RAM question

[jnelsoninjax]

I currently have 32GB installed (2x16) and I want to add an additional 32 GB. The issue I am running into is finding the RAM I currently have installed so I can match with it, it appears that GSkill no longer makes the exact module that I have, and I am having a hard time finding compatible ram.

I would like help in finding the correct RAM to add into my system, if anyone can help me out?

[+Warwagon MVC]

Is that a laptop or desktop? Which motherboard is it?

[jnelsoninjax]

  On 14/08/2021 at 20:03, warwagon said:

Is that a laptop or desktop? Which motherboard is it?

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Desktop. Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi) AMD Ryzen 7 2700X

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I assume you have 4 slots. Did you try looking on eBay?

[Sikh]

If you cant find the exact model you own, you are better off getting 2 x 32gb sticks or 4 x 16gb sticks of completely new RAM.

This is one reason I always recommend people to "not save it for later" because RAM Modules get discontinued all the time and you end up in this situation.

I dont trust ebay especially for computer parts but that is another option if you are deadset on getting the same RAM. I think it'll be cheaper to get completely new RAM then dealing with ebay but thats just me

[Tantawi]

Try to post the exact same model you have (it is usually on a sticker on the RAM module), so we can look up the actual RAM chips manufacturer. 

I was in your exact same situation a year ago. What you want to do is to find the same chips manufacturer (Samsung, Micron, SK hynix, etc), and buy a similar 2x16GB kit even if from another brand, 99% chance it will work just fine. I have mixed 4x16GB RAM chips, all from Micron (E-die), and I am even overclocking them to a decent level with 24/7 stability for my main workstation.

The easier way is to follow @Sikhadvice above, but with DDR5 being introduced soon, I don't think investing in a brand new 64 GB DDR4 kit is worth it at this point.

[theefool]

This is close the same part number:  F4-2933C14D-32GTZRX

http://www.gskill.com/product/165/167/1536716754/F4-2933C14D-32GTZRX

 

https://www.amazon.com/G-SKILL-Trident-Channel-2933MHz-PC4-23400/dp/B07791HYTC

[Jim K Global Moderator]

I do not think it would be worth it ... unless you are absolutely doing something on the computer that is very memory extensive.

 

But...

 

It is of my opinion that your best two options are these ...

 

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232376

 

or

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VRMFDQ

 

Same memory timings of CL14-14-14-34 ... they'll just run at the slower speeds.

 

...still think it is a waste of money.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Maybe Ryzen is picky, but I mix and match the ###### out of ram. Never given me an issue. If I gamed ya, i'd probably be ###### on some frame rates, but for what I do it's fine.

[adrynalyne]

  On 14/08/2021 at 23:50, warwagon said:

Maybe Ryzen is picky, but I mix and match the ###### out of ram. Never given me an issue. If I gamed ya, i'd probably be ###### on some frame rates, but for what I do it's fine.

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It’s not even a maybe. It *is* picky. 

[jnelsoninjax]

  On 14/08/2021 at 21:59, Mindovermaster said:

I assume you have 4 slots. Did you try looking on eBay?

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Yes 4 slots, no to ebay

  On 14/08/2021 at 22:45, Sikh said:

If you cant find the exact model you own, you are better off getting 2 x 32gb sticks or 4 x 16gb sticks of completely new RAM.

This is one reason I always recommend people to "not save it for later" because RAM Modules get discontinued all the time and you end up in this situation.

I dont trust ebay especially for computer parts but that is another option if you are deadset on getting the same RAM. I think it'll be cheaper to get completely new RAM then dealing with ebay but thats just me

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My only concern is compatibility, and since I have Gskill already, it seems reasonable to stay that way.

  On 14/08/2021 at 23:22, Tantawi said:

Try to post the exact same model you have (it is usually on a sticker on the RAM module), so we can look up the actual RAM chips manufacturer. 

