Mixing RAM in 64bit Win 7 system.

[Logikos]

I'm adding two things to my main box,.. and they will arrive next week.

1) Intel SSD (should be fun)

2) More RAM. -- This is what prompts the question(s).

I currently have OCZ PC-1600 DDR-3 with 2 x 2GB modules in the system. It is a dual channel setup, so the modules are on slot 1 and 3. The other 2 chips coming next week will go in 2 and 4 to be on the other channel.

Anyhow -- This is the closest I could find in a hurry to something close to what I have:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0317775

In the computer now.

The RAM in this machine is the worst part of it.. and I built this Dec of 2009,.. and it was top of the line at the time.

I heard OCZ was a good company, etc.. and went with their 4GB of PC-1600 DDR3.

Thing is, no matter what I tried (and I tried everything) -- the RAM would NOT run at 1600. I could get it at 1333.. but it wanted to run 1066.

So I bumped the timings WAY down, and ran it at a custom 1157 (or something similar) -- it had the best performance.

Question is:

I bought this ram to add:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144

This is a brand I trust,.. Corsair. Has good reviews, and runs at 1.5volts, so I have no doubt it will hit the specced 1600 numbers it was designed for, unlike the Cheaper OCZ I have.

Here is the dilemma/question:

Would I benefit MORE by putting all 4 chips in.. which would result in 12GB of RAM.

I currently have 4GB and it is not enough. My memory usage is always on the edge,.. (I do alot of graphics editing, photoshop, have 10-20 browser tabs open , with 2 browsers going on 3 monitors,.. and other programs in the background.. ie: Dreamweaver, Flash, etc.

So I use alot of memory.

But, would I get 'better' performance by taking the OCZ out -- and just putting in the new 2 x 4 GB sticks.

Or should I just go ahead and leave them in, and add the new ram, to have 12GB total.

I am running Win 7 x 64Bit so it can handle it (recognize it) --

I just don't want my OCZ to slow down the new ram.. and I have heard people debate (some say yeah, some say no) -- that 12GB or more of RAM will SLOW your system down. That 6-8GB is the max you want in a system regardless of what you do?

Thoughts?

I forget if my specs are on my profile, been a while since I posted -- but the motherboard is a GA-P55-UD4P (Gigabyte) -- running an Intel quad core at 4.11 Ghz per core (OC'ed).



Thanks,

 

[freeagent]

Im running 2 completely different 6gb kits with no problem

I cant say you wont have any problems, but I cant recall ever haveing a problem mixing sticks

Well I did once with some ddr2, but I think 1 of the sticks was damaged anyways..

 

[Logikos]

Im running 2 completely different 6gb kits with no problem

I cant say you wont have any problems, but I cant recall ever haveing a problem mixing sticks

Well I did once with some ddr2, but I think 1 of the sticks was damaged anyways..

So I should mix and run 12GB you think?

What programs would you use, and what method would you do to determine if the 8GB corsair by themselves was best, or using ALL of the RAM (both OCZ and Corsair) ?

Bound to be an easy way to determine performance vs the two.