2x4gb and 2x2gb In Same System? For 12gb Total?

Hello everyone, I would like to know your thoughts on this subject as I know a little but would appreciate more clarity on this subject.

I just ordered 8gb of this RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416. It's CAS 9 at 1.5v.

I previously replaced this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193 with my current Mushkin Ridgeback's because they had a weird Motherboard issue where you had to save and exit the BIOS for them to work (don't ask why) so I gave them to my parents, but their board was MSI and they are having that same issue, don't really know if they are screwed up or if they just don't like MSI boards. My current RAM works flawlessly but my Parents are pissed at the RAM so I'm buying this 8gb kit so they can receive my Ridgebacks. Sorry for the story

Long story short, I'm getting a new 8gb RAM kit and will definitely use it in my system, duh. But the question is, should I install the 4gb kit so I can have 12gb? I can run the RAM at the exact speeds and timings, I'm just concerned whether mixing 2gb and 4gb RAM modules is a good idea. I'm fine with 8gb, but I don't want to waste the $100 I originally spent on that 4gb kit. 8gb is enough but 12gb would be icing on the cake. Don't worry about the compatibility issue I had with that kit before, it worked just on annoying circumstances, and if I do get that issue, then I will take them out for good. Just want some opinions on what I should do with the extra RAM.

They should work together since they're rated at the same voltage/speed/timings. Just install them together and make a few passes of Memtest to see how it goes. However, I would probably sell the 4GB to make up some cost of the 8GB kit since 8GB should be plenty for anything you'll be doing.

sell it on e-bay there are tons of people who would love to have it.

i just wouldnt mix, but i certannly would test all 12 before i pulled them, mabey spend an hour or so tweaking the whole rack , before i gave up (if i had to).

from some of the fun mems i have had, i would be less wanting to mix brand types ,and different styles from the same brand. and i would not worry so much about quantity on the module. it is the controller (so to speak) and timings and how that works with the slots.

and the obvious, you could have as many oddites filling all the slots, and gettitng it to work, with all the exact same modules (like slew).

so myself I do not see the quantity configuration itself, being a or The problem.
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I don't really want to go through the hassle of selling it for what $30. This memory has given me and my Dad's MSI P55 board problems so I wouldn't want to sell it to someone and get them screwed. It might work fine on other brands but I don't really know. The memory works perfect, but every 8 hours to a day, you have to go into the BIOS and change a little setting, say QPI multi to get the system to restart when exiting. When it restarts then the RAM works flawlessly other wise it will BSOD in Windows continuously. Don't know why. I've had that issue ever since I bought it in April 2010. I'm hoping this G. Skill RAM won't screw me like the other one did.

If I can get 12gb then I'll be real happy. Do I need even 8gb? Probably not but why not if I have it right. If you guys are willing to buy it for around $30 then PM me Other wise I'd really like to see how this setup unfolds. Do you think combining the RAM will stop the problem I was having with the BSOD?

wait a minute, this is the stuff that you had problems with . and you try to pawn it off on your parents, then us
i thought there was a 3rd set, whats a ridgeback.

i wouldnt touch it with a 10 foot pole, if it caused me problems before.
that is what e-bay is for

just do a 100% full disclosure of all problems, dont even say ASIS, and someone out there will have a use for it, even if it is to remove the chips to make themselves a SSDRAM disk or some project.
or some person will know exactally what is going on, and want that, because of some other thing it has going for it.
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My parents were upgrading so I kind of gave them my "crap" lol. I gave them a lapped i7 860 , Prolimatech Megahalems, the devil memory and a Cooler Master Stacker that my Dad bought, but then I stole because I was making my rig. In exchange I got a HAF-X, Mushkin Ridgeback, Core i7 875k and a NH-D14. It will seem like a rip off but I did sell them my parts for cheap except the case which was his anyways and I paid extra for the parts I got but I hassled them only a wee bit. I did build their system I thought the RAM only hated my Motherboard because it does work, you just need to jump through a couple of hoops to get it to work so I gave it to my Dad hoping it wouldn't screw up, but it did.

