I want to upgrade my RAM, but should i get 2x4gb or 1x8gb?

[winterwonderland]

it's me asking for help yet again...

i got new pc for $300, but although it contains 8gb ram (2x4GB Kingston 2133MHz PC4-17000) DDR4 CL15), i'd like to upgrade it to 16gb. my question is if i should get 2x4gb of the same RAM or should i get 1x8gb of the same RAM type??

if i need to provide more details, let me know. thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Kanan]

You'd need 2x4 or 2x8 for dual channel to work.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I'd get 1*8 then get another one when you have the cash.

You can maybe sell your 2*4 then get the other 8gb stick for 2*8

 

[FR@NK]

Just save your money and keep the 8GB you have.

 

[winterwonderland]

hmm.. so many advises here...

ill mainly use my pc for video editing, which probably requires a ton of memory.. isnt 8gb too little for that purpose, or?

ok, so i think i'll get 2x8gb whenever i can afford it. any recommendations for 2x8gb sticks?

 

[P4-630]

i got new pc for $300

ill mainly use my pc for video editing

Hmm.. A $300 video editing rig?
Curious! Can you fill out your system specs?
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/account/specs

 

[FR@NK]

Whats mainboard and processor are you using?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

A $300 computer that uses DDR4? (Out of curiosity)What make/model?

Personally, I like G.Skill or Corsair for RAM, but there are plenty of other great choices.

Also, is your computer a desktop model or a laptop? Desktops and laptops don't use the same RAM, so we need to know this in order to make actual recommendations.

 

[winterwonderland]

well, i got it for $300 considering it didnt have any other hdd than the 250gb ssd... was it THAT waste of money...or cheap? hmm..

yes, it's a desktop. pardon for that.

thanks for the help, you lot!

 

[BarbaricSoul]

extremely cheap, and probably a very good deal (which is why I was asking make/model).

As for an actual recommendation, without changing to a faster RAM speed, I would recommend this- https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232242&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker, LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

edit: Holy shit, $300 for a i5 6400, 8 GB DDR4 RAM, 250 GB SSD, and a GTX 970, that is a extremely good deal IMHO.

 

[winterwonderland]

extremely cheap, and probably a very good deal (which is why I was asking make/model).

As for an actual recommendation, without changing to a faster RAM speed, I would recommend this- https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232242&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker, LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

edit: Holy shit, $300 for a i5 6400, 8 GB DDR4 RAM, 250 GB SSD, and a GTX 970, that is a extremely good deal IMHO.

KWAAAGHG!!! such price difference from newegg and these european pc shops!! over here, i gotta pay $165 for for G.Skill Aegis DDR4 PC17000/2133MHz CL15 2x8GB (F4-2133C15D-16GIS) - is that the same RAM as you mentioned, btw??

also, on a closer look, it was more like $400, but still... i reckon it was worth it, considering my old OLD pc....

im glad to hear that i didn't put my money to waste then! i seemed to be quite lucky with this deal then.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

HOLD UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can't possibly have DDR4 RAM. B150 motherboards use DDR3. You can confirm this by downloading and running CPU-Z. It will tell you exactly what you have. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

my RAM as shown in CPU-Z-

edit: removed i5 6400 being a ddr3 only CPU

 

[P4-630]

HOLD UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can't possibly have DDR4 RAM. The i5 6400 is a DDR3 CPU. B150 motherboards use DDR3. You can confirm this by downloading and running CPU-Z. It will tell you exactly what you have. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Hmm... I own a i5 6500 CPU with Z170 mobo, it needs to be DDR4 for Skylake.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Hmm... I own a i5 6500 CPU with Z170 mobo, it needs to be DDR4 for Skylake.

But he/she has a B150 chipset, which according to what I'm seeing, uses DDR3- https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132582&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker, LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[P4-630]

But he/she has a B150 chipset, which according to what I'm seeing, uses DDR3- https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132582&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker, LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Ok just checked at https://ark.intel.com/products/88185/Intel-Core-i5-6400-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_30-GHz

It can either run on DDR4 or DDR3L depending on the motherboard then.

 

[winterwonderland]

Hmm... this is 1 of the RAM pieces:

 

[P4-630]

Hmm... this is 1 of the RAM pieces:
View attachment 84851

That's 8GB of DDR4 2133MHz you have according to a google search.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Hmm... this is 1 of the RAM pieces:
View attachment 84851

That is DDR4 (I googled the model number). Are you sure about the motherboard model? B150 chipset boards only support DDR3 from what I'm seeing in my research. I was actually trying to put your computer together on PC Partpicker and when selecting RAM (after CPU and MB), it only gave me DDR3 options. You'd need a B250, H110, Z170 or Z270 chipset for DDR4.

 

[winterwonderland]

so... i would imagine that this pc, which is put together by an actual and a reliable pc dealer (one of the most known pc shops we've got here) would know which ram to put to the pc, yes?

does this mean that it will not work properly, or what?

edit: here is my motherboard:

 

[BarbaricSoul]

If you have not seen this computer actually powered up with that RAM in it, I personally would advise against powering it up at this moment. If it does actually have a B150 chipset motherboard, it needs to have DDR3 RAM from what I am reading.

edit: Ok, I'm wrong. I was originally looking at the specs for the ASUS B150 M-A D3 motherboard, which is in fact a DDR3 board. When I looked at the ASUS B150 M-A, which is what you said is in the computer, I see it is a DDR4 motherboard. When assembling the computer in PC Partpicker, the B150 M-A was unavailable, but I noticed the D3 version. I assumed it was a just an updated B150 M-A. I should have checked the actual board out for myself instead of assuming. My apologies.

 

[krusha03]

Quick search online it supports ddr4 so you should be fine

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B150M-A/

 

[winterwonderland]

hmm... it's been powered up, yes (maybe that's why the RAM says "unknown"?):

so... i should not power it up again, or...?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

edited my last post, sorry

 

[winterwonderland]

edited my last post, sorry

pheeew. you scared me there, yeah no worries, though.

so. i should go for those 2x8gb G.SKILL sticks?

hey... just wondering... does it matter if i buy those sticks used, considering it's RAM..? just wondering.

 

[krusha03]

Normally ram has lifetime warranty so it shouldn't really matter. If it's cheap and you can return it in case of DOA i would go for it