I was in your exact same situation a year ago. What you want to do is to find the same chips manufacturer (Samsung, Micron, SK hynix, etc), and buy a similar 2x16GB kit even if from another brand, 99% chance it will work just fine. I have mixed 4x16GB RAM chips, all from Micron (E-die), and I am even overclocking them to a decent level with 24/7 stability for my main workstation.

The easier way is to follow @Sikhadvice above, but with DDR5 being introduced soon, I don't think investing in a brand new 64 GB DDR4 kit is worth it at this point.

Expand  

Except my motherboard will not handle DDR5.

  On 14/08/2021 at 23:44, Jim K said:

I do not think it would be worth it ... unless you are absolutely doing something on the computer that is very memory extensive.

 

But...

 

It is of my opinion that your best two options are these ...

 

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232376

 

or

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VRMFDQ

 

Same memory timings of CL14-14-14-34 ... they'll just run at the slower speeds.

 

...still think it is a waste of money.

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Why do you say it's a waste of money? At idle right now, I am averaging 40-60% memory load, and I am often finding that the system is very slow to respond and will discover the memory load peaking close to 100%.

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

what do you need to do?   sorry i am not here to give helpful advice, but I am geininely curious why the hell you need more thrn 32GB ram????

 

i have a powerful gaming PC and i only have 16Gb ram.  never felt the need for more.

 

what am i missing??  what tasks need more then 32gb????

 

thanks!

[adrynalyne]

  On 15/08/2021 at 00:41, jnelsoninjax said:

Yes 4 slots, no to ebay

My only concern is compatibility, and since I have Gskill already, it seems reasonable to stay that way.

Except my motherboard will not handle DDR5.

Why do you say it's a waste of money? At idle right now, I am averaging 40-60% memory load, and I am often finding that the system is very slow to respond and will discover the memory load peaking close to 100%.

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What are you doing to max 32GB?

  On 15/08/2021 at 01:52, E.Worm Jimmy said:

what do you need to do?   sorry i am not here to give helpful advice, but I am geininely curious why the hell you need more thrn 32GB ram????

 

i have a powerful gaming PC and i only have 16Gb ram.  never felt the need for more.

 

what am i missing??  what tasks need more then 32gb????

 

thanks!

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VMs and IDEs baby. Well for me anyway. 

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

  On 15/08/2021 at 01:53, adrynalyne said:

What are you doing to max 32GB?

VMs and IDEs baby. Well for me anyway. 

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more then 32GB?     well,  considering i am out of the computer science related work for more then 15 years, and because I don't know anything about IDEs  - i have to take your word for it!

 

but, i have a lingering suspicion - that @Jim K is correct and it is a waste of money.... but i admit - i can be wrong.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I have 32GB, and I'm using about half of it rn.

 

With the new Ryzen 5000 series, I might go up to 64GB.

[Sikh]

  On 14/08/2021 at 23:22, Tantawi said:

Try to post the exact same model you have (it is usually on a sticker on the RAM module), so we can look up the actual RAM chips manufacturer. 

I was in your exact same situation a year ago. What you want to do is to find the same chips manufacturer (Samsung, Micron, SK hynix, etc), and buy a similar 2x16GB kit even if from another brand, 99% chance it will work just fine. I have mixed 4x16GB RAM chips, all from Micron (E-die), and I am even overclocking them to a decent level with 24/7 stability for my main workstation.

The easier way is to follow @Sikhadvice above, but with DDR5 being introduced soon, I don't think investing in a brand new 64 GB DDR4 kit is worth it at this point.

Expand  

But DDR5 has nothing to do with his situation cause a) he most likely wont be building a new computer in the next few years given that he's upgrading his RAM and b) DDR5 will also lower the DDR4 prices so there's a benefit of buying a new kit. 

[Sikh]

  On 15/08/2021 at 00:41, jnelsoninjax said:

Yes 4 slots, no to ebay

My only concern is compatibility, and since I have Gskill already, it seems reasonable to stay that way.

Except my motherboard will not handle DDR5.

