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Hardware question (RAM)

AdokasAdokas Member CommonPosts: 217
in Hardware

Hey.

I was recently given an i7-980 CPU, a motherboard and a bunch of RAM.

The motherboard is: Gigabyte - GA-X58A-UD5 Rev 2.0.

RAM says XMS 3 - CMX8GX3M2A2000C9. So, uh, 2000 MHz 8 GB. I have 16 GB of it in total.

So, what I'm unsure of is, can I use all of this together? I know that I can use the CPU with the motherboard, but I'm uncertain about the RAM. I've tried to research and find a lot of different stuff. Mostly overclocking stuff, which I admit I'm not really interested in at the moment. I've read that 2000 MHz is pretty unnecessary and might cause system instability?

Can I just slap in the 2000 MHz into this motherboard, and it'll all work fine, or? I'm worried I'll break it :P

 

Hopefully someone can help, I'd appreciate it a lot!

Comments

  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910

    The ram doesn't determine how fast the memory is used, only the upper limit of how fast it can be used. The motherboard will set the speed of memory usage. Usually the overclocked speeds will have to be set manually. What should happen is that the memory should run at the fastest stock speed that the board will support, unless you change it manually through the bios. The only thing to look out for is whether or not the person who had the mobo before you set the bios to run at overclocked speeds. I didn't research whether or not the stuff you have is compatible*.

    Overclocking comes with all kinds of warnings for a reason. You do run the risk of making your stuff unstable and possibly permanently damaging it. I don't think it's nearly as big a deal as it used to be, but it'll still possible to waste a lot of money doing the overclock thing.

    ** ** **

    * If it doesn't work, it won't be the overclock speeds, it'll be something like the ram just not being the right kind for the motherboard. I'm reasonably sure that if the ram fits in the ram slots, then it's compatible.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • AdokasAdokas Member CommonPosts: 217

    The stuff is pretty much new. He got it through work, and they then decided they didn't need it, lol. oO

    Anyway, I've found out that the CPU / Motherboard fits. Same socket and such, and the RAM says DDR3, which is what the motherboard box says... So it should fit, I think.

    But okay, thanks for the answer. Very useful :) I'll give it a go.

    :D

  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,989

    You can't just slap it into the motherboard. You'll have to read from your motherboard's manual which RAM slots to use so that the motherboard will be able to use the RAM in dual-channel mode.

    But that's a good motherboard and good RAM, and they'll work together once installed correctly.

    EDIT: I didn't see your latest post when writing this post /EDIT

     
  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910

    Originally posted by Vrika
    You can't just slap it into the motherboard. You'll have to read from your motherboard's manual which RAM slots to use so that the motherboard will be able to use the RAM in dual-channel mode.But that's a good motherboard and good RAM, and they'll work together once installed correctly.

    I did this with my current setup. I'm not even sure why I put the ram where I put it. I knew the proper setup, and read the directions, but apparently I got distracted by something and just plopped the ram in there. It worked fine, but was running at half the speed it could have been running. I never noticed anything, but once I paid attention to the startup screen messages, I knew it was running half as fast and it really bothered me.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • AdokasAdokas Member CommonPosts: 217
    I found this information for my motherboard: DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz, for what types of RAM it can take. So basically, if I put the 2000 MHz ones I have into this, they'll just run at 1333 MHz? :O
  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910

    Originally posted by Adokas
    I found this information for my motherboard: DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz, for what types of RAM it can take. So basically, if I put the 2000 MHz ones I have into this, they'll just run at 1333 MHz? :O

    Probably. To be honest though, you're not likely to be able to notice the difference between 1300mhz and 2000mhz.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • AdokasAdokas Member CommonPosts: 217

    I'm just going to be gaming and stuff, so it sounds like you're right there. I've read several other places, that you can't really feel any difference anyway, with games.

    All right then, thanks for the answers and advice. Greatly appreciated. :-)

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

    You should be able to just plug stuff in and it will work.  The memory controller in the CPU only supports up to 1066 MHz memory.  Clocking it at 1333 MHz or even 1600 MHz should be safe, but I'd stick to the 1.5 V stock voltage of DDR3 and not go nuts with overclocking the memory controller to 2000 MHz.

    That CPU has three memory channels, which is unusual.  Ideally, you'd want 3 properly matched memory modules, though if you have 16 GB, that's not what you have.  If you have four modules, then using all four will mean you get more memory capacity at the expense of less memory bandwidth.  But either 12 GB without the fourth module or the memory bandwidth that you'd get even with the mismatched channels are a lot, so I'd say that it doesn't really matter whether you use all four modules or not.

  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910

    Originally posted by Quizzical
    You should be able to just plug stuff in and it will work.  The memory controller in the CPU only supports up to 1066 MHz memory.  Clocking it at 1333 MHz or even 1600 MHz should be safe, but I'd stick to the 1.5 V stock voltage of DDR3 and not go nuts with overclocking the memory controller to 2000 MHz.That CPU has three memory channels, which is unusual.  Ideally, you'd want 3 properly matched memory modules, though if you have 16 GB, that's not what you have.  If you have four modules, then using all four will mean you get more memory capacity at the expense of less memory bandwidth.  But either 12 GB without the fourth module or the memory bandwidth that you'd get even with the mismatched channels are a lot, so I'd say that it doesn't really matter whether you use all four modules or not.

