Beginner Computer Specs RAM options?

russellsnr

russellsnr

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Russell
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Hi, At last I have a new/used computer on the way and the specs are

Intel Core i5 3470S Quad Core
8GB DDR 3 Kingston Ram
Motherboard Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI
Asus GTX 970 4GB
120GB SSD
500GB HDD
DVD/RW
Bitfenix Prodigy ITX Case
As can be seen it only has 8GB ram and only two slots on the MOBO

I no how to fit RAM but want to upgrade it to either 2X8GB or 1X16GB stick/s but to be honest not sure what kind of RAM the board will take, I beleive DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz ECC Unbuffered Memory RAM DIMM but would apreciate some guidance on make and not to expensive please. Thankyou, Russ.
 
Ddr3 1600 is the maximum ram speed your motherboard supports without overclocking.

Personally I would drop in 2x8gb sticks at that speed and assuming you are operating system is 64 bit.
In the support documentation for that board you can download a list of supported memory modules if you want to be doubly safe.

After that it's shopping time!
 
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Try searching "GA-Z77N-WIFI memory support list" - this should get you to:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z77N-WIFI-rev-10#support-doc

From here you can download a PDF doc listing the memory modules that board supports. Like stupar, I assume you are running a 64-bit operating system. A 32-bit operating system can only access 4GB of memory so even the 8GB you have got at present would be mostly wasted!
 
DDR3 DUAL CHANNEL 2 X 8 GB 1600 MHz or 1333 MHz ( matched pair ). Then you need to fit them in the correct slots on the mobo as instructed by the mobo manual diagram.

Dual channel 2 x 8 is better than single 16 gb.

I believe that is correct anyway.
 
GTG said:
DDR3 DUAL CHANNEL 2 X 8 GB 1600 MHz or 1333 MHz ( matched pair ). Then you need to fit them in the correct slots on the mobo as instructed by the mobo manual diagram.

Dual channel 2 x 8 is better than single 16 gb.

I believe that is correct anyway.
Click to expand...

That board only has 2 slots so it would be difficult to get a matched pair in the wrong slots to begin with. :D
 
Thankyou for the replies, as I say in the OP it is on the way, It is Win 10 64 bit but again as far as I can see only has two mem slots on the board.
Thanks again, Russ
 
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GTG said:
Sorry I did not realise it was a budget motherboard
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It's not so much that it's a budget board but more that it's a mini ITX board so space is by nature somewhat restricted.
 
I assume you are buying used as it looks like someone is updating their gaming rig as its a little dated now.
You should be able to take it to 16GB max.
It will run any photography stuff no problem as it is so i wouldn't rush out and spend more money on it until you see how it performs.
 
Bigfungun said:
I assume you are buying used as it looks like someone is updating their gaming rig as its a little dated now.
You should be able to take it to 16GB max.
It will run any photography stuff no problem as it is so i wouldn't rush out and spend more money on it until you see how it performs.
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Hi, Yes is a used gaming computer but compared to mine now this is a racing snake, reason for 16GB RAM is that I want to use On1's Photo RAW 2018 and there site states specs as
Syst Req.JPG
 
Given that you will exceed their minimum RAM requirements, and that your system is using an SSD then I would be tempted to see how it fares first before upgrading the RAM. You might find that the performance is good enough as it is.

I recently upgraded the RAM on my desktop from 8GB to 16GB and I didn’t notice much of a difference. Then a week later I put in an SSD and it absolutely flies now in comparison.
 
I would also run it and see how it performs.
I seem to recall using On1's PhotoRaw before and i found it very sluggish and my specs are way over what it requires.
Sometimes sloppy coding will bottleneck even the best computers.
 
Bigfungun said:
I would also run it and see how it performs.
I seem to recall using On1's PhotoRaw before and i found it very sluggish and my specs are way over what it requires.
Sometimes sloppy coding will bottleneck even the best computers.
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Hi, Yes think I will see what happens as is. My setup now is a GA-770TA-UD3 board and a AMD Phenom II x4 955 with 16GB RAM and has no chance or seems to have no chance of running On1 RAW 2018 but the above setupI hope will put that to shame, Thankyou, Russ.
 
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