Memory Speed

[Sharoth]

I will be upgrading my computer's memory when the tax return comes in. I have 2 x 4 GB DDR3 memory sticks in there already and there are two more slots available. I can go up to 32 GB. I wanted to keep the 8 GB that is already in there for right now and add another 16 GB. How do I find out the speed of the current internal memory modules and would it impact performance if the memory speeds differ?

Thanks in advance.

[DungeonmasterCal]

You might try going here. You have to download an .exe file but it's harmless. Several of my professional tech friends use it.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/systemscanner

[Krensky]

Do you have a brand name machine or a white box?

If it's a brand name, look it up on Crucial or the manufacturer's site. For a white box you'll need to know the motherboard and get a hold of it's manual since you need to know the speed, architecture, timings, latency, and interleaving it supports.

Also, be aware that leaving unmatched pairs of ram in place can slow your memory system down.

[Sharoth]

Sweet!!! Thanks DungeonmastCal. That did the trick.

My computer is a "Cyberpower" PC. Not a name brand, but one that somneone took a case and added all the components. It has nice motherboard and a 600 watt power supply. But I will be upgrading the memory and some other parts when the funds arrive. Thanks for the advice Krensky. I appreciate you and DM Cal helping me out.

[Krensky]

So you'll want to find out the model of the motherboard (Belarc or Speccy should help with that) and then look it up to get the manual or some other reliable source. Crucial used to have a tool to scan your system and tell you what you can use and such.

Once you know what type of ram (PCwhatever) it's time to go shopping. Remember that lower CAS or Chace latency numbers are faster, but not always better.

Even if your not planning on over clocking (you should not be) look for enthusiast targeted skus with heatsinks, they're higher quality parts and the price difference should not be too extreme.

Of course all this goes out the window if you discover you need ECC memory, in which case you'll need to sell your car for the cheapest, used stuff.