Should I throw in an extra 1 gig of ram?

[DVad3r]

Hey guys, I am wondering if I should throw in an extra gig of ram I have laying around. Currently I have 2 gigs (2x1024) of OCZ platinum pc 4400 ram. I also have a corsair 1 gig (2x512) set of XMS pc-4400.

My system specs are:

939 X2 3800 @ 2.4 ghz
2x250 gig seagate HD
Sound blaster live audigyz zs2 platinum
asus sli premium motherboard
bfg 7800 gtx pci-e card

and I am running windows vista ultimate x64 edition

Thanks

 

[Idex]

I won't hurt

 

[lopri]

Why not. It's not like you are pondering upon a new purchase, you already have extra memory so try it out and see for it yourself. If you don't like it you can always take it out. (You will lose 1T if it matters)

 

[Shadowmaster625]

contrary to what was said above, it often will hurt! Loading a memory bus with 4 sticks is taking a huge risk no matter what motherboard you have. Gotta remember these memory buses are some of the most advanced consumer electronics technology there is for the price, and it is, to borrow the words of C3PO, "not entirely stable."

 

[Puffnstuff]

I have an nf4 system with all 4 slots filled and no problems. My current system has all 4 slots filled and again no problems. Put it in, run memtest to make sure that everybody is getting along and no errors are occuring then have at it.

 

[mgutz]

shadowmaster has a point and it could very well depend on your motherboard. my overclocking suffered 0.3Ghz+ when i went to 4x1GB on a DS3. to make matters worse, the sticks almost touch each other and that can't be good for heat dissippation. they, the ram along with the northbridge are HOT. i rigged a 120mm fan over the RAM and northbridge. i'm still not able to get anywhere near the same OC as when i only had 2x1GB. any two of the four GB by the way, so it's not a bad memory stick.

 

[DVad3r]

I just tried putting in the 1 gig of ram and it wouldnt work. I would not be able to boot with all 4 dimms taken up. I got partial boots with the 2 gigs (2x1024) and a 512 stick but something always messed up in windows etc. I booted once with 3 gigs but only 2 gigs were usable. I also updated my mobo to the latest bios.

Looks like its a no go with the 3 gigs of ram, unless I am using bad settings or I put them into the wrong dimm slots? Could I be doing something wrong?

 

[lopri]

Did you try clearing CMOS, followed by setting system default? You will probably need to loosen various timings but try 'system default' or 'fail-safe default' first (obviously no overclocking). Then tweak later.

 

[tallman45]

Start with adding a 2gb High Speed USB Flash Drive and enable Vista Speed Boost

One of Many Articles available

 

[NickelPlate]

Originally posted by: Shadowmaster625
contrary to what was said above, it often will hurt! Loading a memory bus with 4 sticks is taking a huge risk no matter what motherboard you have. Gotta remember these memory buses are some of the most advanced consumer electronics technology there is for the price, and it is, to borrow the words of C3PO, "not entirely stable."

I disagree. I've run both 2 sticks and 4 sticks in systems for years and never noticed any problems or lack of stability due to the latter. I don't think that MB manufacturers would be including 4 slots on their boards if the hardware wasn't designed for it.

 

[Acidbath31]

dvad3r,
yeah, mixing and matching different companies ram is really never a good idea. they have to be pretty similar in timings and voltage to really run correctly. thats probally why it wouldnt boot right. the voltage requirements are probally way out of whack. too much for one set and too little for another. then their's the whole timing thing. just leave that extra gig out. its not worth ruining something else in the process for another gig of mem.
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