Like to pick up more DDR3 RAM, should I really just buy the full 16Gb

[motherboard1]

I'd like to bump my old rig from 8gb to 16. It's got some old Kingston Entertainment series 2x4gb sticks of just barely 1600mhz. I'd go on Newegg or Ebay and just grab another 2x4 but I'm not sure the likelyhood of running into issues. Should I just shell out the extra for a 2x8 or something?

It's an FX8350 system and I want enough RAM to run games like SQUAD and BF5 without Windows telling me I need more RAM. I'm not experienced in mixing ram on more modern systems, though I know I did it without issue over a decade ago. What would you recommend doing?

 

[EarthDog]

I wouldnt mix it. Try to find your current sticks or go all new.

 

[trents]

Dittto. RAM is as cheap as I've ever seen it right now.

 

[motherboard1]

Sure but it doubles in price when you buy twice as much lol.

I'll take your advice and pay to avoid the headaches, I think that's where I'm at in my life.

 

[JLK03F150]

If you can't find a 2x4GB Kingston set to match, this 2x8GB 2133 kit looks like a good deal.

 

[Super Nade]

I'd suggest the eBay/used market route. Plenty of cheap DDR3 available, ~$3/Gb.

 

[motherboard1]

If you can't find a 2x4GB Kingston set to match, this 2x8GB 2133 kit looks like a good deal.

It might be a good deal but it's only an FX-8350 system for gaming. The research I've done seems to indicate that anything beyond 1600mhz doesn't really yield anything for gaming on an FX System ( Am I wrong? ). I'm probably gonna find the cheapest 16gb of 1600mhz I can. I've checked ebay and was surprised to find that it's hard to beat Newegg's RAM prices even used, unless I want to buy from China. I'm gonna order something today for sure so I get it sooner. I've had things take excruciatingly long from China. Plus you don't even know if your getting the real thing or a knock off ffs.

 

[JLK03F150]

I thought the sweet spot for FX RAM is 1866 instead of 1600. Here's a CL9 1866 2x8GB kit for $50. Seems a bit sketchy though.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7S65U68086

Personally I'd get the 2133 kit & run it at 1866 CL9. I'm currently running my 1600 about 1750 & the 8320 at 4.5Ghz (actually it's currently down with a leak on the water loop). I'm going to start over on the overclock once I get around to fixing the leak.

 

[motherboard1]

I thought the sweet spot for FX RAM is 1866 instead of 1600. Here's a CL9 1866 2x8GB kit for $50. Seems a bit sketchy though.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7S65U68086

Personally I'd get the 2133 kit & run it at 1866 CL9. I'm currently running my 1600 about 1750 & the 8320 at 4.5Ghz (actually it's currently down with a leak on the water loop). I'm going to start over on the overclock once I get around to fixing the leak.

Do I need to test it with various timings? Or can I just set it to CL9 and go?

That RAM ->

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Do I trust this ?

 

[Blaylock]

I ran my FX rig with 2133Mhz sticks for years without issues. Not sure why you would downclock it.

 

[Woomack]

Not every motherboard works well at 2133. There is also barely any performance gain on FX above 1866. Some 8GB modules won't work at all at 2000+ on FX. I had no problems with 2GB or 4GB modules but 8GB were acting weird on CH5.

I wouldn't mix totally different IC and you never know what you get. It's better to buy a new kit and even better if it's on QVL of your motherboard as not all memory kits were designed for FX. Some brands skipped FX and were designing SPD/XMP only for Intels. There are little differences in single timings but it may cause problems.

 

[motherboard1]

I pushed off making this move. If I thought I could get +10% performance boost in games I'd go ahead with it on that alone but I'm not sure I really have anything to gain. I haven't tested BF5 but I've tested Anthem which I was sure the huge maps would have an effect, but nothing terrible seems to be happening based on 8gb of RAM.

 

[Alaric]

Something I didn't see mentioned is the FX IMC. Filling two slots instead of four will likely allow better clocks/timings than populating all four slots. The IMC on the FX isn't the strongest out there and every little bit helps. At least that's been my experience.

As for which RAM is "best", unless you intend to OC, get the cheapest RAM you can. At identical speeds/timings budget Nanya is as good as top tier G. Skill. RAM is RAM in that respect.

 

[motherboard1]

Something I didn't see mentioned is the FX IMC. Filling two slots instead of four will likely allow better clocks/timings than populating all four slots. The IMC on the FX isn't the strongest out there and every little bit helps. At least that's been my experience.

As for which RAM is "best", unless you intend to OC, get the cheapest RAM you can. At identical speeds/timings budget Nanya is as good as top tier G. Skill. RAM is RAM in that respect.

Funny you should mention that. I've been thinking about overclocking the FX 8350 system as well. But it's an M5A99X evo 2.0 board. I think a long time ago I was told don't bother going for more than 4.4 on that. Seems whatever my board is doing I'm getting 4.3 permanent boost or something out of it anyway. HWMonitor always shows my cores running 4.3 under under load. I don't know why I've never OCed it and I'm pretty sure the stock clock is supposed to be 4.0 + .2 for boost.

And totally at random. What is this ?

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Thermalr...gulator+Heatsink+Rear+Case+Fan&ref=nb_sb_noss

Thermalright TR-VRM-R2 VGA Voltage Regulator Heatsink Rear Case Fan

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Edit : Never mind, it's for a graphics card.