Does the slot RAM is in matter?

[jasper1605]

I've currently got OCZ spec ops edition RAM and it's been giving me large amounts of fits lately so I think I'm going to sell it and get some different RAM. It's completely covering the A2 slot, so anything with a heat spreader is out of the question and the A1 slot is close to being covered up though I can do a little "engineering" to free it up. I was wondering if I were to get like dominator ram, if I could just use slots B1 and B2 or if I should do like my manual tells me and use A1 and B1.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Charper2013]

Well with dual and tri channel kits it does matter. Usually you want to have the set of ram in the same color slots. Example: Yellow, Blue, Yellow, Blue You would want to put a 2x2gb set in either the yellow or blue not both.

EDIT: Explain ''and it's been giving me large amounts of fits lately''

 

[jasper1605]

Large amounts of fits would mean freezing a lot, not being able to stay steady at 1600 (which it's supposed to handle) even when I'm giving it 1.8v But when I leave my system on auto to set it through the BIOS it drops it all the way down to 960 MHz. This is my first system so I wasn't expecting to have it all figured out, but I had no idea things were so complex! lol

 

[DirectorC]

It's probably due to having all four banks filled up with 2GB sticks each. That puts a lot of extra strain on the system. The manufacturer's rated running settings aren't always a match on all systems, especially ones where there is heavy overclocking going on. Also of note those are the settings they run when they are just in pairs, correct me if I'm wrong. Sure enough if you were to switch to just two banks the RAM would probably operate at the right settings without fault. Also, I could have sworn that you were supposed to stay away from running more than 1.65 memory volts through i5 platforms.

 

[jasper1605]

You are indeed correct Director about not supposed to break 1.65v on the i5's. I had forgotten about that but I know I read that in the manual too. I suppose that would be another problem then wouldn't it? Is 8 gigs of RAM useful at all to have yet? I've never seen it go beyond 40% useage when I'm pushing the system for gaming...

 

[DirectorC]

You are indeed correct Director about not supposed to break 1.65v on the i5's. I had forgotten about that but I know I read that in the manual too. I suppose that would be another problem then wouldn't it? Is 8 gigs of RAM useful at all to have yet? I've never seen it go beyond 40% useage when I'm pushing the system for gaming...

Use 4GB and sell off the other 4. 32-bit applications can't use more than 2GB. If you're not running Photoshop and Firefox and Sony Vegas and some Development Platforms while you're gaming then you're never using more than 4GB.

 

[jasper1605]

Thanks for the advice. I'm probably just going to sell all 8 gigs and get some that run at 1.5-1.6v instead of 1.9.

 

[DirectorC]

Thanks for the advice. I'm probably just going to sell all 8 gigs and get some that run at 1.5-1.6v instead of 1.9.

Yeah, 1.9 sticks are flat out incompatible with that platform.

 

[jasper1605]

advices on some solid sticks to get at 1.65 then? I was thinking the dominators but I'm worried about them being too tall and running into my noctua. Are there any normal height rams that are comparable to those?

 

[CyberDruid]

Corsair has been putting out some incredible RAM lately. And pretty.

 

[jasper1605]

Corsair has been putting out some incredible RAM lately. And pretty.

I'm assuming you're talking about the Dominator RAM? My only concern are the heatsinks because my noctua CPU cooler hovers really close to a slot I would have to use and I'm not sure I'd be able to fit an extended heat sink in it without needing to do some cutting. And I don't want to have to cut that oh so wonderful cooler

 

[DirectorC]

GSkills or OCZs are your best bet, maybe Mushkins. As always, look for high speed, low latency, low voltage. Newegg it up! And you could always post a WTB thread and see if someone has some sticks for you.