In my family we have 3 PC savvy people, me being the ultimate PC enthusiast. So there is a trickle down effect with my family. I get the latest and greatest because I'm the only one willing to pay for it. Then when my parents or brother needs an upgrade I'll sell them mine cheaper and I'll spend the extra to get the best. I love it. My Brother has a crappy P35 dual core system with a 450 watt PSU. When LGA 2011 comes up, I am going to sell my Mobo, CPU and PSU to get better. It's kind of evil but I need the best

I'm actually trying to get an RMA request form. Do you need proof of purchase to get it RMA'd? I bought it off Newegg with parent's credit card more than a year ago. I don't have the invoice form anymore. They might in e-mail but I wouldn't raise my hopes. It's not like I stole the RAM. Anyone have experience and tips with G. Skill RMA'ing?

yes that is what we do here too, , trickle down, buy one part, and have to update 3 computers

I also would have thought it would work different on another board. One time here, i just bought cheap junk for a cheap computer, it didnt work on the cheap one, but worked Great on mine. then put mine in the other, and it worked even better there then it did on mine. better ram testing speed Hey!.

newegg knows what you bought, if you go to the account, is it still in there? with a rma button ?

Newegg will only RMA within 30 days of purchase. I've had it for over a year so I have to RMA with G. Skill. My parents didn't order with a Newegg account so the only hope I have would be if the invoice was in their e-mails.

They bought it off newegg without an acct? I thought you had to make an account to order? I still have printable invoices on newegg from 2005, so if they have a login it should be there.

Well the RAM came and it all works... for now. I ran prime 95 for an hour and it worked without crashing (I know an hour is not a lot). Windows reports all 12gb. All the RAM is syncd to run at the same speeds and latencies. I'm more concerned when I wake up tomorrow because that is when the 4gb kit was giving me problems. I don't know if I'm the only P55 guy out there with 12gb of RAM Do I need 12gb? No. But that's some bragging rights and it's future proof.

With 4 slots populated if you are still having errors, you should raise Vtt a bit. that puts some stress on the IMC.

This is how you shoould brag... "Hey look everyone, I have $XX less in my account because I bought 12GB of ram!" Just having fun BT.

Im glad, so far, it has finally worked out for you!

The errors were occuring with my 2x2gb RAM kit long ago. Hopefully it won't start up. I didn't raise the VTT because I had it already high. About the bragging, I only spent $60 for the 8gb kit so I got plenty of money left over for more unnecessary spending

Question that probably can't be answered: Do you think this setup would be quad channel ready for X79? That I would imagine might be a problem and that it would default to dual channel.

4 of the same sticks... sure. Depending on voltage requirements of course.

EarthDog said:

4 of the same sticks... sure. Depending on voltage requirements of course.

Click to expand...

They are same voltage and speed, but the size is different. I wouldn't think that it would work with 2gb and 4gb sticks in the same system.

Ahh yes, different capacity... maybe...

Best to start over from scratch.

Pull out 2 sticks. Trust me, 2 sticks is all you want on 1156. I spent a year figuring that out. 3 sets of RAM, 2 processors, 2 boards, and 4 video cards later.

Here's what I think is the reasoning:

Whatever is between the PCIEC and the IMC and the CPU (QPI?) can't handle 4 sticks and 16 lanes of traffic on 2 ports. So, if you have an inkling to go SLI, just pull those out. 4 sticks is also really really hard on your chip. So, IME, 2 sticks or 1. Never 4.

I have no idea what you are talking about. Putting 4 sticks solved the problem I was having with only 2.

BigTerminator said:

I have no idea what you are talking about. Putting 4 sticks solved the problem I was having with only 2.

Click to expand...

That's strange, but all I know is socket 1156, if you use more than 1 pci-e 8x slot and 4 sticks of RAM, you'll get frequent driver crashes. I am not sure what exactly is actually happening in the background, but my nvidia driver would fail constantly. RAM, CPU, gpu, every thing would pass any and all test with flying colors.


Open up a flash video or league of legends, or any number of even minorly stressful games and bam, failure.

I really think that's your issue lol. My board supports 3 graphics cards. I have used 2 before for a day and it was fine.

BigTerminator said:

I really think that's your issue lol. My board supports 3 graphics cards. I have used 2 before for a day and it was fine.

Click to expand...

Nope, not a me issue. I tried it on 2 different setups essentially. But oh well, do me a favor and forget about this. Since you decided to be rude about it when you DO have issues I hope you struggle with it because it's a very rare issue that I can reproduce with brand new out of the box parts.

So not my issue, intel's issue.



I love how people do that "It's just you lol" just because they haven't been there. Trust me, 4 sticks of RAM + 2 GPU's is asking for trouble. The symptom is the nvidia driver crashing all the damned time. it'll start happening with flash videos, league of legends, hell even win tabbing can do it. Anything that causes the gpu to start working.. But yeah, have fun.