Upgrading Ram... does it need to be the same as current ram?

Question

Hi

I currently have this ram....

4GB CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3 1066MHz (2x2gb)

I have the ASUS maximus extreme motherboard and am looking to upgrade to 8GB of Ram

would i need to be 2x2gb of exactly the same rame or could i buy any ram i want?

am looking at some 2000mhz bad boys.....

I have childhood memories of ram working in pairs where if you had 2x2mb ram in the first to slots of your 1997 computer you could have 2x 4mb of ram in the second 2 slots, kinda like it was okay to mix and match but only in pairs??? is this stilll the case?

Just looking for the new general rule of thumb when upgrading ram

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

There's no point to buying faster MHz RAM if you are keeping the 1066 in there, your machine will only run the memory bus at the speed of the slowest RAM.  If you want high speed RAM you will have to take out the Corsairs (and you'll pay a ruddy fortune for premium speed DDR3)

You don't necessarily have to match brand, as long the specs match.  You don't have to match size as long as your are installing pairs.

Also remember that 32-bit Windows is limited to 3.0 - 3.5 GB usable RAM. You need a 64 bit OS to address 4 GB and beyond.

{v  spawnk - I don't know a single motherboard that has a limit of 5 GB. It will be 4 GB or 8 GB or 16 GB depending on the board, but not an odd number like 5.  Some older Athlon boards had 3 sockets and topped out at 3, but that's history).

Answer 2

What you need to look up is how much youre proccesor will take and youre motherboured. Most average motherbourd will only take up to about 5.