DDR4 RAM question

[Amicus717]

Hi folks,

A question for our more tech savvy folks: I have 16gb of RAM in my PC at the moment, and I'm aiming to double that to 32gb. My current build is:

Gigabyte X99 mobo with Intel Core i7-5820K Haswell-E CPU, and the RAM is a pair of 8gb Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 2666 DIMMs.

System is utterly rock stable, but I think more memory would be beneficial. I can get another set of Dominator DIMMs, and they are premium components, but they are also really pricey and have to be ordered in -- no local retailer stocks them as a regular item. I don't mind doing that, and I will do so if needed. However, Corsair also has their Vengeance line of RAM, which also seems like a very good product and is both less expensive and much more readily available. It is apparently a tier down from the Dominator series, but all reviews I could find suggest it is first rate. 

Does anyone have any experience with it? Or with other brands of RAM that might also work well? Am I really going to notice any difference in performance or stability adding two Vengeance DIMMs into my setup? I'm not really tied to one brand, although I've had a lot of success with Corsair memory products and usually gravitate to them first. 

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Rob

 

[craigb]

Although it just might work (most of the time!), I would HIGHLY suggest having all of the memory match exactly.  This may save you from that one time in the future when things are just going wonky and you can't figure out why. 🙂

[synkrotron]

Hi Rob,

I ain't no expert, so take what I say with a pinch of salt.

I have 32GB (2 x 16)  Vengence LPX memory sticks inside my new desktop. Motherboard is an Z390. As for performance and reliability, I have no idea as I haven't looked into that or done any stress testing. My system appears to be working okay.

I've just been looking at the Corsair memory page and you can set filters to match what you need.

When I choose X99, speed between 2133 to 2800 and then capacity of 16GB (2 x 8 ) then the Dominator series disappears from the filter selection. So perhaps Corsair do not make them anymore and they (or whoever) are just clearing old stock.

But then I reset the filters and selected X99, speed between 2133 to 2800 and a capacity of 32GB there are two Dominator options, one at 2400 and one at 2666, and they are made up of 4 x 8GB sticks, so that blows that theory out of the water.

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Memory/DOMINATOR®-PLATINUM-32GB-(4-x-8GB)-DDR4-DRAM-2666MHz-C15-Memory-Kit/p/CMD32GX4M4A2666C15

I then did a google search on "dominator platinum 16gb 2600" and nothing came up, only higher speeds, or different size configurations.

Did you find someone who would actually supply 2 x 8 sticks?

Then I went onto the Vengeance LPX. The Pro version is RGB so I'm guessing you don't need that.

Setting the filters to X99, speed between 2133 to 2800 and then capacity of 16GB (2 x 8 ) and finally selecting the Vengeance LPX it shows a couple of options although some of those options are just a different colour.

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Memory/VENGEANCE®-LPX-32GB-(4-x-8GB)-DDR4-DRAM-2666MHz-C16-Memory-Kit---White/p/CMK32GX4M4A2666C16W

 

One thing I notice, stick size is always 8GB. Is that a limitation of your motherboard?

1 hour ago, craigb said:

I would HIGHLY suggest having all of the memory match exactly

I agree with Craig's suggestion regarding matching the memory sticks, so, if it was my, and my system was stable, I would leave everything alone for now and wait until I really needed a big step change, new motherboard, CPU, the works.

Or, if I really thought that the extra 16GB could make reasonable improvements and I could not match the existing memory I would replace the the lot and install 4 new memory sticks, that match.

 

cheers

andy

[msmcleod]

I use Crucial for my memory, almost exclusively now.  I've been using them for almost a decade in one system, and since swapped to using them in another after having a bad experience with another brand (I forget what it was). I've never had any issues since using them.

The website is really good too, as they'll tell you exactly what products will work on your system / motherboard.

https://www.crucial.com/

I also use their SSD's. I've had two SSD drives from SanDisk which died, but the Crucials have been running without issue for years.

[abacab]

Always match all memory sticks. 

[Øyvind Skald]

An x99 card has 4 memory lanes, using 4 sticks  will be besst. Using less isnt wrecking anything, but you dont use the full potential of  the X99 chipsett.