Ram: Can I add 2x2GB's with my existing 2x1GB sticks. (same type/brand/speed)?

Question

My Motherboard:
ASUS Crosshair ATX AM2 Nforce 590 SLI DDR2 2PCI-E16 PCI-E4 3PCI SATA2 GBLAN 1394 Sound Motherboard

My ram (so far):
OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-5-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit

I want to know If I can also add 2-2GB ram sticks, while also having the 2-1GB sticks, or will this somehow negativly affect my computer performance. Not sure if I can mix 2GB and 1GB ram sticks. I do have 4 slots (2 free) on my MB.

My Future ram?:
OCZ Platinum XTC PC2-6400 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5-4-4-15 DDR2 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit

thanks.

Answer 1

Sure if you have open slots just add them if not, then replace the older slower ones with the newer faster ones and sell the old ones on ebay or someplace. Just make sure they are all DDR types, You can add unlimited RAM as long as you have open slots to cover it.

Answer 2

A couple of the earlier answers hit the high points. You're limited by available slots, and the OS.

You've got the open slots, so that's cool, but the latency difference will impose the lower limit on both sets. I'm not certain what over-clocking the RAM permits...you might actually get more performance out of the new RAM alone [over-clocked] than with both.

Windows support varies by OS and edition [link below]. The page doesn't specify requiring 64bit, but on release, 64XP professional specifically stated it could utilize more ram than XP [this is at odds with the MS link which just says "Professional", so I'm not sure].

Answer 3

that ought to count on, the form of ram..the linked fee, climate you mom board can take 6GB of ram, the OS ( if its 32 bit you wont see better than 3.25GB) on the excellent board you're able to be waiting to do it yet you will lose the "twin channel effect" while utilizing numerous ram, and the linked fee will "default" to the decrease velocity ram. seems such as you have a "production facility" gadget because of the fact it purely had 2GB (2x1GB) which places you at a disadvantage...maximum production facility boards do no longer use the max velocity ram they must be able to nor do they many times enable for better than 4GB interior the incredibly some greater fee-effective fashions. hopefully you purchased domicile windows 7 64bit so for you to use better than 4GB of ram. That leaves you with sorting out IF the mummy board can take better than 4GB. Its constantly greater advantageous in case you utilize all the comparable ram...form, velocity, timing, and often the comparable kind.

Answer 4

First response, yes.

Since your new choice of memory is slower, your overall memory will default to the slow cas speed of the new memory.

The 4gb set should be installed on the first memory bank.

Lastly, be cautious with this OCZ memory. I worked for years dealing with all sorts of memory, and OCZ has been one of the poorest in reliability. There is a reason it is much cheaper than Corsair or Patriot or Kingston, etc...

Good luck to ya...

Answer 5

Hopefully, you received a manual for your motherboard when you bought your computer. The manual will tell you specifically what memory modules your motherboard will support. If you do not have the manual, you can visit your motherboard's Web site, search for your board and then hopefully be able to download a PDF file containing the manual.

Answer 6

It should be fine if they are the same type. However your pc may not use that much ram, if so it will be wasted. My pc has 3GB ram, but my meter shows that most of the time, it uses only 28% of my ram, or about 1GB.

Answer 7

If they are the same speed then it shouldn't be an issue and also make sure that your OS can even recognise that much RAM. I beleive XP only sees 4Gigs. Not sure what the threshold on vista is.

Answer 8

check the documenation that came with your motherboard, contact the manufactuer or check out their website for all specs. and compatible options. Also make sure your bios is updated to handle the new RAM for your upgrade to work.

Answer 9

I wouldn't mix and match speeds. Also, if you don't have a 64-bit OS, it will not recognize any memory above 2GB.

Regards,

Brandon