Why do you say it's a waste of money? At idle right now, I am averaging 40-60% memory load, and I am often finding that the system is very slow to respond and will discover the memory load peaking close to 100%.

Expand  

There would be no compatibility issues if you got a completely new kit... that was my point. Since you can't find the current memory you have, your best option is to check the QVL list for your mobo and get RAM on that list that you can find in stock and get the proper amount of it so you dont run into this issue again

[ThaCrip]

  On 15/08/2021 at 00:41, jnelsoninjax said:

Why do you say it's a waste of money? At idle right now, I am averaging 40-60% memory load, and I am often finding that the system is very slow to respond and will discover the memory load peaking close to 100%.

Expand  

 

Yeah, I think for most people 16GB is the sweet-spot (although I am sure many can get by with only 8GB (maybe as low as 4GB for some people)), maybe 32GB on the high end. 64GB is likely overkill unless your doing REALLY RAM intensive tasks.

 

with that said, if you don't mind me asking... what do you got running that uses that much RAM?

 

because I usually don't use more than around half of my RAM (I got 16GB) (at the moment I got about 6GB of RAM in use, but I have seen it get around 8GB a good portion of the time, but I have seen it occasionally at 10GB) and I leave my browser (Firefox) running for days/weeks at a time with many tabs open which is generally what eats up my RAM and that's noticeably better than Chrome the last I knew.

Edited August 15, 2021 by ThaCrip

[Sikh]

  On 14/08/2021 at 23:50, warwagon said:

Maybe Ryzen is picky, but I mix and match the ###### out of ram. Never given me an issue. If I gamed ya, i'd probably be ###### on some frame rates, but for what I do it's fine.

Expand  

Ryzen is picky but also matching RAM has never been a good idea. You can break dual channel mode, you can have lots of weird issues that can't be explain, etc.

It might work for your use case but you probably arent pushing your RAM to its limits and running into issues have multiple different chips trying to work together.

[adrynalyne]

  On 15/08/2021 at 02:00, E.Worm Jimmy said:

more then 32GB?     well,  considering i am out of the computer science related work for more then 15 years, and because I don't know anything about IDEs  - i have to take your word for it!

 

but, i have a lingering suspicion - that @Jim K is correct and it is a waste of money.... but i admit - i can be wrong.

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I run multiple VMs and IDEs at the same time, so yes (I actually have 128GB). Fun fact, WSL2 and Docker will use as much RAM as you allow it. I had to set limitations because when I was compiling Android, the RAM usage would grow over 95GB. Apparently there is a memory leak there. 

[theefool]

Heh, my current threadripper 3970x is running 256 GB ram.  Though, yeah, running vmware vcenter with multiple VMs.  SQL loves ram and you have tell it no, err configure what to give it.  Also, exchange loves ram.

[theefool]

Back on topic, what application is consuming your ram, jnelsoninjax?  What is task manager saying?  Resource manager?

[jnelsoninjax]

  On 15/08/2021 at 04:01, theefool said:

Back on topic, what application is consuming your ram, jnelsoninjax?  What is task manager saying?  Resource manager?

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A good portion is the program that monitors my security cameras, because it uses the web to interface, so I am using Brave just to monitor the camera's. Right now, Agent (the monitoring program) is using 1.1 GB of memory,

[+BudMan MVC]

So?  Are you having issues with stuff swapping out.. Doesn't matter if all your ram is listed as being used.. Ram unused is wasted ram

 

Unless your system is in a state where it is having to swap out memory to disk - you have enough ram..

 

 

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

  On 15/08/2021 at 11:59, BudMan said:

So?  Are you having issues with stuff swapping out.. Doesn't matter if all your ram is listed as being used.. Ram unused is wasted ram

 

Unless your system is in a state where it is having to swap out memory to disk - you have enough ram..

 

 

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For his case - sure ! It will be a waste of money to upgrade - I might be out of date but i am still a computer scientist. LOL. Running multiple VMs or databases in parallel- yeah I can see this needs more ram... But running cameras - not.