    I have learned a new thing today. Thank you!

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • GroovyFlowerGroovyFlower Member Posts: 1,245
    Dual channel only works when there exact same RAM sticks so if you stick for sticks on your board make sure samebrand same values.
  • AdokasAdokas Member CommonPosts: 217
    Originally posted by Quizzical

    You should be able to just plug stuff in and it will work.  The memory controller in the CPU only supports up to 1066 MHz memory.  Clocking it at 1333 MHz or even 1600 MHz should be safe, but I'd stick to the 1.5 V stock voltage of DDR3 and not go nuts with overclocking the memory controller to 2000 MHz.

    That CPU has three memory channels, which is unusual.  Ideally, you'd want 3 properly matched memory modules, though if you have 16 GB, that's not what you have.  If you have four modules, then using all four will mean you get more memory capacity at the expense of less memory bandwidth.  But either 12 GB without the fourth module or the memory bandwidth that you'd get even with the mismatched channels are a lot, so I'd say that it doesn't really matter whether you use all four modules or not.

    That's very informative... Thanks a lot. :) And the RAM, running at 1066 MHz, won't have any effect at all on gaming and such, which is my primary PC usage?

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

    Originally posted by Adokas
    Originally posted by Quizzical You should be able to just plug stuff in and it will work.  The memory controller in the CPU only supports up to 1066 MHz memory.  Clocking it at 1333 MHz or even 1600 MHz should be safe, but I'd stick to the 1.5 V stock voltage of DDR3 and not go nuts with overclocking the memory controller to 2000 MHz. That CPU has three memory channels, which is unusual.  Ideally, you'd want 3 properly matched memory modules, though if you have 16 GB, that's not what you have.  If you have four modules, then using all four will mean you get more memory capacity at the expense of less memory bandwidth.  But either 12 GB without the fourth module or the memory bandwidth that you'd get even with the mismatched channels are a lot, so I'd say that it doesn't really matter whether you use all four modules or not.
    That's very informative... Thanks a lot. :) And the RAM, running at 1066 MHz, won't have any effect at all on gaming and such, which is my primary PC usage?

    It will have a very minor effect - like maybe 2 FPS total. Most games are not very sensitive to RAM speed.

  • AdokasAdokas Member CommonPosts: 217
    Originally posted by Ridelynn

     

    Originally posted by Adokas
    Originally posted by Quizzical You should be able to just plug stuff in and it will work.  The memory controller in the CPU only supports up to 1066 MHz memory.  Clocking it at 1333 MHz or even 1600 MHz should be safe, but I'd stick to the 1.5 V stock voltage of DDR3 and not go nuts with overclocking the memory controller to 2000 MHz. That CPU has three memory channels, which is unusual.  Ideally, you'd want 3 properly matched memory modules, though if you have 16 GB, that's not what you have.  If you have four modules, then using all four will mean you get more memory capacity at the expense of less memory bandwidth.  But either 12 GB without the fourth module or the memory bandwidth that you'd get even with the mismatched channels are a lot, so I'd say that it doesn't really matter whether you use all four modules or not.
    That's very informative... Thanks a lot. :) And the RAM, running at 1066 MHz, won't have any effect at all on gaming and such, which is my primary PC usage?

     

    It will have a very minor effect - like maybe 2 FPS total. Most games are not very sensitive to RAM speed.

    All right, I see. :O I always thought RAM was super important hehe. Thanks a lot for all the answers guys!

  • ScalplessScalpless Member UncommonPosts: 1,426
    Originally posted by Adokas

    I always thought RAM was super important hehe.

    It used to be. Now we've got so much of it and it's so fast it 's not a big deal. My gaming PC had 4Gb for a very long time and could run pretty demanding games on high setting while running Firefox and some other apps in the background.

    Back when 64 Mb of RAM was a lot, the situation was quite different.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499
    Originally posted by Adokas
    Originally posted by Quizzical

    You should be able to just plug stuff in and it will work.  The memory controller in the CPU only supports up to 1066 MHz memory.  Clocking it at 1333 MHz or even 1600 MHz should be safe, but I'd stick to the 1.5 V stock voltage of DDR3 and not go nuts with overclocking the memory controller to 2000 MHz.

    That CPU has three memory channels, which is unusual.  Ideally, you'd want 3 properly matched memory modules, though if you have 16 GB, that's not what you have.  If you have four modules, then using all four will mean you get more memory capacity at the expense of less memory bandwidth.  But either 12 GB without the fourth module or the memory bandwidth that you'd get even with the mismatched channels are a lot, so I'd say that it doesn't really matter whether you use all four modules or not.

    That's very informative... Thanks a lot. :) And the RAM, running at 1066 MHz, won't have any effect at all on gaming and such, which is my primary PC usage?

    What matters is total memory bandwidth, not clock speeds.  Three memory channels at 1066 MHz is the same bandwidth (25.6 GB/s) as two channels at 1600 MHz.  To get the full three channel bandwidth, however, you have to properly match all three memory channels--such as one 4 GB module in each channel.  If you put half of the memory in one channel (e.g., two modules in one channel and one in each of the others), then you may effectively only get two channels worth of bandwidth.

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