Z97X gaming 7, ram questions.

[JonathanWilson]

Ok I have the above mother board with a, I seem to recall, pre-flashed f6 bios.
4790K at stock.
and Crucial 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Ballistix Tactical Memory BLT2CP8G3D1608DT1TX0 (in slot 1 and 2 (black ones) according to the manual, and set to xmp1 profile)

And its all working very nicely :-)

Just prior to buying the above (small windfall) I was buying bits "piece meal" as money allowed so brought, Crucial 16GB DDR3 1600 MHz Ballistix Tactical LP Kit  BLT4C4G3D1608ET3LX0BEU

The currently running memory is 2 lots of 8G, the not being used memory is 4 lots of 4G.

I have tried the 4*4 on the motherboard and it works with no problems.

So I was thinking that I could use 2*4 to increase my memory from 16G to 24G... however if I put the memory in it causes the board to lock up. The graphics display shows a blank screen with a cursor but refuses to go further.

My question is, is such a set up supported and if so is there anything I should set in the bios, or do generally, prior to installing the additional 8GB.... from what I can tell both sets (2*8, 4*4) all have the same timings 8-8-8-24.

I don't have access to the pc today but any help in advance would be much appreciated.

[autotech]

It is never a good idea to mix memory sets. If you want memory even though it is same timings and so on is best to buy it in one kit. Do the kits work separately?  Take out the one kit that works and put in the new kit only does it work?

[JonathanWilson]

Yes both sets do, on their own, work... although to be honest I can't remember if I had set the xmp before or after testing both sets separately.

I guess I might have to try all combinations, in all slots and see what works and what doesn't... eg, 4G-4G-8G-8G, 4G-8G-4G-8G, 4G-8G-4G-0G  (yes 0G just to see if leaving one side of the "pair" allows it to be recognised and boot.

From the manual it says that if you have only 2 sticks then they should be put into slots 1 and 2 (black colour), so I would assume that 3 and 4 (grey colour) should be for the other "pair." What it doesn't state and isn't made clear is if 2 pairs of different amounts and/or timings are valid... eg 2*8+2*4=24G

That said, on my lads PC with a much older motherboard (triple channel) he currently has 3*2=6G and if I put 3 of my 4, 4G in the different coloured slots it registers 18G (6G+12G) in total with no problems at "auto" settings.

[shadowsports]

Jonathan,
The board is dual channel. Slots 1 & 2 are the grey slots.  DIMM1 is grey slot on right.  The manual is not written particularly well here.       

Channel A slot 2 & 4
Channel B slot 1 & 3

Put the 8's in the Grey's and 4's in the Black's.  If the memory is compatible and shares "like" characteristics, you should POST and be able to enter BIOS.  Then investigate XMP profiles.  Two pairs of different timings and amounts (can work) is supported, but the pairs must be installed as a set.  Same capacity, brand, speed in the colored slots.  This will not always work even if installed correctly if timings, voltage requirements and SPD information varies greatly between the sets in each pair.  You do not want to leave one slot unpopulated as this defeats dual channel benefit.  Not even worth testing.  If the 2*4GB matched pair doesn't work with other set, you'll need to find another pair to "mate" with the first 16GB.

[Dalork]

I have this same MB with a i5 4690K, my son now also wants to get the same set-up but he wants to get "cooler" (as in looks and overclocking) ram than I use (G.skill NT).

He will most likely be looking at 16GB (thinks he wants 32 sigh) anyway what I wanted to ask people for him was which is the best memory with overclocking in mind for this mobo/cpu. The catch is he wants to keep the colour scheme red as it's his fav colour and the LED's and heat sink on this MB are red.

So he'd like ram with red heat spreaders and/or red LED's if the memory has them, this will be his first computer build and is paying for it himself so it's something I guess he wants to show-off and feel good about. Any suggestions would be wonderful

[autotech]

I use 4 x 4 gig chips and they are red amd gaming ram. Speed is 2400 and they work nicely.  Unless he is using auto cad or some such like video editing there is no need for 32 gigs unless he wants the brag factor.

[dmdilks]

I have a X99-UD4 and I had 16gbs of memory in it. Been having some problems with BSOD. I done some research and everybody says it is memory. I had one today watching a video on youtube.

I pull the 16gbs out and put in 8gbs of a different brand. You want know something I didn't even see a difference. I have said it all along that anything over 8gbs you really never use it.

Like autotech said it is more bragging rights than anything. I have up to 32gbs on my older X79-UD4 and at this point I'm using 16gbs and again really no change. There is really nothing out there that a normal person will use it on.