Have 4gb (2+2gb) - should I go 8gb or 12gb?

bokou · Feb 19, 2011

I've got 4gb of G-Skill DDR3 1600mhz in 2 sticks of 2gb. Would it be a better idea to go with 2 more sticks of 2gb and get a total of 8gb or would it be fine to stick in 2 4gb sticks and make 12gb? I've never mixed sticks and I know it will take it but I didn't know if there was any unspoken penalty or if it was a no-no to mix 4 gig sticks with 2 gig sticks etc.

I doubt I'll ever notice the difference between 8gb and 12gb since I don't really fully utilize my 4gb as-is. Suggestions?

newtekie1 · Feb 19, 2011

If you don't utilize 4GB now, don't waste money on upgrading to 8GB.

overclocker · Feb 19, 2011

well I know from what I do on my laptop, gaming and more going from 4-8GB helped me a lot. 12GB not worth it right now if you ask me.

bokou · Feb 19, 2011

the question was more along the lines of "is it ok to mix/match ram stick sizes" than "is 8gb or 12gb better?" because I'm eventually going to add more and spending $49 or $79 isn't the issue

overclocker · Feb 19, 2011

Its better to keep all ram sticks the same brand, mostly for overclocking. if you don't overclock and will not in the future I don't see a problem with mixing ram.

bokou · Feb 19, 2011

they'll be the same brand but is there anything wrong with having 2 2gb sticks and 2 4gb sticks?

newtekie1 · Feb 19, 2011

Nothing wrong with mixing and matching sizes.

micropage7 · Feb 19, 2011

it depends on for what, for daily use 2gig is enough, gaming 4gig+ is better, video editing needs more ram
if you wanna get best performance just make sure you has similar spec, like timing
and what type of os that you use,it will be better if you run 64bit

bokou · Feb 20, 2011

64 bit windows 7. I'm going to buy identical ram to what I have, just 8 gigs to go with my 4. Should've bought 8 to begin with and then move to 16 but meh oh well

sttubs · Feb 20, 2011

I'd try to find memory that has the same timings too.

Necrofire · Feb 20, 2011

I'm with Newtekie, mixing and matching is fine.
The given being you can't run them all at the highest clock/lowest timing if one stick can't do it (i.e, your new sticks are 1333 only, etc)

bokou · Feb 20, 2011

Gotcha. It'll be 1600 also. Should slots matter? 8 gigs in A slots 4 gigs in B slots? Sounds like the answer is most likely "no it doesn't matter".

Thanks for all the info guys!

Hunt3r · Feb 22, 2011

you need 8gb our 12gb??

wolf · Feb 22, 2011

8gb isnt needed imo, but hey ram really isnt that expensive, so even just for piece of mind if you want it, go for it.

System Name	The Beast 2
Processor	AMD Phenom II 965 OC'd: 3.9ghz
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	G-Skill Ripjaw DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon HD 6970
Storage	WDl 7200rpm 500gb
Display(s)	Acer 21" LCD, Westinghouse 21" LCD
Case	Coolermaster HAF932
Audio Device(s)	On-board 7.1 SupremeFX
Power Supply	Xion 800w Modular
Software	Windows 7, Steam, BFBC2, TF2, Adobe CS5
Benchmark Scores	20k+ on 3dMark06, will have to look at exact number

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Alienware laptop R4
Processor	intel i7-3610M @ 2,30Ghz
Motherboard	dell?
Cooling	2 built in laptop cooling fans
Memory	16GB DDR3 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD Mobility Radeon HD m290x 4GB GDDR5
Storage	256 ssd and 512ssd
Display(s)	laptop screen 17.3" 1920x1080 + LG 22" inch LCD HD 1920 x 1200
Case	My laptop back pack case
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster
Power Supply	laptop brick
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

System Name	The Beast 2
Processor	AMD Phenom II 965 OC'd: 3.9ghz
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	G-Skill Ripjaw DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon HD 6970
Storage	WDl 7200rpm 500gb
Display(s)	Acer 21" LCD, Westinghouse 21" LCD
Case	Coolermaster HAF932
Audio Device(s)	On-board 7.1 SupremeFX
Power Supply	Xion 800w Modular
Software	Windows 7, Steam, BFBC2, TF2, Adobe CS5
Benchmark Scores	20k+ on 3dMark06, will have to look at exact number

System Name	Alienware laptop R4
Processor	intel i7-3610M @ 2,30Ghz
Motherboard	dell?
Cooling	2 built in laptop cooling fans
Memory	16GB DDR3 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD Mobility Radeon HD m290x 4GB GDDR5
Storage	256 ssd and 512ssd
Display(s)	laptop screen 17.3" 1920x1080 + LG 22" inch LCD HD 1920 x 1200
Case	My laptop back pack case
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster
Power Supply	laptop brick
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Have 4gb (2+2gb) - should I go 8gb or 12gb?

bokou

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newtekie1

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overclocker

bokou

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overclocker

bokou

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newtekie1

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micropage7

bokou

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sttubs

Necrofire

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bokou

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Hunt3r

wolf

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Case	White Corsair 500r
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair AX860i 860W
Software	Win 10 Pro 64bit

System Name	Chuck
Processor	Core i5-2500k @ 4.5Ghz
Motherboard	msi P67A-C43
Cooling	hyper 212, 2 120mm fans
Memory	8GB DDR3 1600MHz
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Video Card(s)	Geforce 9800gx2 EVGA
Storage	Sansung 500GB
Display(s)	LG
Case	Box motherboard
Software	Windows 7
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Processor	Ryzen 5800X3D
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Cooling	Scythe Fuma 2
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