your 2x8 GB set. You can always rise the timing and/or the voltage or lower the speed and maybe get it to work. If you give up you have a good 2x8 GB set that works well with AMD as well and sell it as such.

 

[dgianstefani]

G Skill have a very nice dual rank 2x16GB 3800/14 B die kit. I forgot the part number but it exists.

 

[mstenholm]

G Skill have a very nice dual rank 2x16GB 3800/14 B die kit. I forgot the part number but it exists.

​

F4-3600C14D-32GTZN but that is in another league

 

[Violet_Shift]

Would the F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC kit be appropriate for my needs?

​

 

[mstenholm]

Would the F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC kit be appropriate for my needs?

​

That would be my choice, similar timings, speed and voltage. Still there is absolutely no guarantee that they will play well with what you have now. Please report back if you buy that set, good or bad result is usefull for others.

 

[Selaya]

Okay, detailed specs:

i9-9900k, no OC
MSI Tomahawk Z390 motherboard
RTX 2080 Super
2x 8GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4-1600 CL16-19-19-39
Corsair TX650-M 80+ gold PSU

16-19-19-39 looks like CJR (Hynix). Try to purchase another kit with the same timings, more likely to be the same ICs and to work with your current one.

 

[Violet_Shift]

I bought the memory so I'll keep you all posted.

 

[maxfly]

What were you doing/using that was maxing out your 16gb? Just asking out of curiousity.

 

[Shrek]

Will I compromise performance if I put in two 16GB sticks with identical frequency and timing in the two empty slots? I'm unsure about how to maintain dual channel performance and since this is a gaming rig as well as a work one I don't want to undermine that. But I feel that 48GB, if I could reach it, would give me more room to work with than 32.

The manual will tell you which slots are paired up.

 

[Violet_Shift]

What were you doing/using that was maxing out your 16gb? Just asking out of curiousity.

I'm a computational biologist - I was using a brain cell simulator, and while my 16GB was fine for very short simulation runs, it would max out on very long simulation runs, and some of what I need to do now runs for longer than 12 hours. It was very annoying to find that the program gave up on life because it ran out of memory 7/8 of the way through an overnight run, and unfortunately fixing the problem with my limited memory would require engine-level modifications. (This is also why I splashed for the i9 - it's impossible to multi thread a lot of what I'm doing so the single core clock matters in ways it wouldn't if this was just a gaming rig)

 

[ThrashZone]

Would the F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC kit be appropriate for my needs?

​

Hi,
Well the boards on the memories QVL list which is a good start.

 

[maxfly]

I'm a computational biologist - I was using a brain cell simulator, and while my 16GB was fine for very short simulation runs, it would max out on very long simulation runs, and some of what I need to do now runs for longer than 12 hours. It was very annoying to find that the program gave up on life because it ran out of memory 7/8 of the way through an overnight run, and unfortunately fixing the problem with my limited memory would require engine-level modifications. (This is also why I splashed for the i9 - it's impossible to multi thread a lot of what I'm doing so the single core clock matters in ways it wouldn't if this was just a gaming rig)

Ah i gotcha. I would give the 32gb kit a try by itself in that case. It sounds like that should meet your goal. I know 48gb sounds good but running mismatched capacities can be a real pita. Not impossible by any means just far easier.
Just be sure to memtest your new kit, then the entire 48gb before you start any important work. Better to be safe than sorry
GL!

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Stay true to your platform JEDEC spec, 3200mhz for intel and AMD, and pick the kits that has optimized timings for the right cost, that is all.

Going over JEDEC you might lose you a layer of stability on specific game engines and programs that utilize memory differently, going from 3200 to 3600 is a very small difference, might as well pick the most guaranteed one for stability and optimal performance

 

[Chrispy_]

Just buy as much RAM as you can, don't worry about how slow you have to run it all to make it work; Having enough RAM is way more important than what speed that RAM is if you can actually use the extra capacity.

For a long while during COVID lockdown I dumped a 128GB kit of Crucial 2133 or 2666 (I forget which) into my X570 board because 32GB wasn't enough. It didn't matter that it was slow, it was easily ten times faster than swapping to disk.

 

[bonehead123]

Although I have a similar build as yours, I ran 2x8 and 2x4GB (24GB total - Corsair Vengence Pro) together for a good while nottaproblemo...

I only moved out to 64GB (4x 16) for the same reason as you are now wanting to.... running multiple memory-intensive CAD/database/imaging apps along with everyday stuff (but no gaming) and running short

I would do as the others have said already, test it out & see what happens..... worst case is you buy a matched 4x 16 or 2x 32GB kit, and sell your existing ram to get back some of the costs !

Of course YMMV, so good luck whichever you decide to do

 

[Violet_Shift]

Just installed the memory - aside from a "I'm an idiot" moment (accidentally unplugged my cooler's power supply and only realized when I'd got to the desktop and had to power down ASAP) everything is fine.

I'll run memtest when I have the free time, but for now the computer seems really stable.

 

[mstenholm]

Just installed the memory - aside from a "I'm an idiot" moment (accidentally unplugged my cooler's power supply and only realized when I'd got to the desktop and had to power down ASAP) everything is fine.

I'll run memtest when I have the free time, but for now the computer seems really stable.

Good to hear. What speed and timings are you running?

 

[Violet_Shift]

Everything's running at default settings for now; I don't usually mess with them. I'll open BIOS later tonight and report back.

I did it right now, since I found out that my settings got reset and I was wondering why I couldn't see my RAID volume.

2133MHz, using automatic voltage settings. I don't tend to overclock (and in fact earlier I was using MSI Game Boost and that on its own was causing system instability)