Common RAM Mistakes You Didn't Know You Were Making!

RAM seems simple, but it's also really easy to make some mistakes that can negatively impact performance.
One obvious one is buying the wrong RAM for your motherboard (I've covered that before here • Do not make this stupi... ).
But there are other potential problems too.
You should:
- Install RAM two sticks at a time, starting with slot A2 and then B2
- Avoid mixing and matching memory size (8GB, 16GB, 32GB) sticks if you add more RAM and watch out for speeds and timings too
- Think about XMP settings
- Check your BIOS settings to make sure all sticks are recognised and running
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In this video, we're going to discuss some of the most common mistakes people make when installing RAM or upgrading their PC. We'll cover everything from installing the RAM to correcting problems with gaming performance.
If you're looking for help with PC RAM problems or installation, then this is the video for you! We'll walk you through all the steps necessary to get your PC running smoothly, and alleviate any RAM issues you may be experiencing. Thanks for watching!
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[@KeinNiemand]

Mixing ram CAN work as long as you have the same amount of ram in each channel and run the RAM at either at the lowest speed of all your sticks or just stock speed without any XMP (going to 4 sticks often means your maximum speed is a lot lower). Back in the day I had a system with 3x2GB + 3x4GB DDR3 (it was a first gen i7) and it gave me 18GB total just fine. The problem is that nothing is guaranteed to work if you mix RAM it probably depends on the exact combination of RAM, CPU and motherbord you try this with, but more often then not it works fine as long as you go down to stock non XMP speed and and have the same amount of ram in each channel (even mixing diffrent amounts can work sometimes, it just means that part of your ram will be a lot slower which will cause performance issues). Also even you you buy ram from the same manufactures, with the same speed and even the same model number, the actual phsical ram chips on the ram can be from completely different manufacturers.

[@KingDarkOne1996]

Is there anyway of xmp if your motherboard doesn’t support it. Or am I basically stuck having to buy a different motherboard. I’m using an hp motherboard at the moment for it’s what came with my pc. I have had no luck finding anyway to sort out my ram with this bored and I know there would have to be a way by now. If not then someone needs to find a way so we can stop needing to use the bios all the time.

[@Timithos]

I have a ASRock Z97X Fatal1ty motherboard with 4 240 pin DIMM slots. The ASRock motherboard specs on Newegg state that I can have maximum capacity 32gigs of DDR3 at 1600 mhz speed (and up to 2400mhz overclocked) However, when i go to the RAM manufacturer G.Skill, it states that that board can only handle 4 x 4gb DDR3 sticks for a maximum of 16gigs at 1333 Mhz. What gives?

[@cemsengul16]

In case anyone builds a new rig with a Z790 Dark Hero. If you can't boot with two G Skill DDR5 ram sticks but can post with just one inserted, update the bios and it will fix everything. My board shipped with bios 0220 and I updated to the latest version and now I can post with two sticks and am running XMP 8000.

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Glad you got it sorted!

[@cemsengul16]

@@TheProvokedPrawn yeah me too.

[@CarlosDeBernardMrAgapi]

stick did not get in all the way on the crucial (1:05) that is why did not show. like th ecolors on the end. ddr5 4kit will be out soon

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Entirely different shots taken at different times.

[@ewallacestudent1]

the board will not start at all and I looked up the memory support and the ddr4 ram I purchased is not on the list. Is no start up at all a common ram issue? I did order ram that is on the list which is very expensive. how do I get cost to a reasonable level or is ram just that expensive in this generation?

[@cemsengul16]

just built a new rig with a z790 dark hero and can't boot at all if both of the G Skill Trident Z5 rams are installed. These ram sticks work perfectly in another computer. I can boot with a single stick inserted. I am not trying to run XMP 8000 on a 4 dimm board. I have XMP disabled and still can't boot with two g skill sticks. Do I need to update the bios of my Z790 Dark Hero?

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Worth a try. Often the newer bios updates include stability improvements

[@meuryam7690]

I had 4x 8gb ram, System Information says I had: Installed Physical Memory: 32gb (which is true) Total Physical Memory: 14.9gb Available Physical Memory: 12.2gb Total Virtual Memory: 18.9gb Available Virtual Memory: 14.5gb So why it seems it only using half of my RAM?

[@PhilSet-10]

Are Intel XMP DDR5 sticks compatible with AMD motherboards? I realized yesterday I installed 2x16GB Corsair Vengeance Intel XMP DDR5 sticks instead of AMD Expo DDR5 sticks onto my MSI B650 AMD Mag Tomahawk motherboard while building a new PC a few weeks ago. I’ve had very bad, low FPS issues and crashes since day one while gaming; Ryzen 5 7600X with an XFX Speedster MERC310 AMD Radeon RX 7900XT w/20GB GDDR6. My new PC scores well using Cinebench, but I have majorly low FPS in RDR2 (20 fps at all medium settings) and about the same with GTA, with occasional crashes during both, and the PC crashes while playing The Hunter; Call of the Wild. I’m guessing the Intel XMP Corsair memory sticks might be causing this, but I’m barely PC hardware savvy (and apparently unable to read when overlooking Intel in the product description when I was looking for AMD compatible RAM) to know if this is what’s causing my PC issues. Would using AMD Expo sticks fix this issue?

[@bakermiaz]

Just found out I am a "Brilliant Legend" ; )

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

@@bakermiaz yeah you are

[@More_Row]

Probably. Yeah

[@AbishekRajkumar2k]

How would you know that the mobo support all 4 DIMM slot?? which one is bettern 8x4 or 16x2 for 32gb

[@vencler]

16x2 More sticks bring more instability, and slower transfer speeds. Always go 2 sticks in a mainstream PC. Ideally use a motherboard with only 2dimm slots, especially if you plan to overclock/tune

[@AbishekRajkumar2k]

@@vencler thnks for the reply...

[@Dravira]

@@vencler this is actually incorrect. It completely depends on the system and what it is used for. It does not at all cause an instability not sure where you learned that. Certain games out there need a lot of ram. You really cant go wrong with 2 or 4 sticks its whatever you need or ultimately want. Some want 128 if its supported just because and some just need or want 32gb which is the max 99 percent of games will use. Dont get fed into misconceptions

[@vencler]

@@Dravira you should read with more understanding. Get 2x16gb sticks, overclock them to 8000mt/s Now try to do that with 4 sticks :-) It puts an insane amount of stress onto memory controller, and also depends on motherboard topology. I am strictly talking about memory tuning. You can still have 2x32gb or 2x64gb (even though that too will be higher to tune), but don't use more sticks because then they are somewhat not even able to hit XMP settings, let alone be able to tune past that.

[@tritongaming5715]

I have 4 slots and kept trying all the ways yall were saying and it kept capping my RAM at 132MHz so i did what everyone said not to do and istalled them in slots 1 and 2 next to each other, now the PC reads both sticks and allows them at a lil over 3200 MHz according to Task manager

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Is xmp on? Have you tried a bios update?

[@GraysonPcs]

Should my ram be wobbly?

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

You should feel a click when you have pushed it in if it's properly seated.

[@Qpid_TTV]

Mines wont fully go in and it’s a one lock

Mine. Not mine's.

[@iHaveTheDocuments]

"You need 2 sticks of ram" Go by a pre built because you couldn't be bothered to learn to build and you'll see the madness, don't stare into the abyss for too long, for you will become the abyss

[@glw607]

Don't go by! Go buy a pre-built!