Need help deciding a on a Memory (RAM) upgrade

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[IJustDontCare]

http://media.msi.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=28642

That is my current motherboard. The issue I'm having on deciding on upgrading is... I want two 8 GB memory sticks, but I'm not sure this board would handle it or support 8 GB sticks. Anyone have experience with something like this? I could four 4GB to get 16 or something, but not sure I want to go down that route.

If I can use 8GB, well I was looking at these guys http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233296

Thanks for any help.

By the way my computer is 5 years old (everything is 5 years old except the video card)

My current specs are

Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit
Intel 950 i7 processor at 3.07GHz
6GB DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card
800W Power Supply

[GrayWolf]

I'm not an expert, but for DDR3 you have to change your motherboard, I think :/ Can someone confirm this?

[jackmccrack]

That motherboard supports DDR3.

[XIIcorps]

Your OS dictates how much ram can actually be used also.

xp/vista could only use upto 8 iirc
with windows 7 using upto 16gb and
windows 8 being the only one to potentially let you use upto 32gb.

[nikomas]

It actually depends on your version of windows iirc...

For X64 systems it varies...
Vista premium can take 16 and ultimate up to 128
W7 basic 8, home prem 16, ultimate and that jazz 192.
W8 standard is 128 GB, and prem is 512 GB

Why'z it be complicated like that... Cause microsoft, obsly.

[IJustDontCare]

It actually depends on your version of windows iirc...

For X64 systems it varies...
Vista premium can take 16 and ultimate up to 128
W7 basic 8, home prem 16, ultimate and that jazz 192.
W8 standard is 128 GB, and prem is 512 GB

Why'z it be complicated like that... Cause microsoft, obsly.

Well I have windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

This is everything I have in my system,

Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit
Intel 950 i7 processor at 3.07GHz
6GB DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card
800W Power Supply

[rolcsika0128]

Eir is so DEAD...

[GrayWolf]

Eir is so DEAD...

Wanted to play last weekend....

[IJustDontCare]

Ok, so max you can use 16GB's of RAM. Now unless you don't want to keep using your current 6GB RAM stick (or at least not utalise all of it) you can only add in an extra 10GB's of RAM; however, I can upgrade you to Professional if you want, it has a limit of 192GB's of RAM, so you can get more RAM and still use your current 6GB RAM stick.

Now onto what RAM to buy, your motherboard supports 3 channels at 1333Mhz so I would suggest getting a 3x4GB kit because 3 channels is very slightly better than 2 which is very slightly better than 1, so you'll get the most performance out of them and you'll have 18GB of RAM total (which is way more than enough as most things only need 4GB). In the future if you want to upgrade it further you can also then just get another 3x4GB kit which would give you 24GB in total, which is the maximum amount of RAM that your motherboard supports (It was pretty much designed for two lots of 12GB tripple channel RAM).

My favourite brand is Corsair, so I would recommend CMX12GX3M3A1333C9 if you have the money, if not just tell me what you're budget is so that I can recommend a cheaper one (also tell me what country you're in so that I can find a suitable retailer for you).

Isnt it bad to use different sized memory sticks together? because right now I have 2GBx3 sticks in my system.

Also going the 12GB route seems like the best route and appreciate your recommendation.

[XIIcorps]

look out for bottlenecks

[aeroblade56]

look out for bottlenecks

Leave nikomas and the balance lead out of this corps.

[XIIcorps]

He really shouldn't have any bottlenecking issues with that set up. The only issues I see with his set up are power consumption related, though that depends on his PSU rating (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platnium, Titanium).

Having a way larger PSU than you need is a rather bad thing in terms of power consumption when the PSU is under a very low load (sitting idle and such). Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platnium rated PSU's are only tested for 80%+ efficiency at 20%, 50%, and 100% load, that means that at 10% load they could very well have an efficiency much much lower than 80%, which means that a lot of power is wasted and turned into heat when your pc is idle, and that increses your electricity bill. If you have a 80%+ Titanium then that's fine as they are designed and tested for 80%+ at 10% load.

It is much better to get a PSU which is suited to the sum of the stated power requirements of your whole system + some leeway, though you should also account for possible future upgrades such as adding in another GPU in SLI or CrossFire, or upgrading to a higher power consuming GPU, or adding in a higher power consuming GPU for your main screen while the old GPU powers a second (for this your systems max power requirment can likely go over your PSU's limit as the card powering the second screen is unlikely going to be under much load); but you'll want to try to keep the idle consumption at at least 20% of the PSU's rated wattage (unless you have a 80%+ Titanium).

Play Eirr or shhhh

[XIIcorps]

I'm too busy downloading more RAM, I don't have the time to do anything else.

And what OS actually acknowledges your 7777TB of "RAM" Tiglet, MIcrosoft 3000 ?

[nikomas]

Not sure if corps missed the joke or...

[XIIcorps]

Not sure if corps missed the joke or...

Nah i got it the first time, in the other thread she used it in.

[XIIcorps]

My new RAM