Need help regarding Ram for computer.

anotherquestion

Thanks very much Heretoday and Tallmansix for the helpful advice, I think I will try your suggestion Tallmansix and get the 2x4gb of ram such as this one here.
Kingston DDR3 8GB 2x4GB RAM Memory PC3-12800U 1600Mhz Desktop Pc 240pin 1.5v G | eBay
Looks ok I hope, and hope it would be worth a try to install it with the existing 2 x2 GB Corsair sticks of ram to test if they all work together ok, there are four slots altogether for RAM on the motherboard, the two sticks installed are adjacent to each other. It does say on manual that the motherboard will support the 1800 Ram as well, The motherboard can support up to 16GB of Ram, at the moment in windows 10 task manager it's showing as 69%  Memory used, and can rise to well over 70% when using music production software.
Really appreciate the advice, many thanks

[Deleted User]

anotherquestion said:

Thanks very much Heretoday and Tallmansix for the helpful advice, I think I will try your suggestion Tallmansix and get the 2x4gb of ram such as this one here.
Kingston DDR3 8GB 2x4GB RAM Memory PC3-12800U 1600Mhz Desktop Pc 240pin 1.5v G | eBay
Looks ok I hope, and hope it would be worth a try to install it with the existing 2 x2 GB Corsair sticks of ram to test if they all work together ok, there are four slots altogether for RAM on the motherboard, the two sticks installed are adjacent to each other. It does say on manual that the motherboard will support the 1800 Ram as well, The motherboard can support up to 16GB of Ram, at the moment in windows 10 task manager it's showing as 69%  Memory used, and can rise to well over 70% when using music production software.
Really appreciate the advice, many thanks

Great, yes you will feel the benefit of the extra RAM. You may still find the RAM usage high as Windows makes the most of what it has and tries to fill it up, I've got 16GB in my machine and it is currently using 7GB with just a few apps open but the rest is not sat empty, Windows always fill unused RAM with cache data from the disk and recently used apps.

I don't want to make things more complicated than they need to be, but adding it to the existing RAM won't be optimum in terms of speed although you will get 12GB to play with. The issues are:

1. The bus to the RAM will run at the speed of the slowest modules - so all RAM will run at 1033Mhz, but if you just put your new chips in only then they will run at 1600Mhz (50% faster).

2. The dual channel mode won't work across the whole RAM when you mix different chip sizes. So with your new chips only, you get all 8GB running in dual channel. If you put your old ones in as well, 8GB will run in dual channel and the remaining 4GB in single channel mode. Depending on the task, dual channel mode can be 20% faster.

I don't really know how any of the above will impact you and whether having 12GB slower speeds vs 8GB at fastest speeds for your particular setup and usage is best.

I don't want to make a simple upgrade more confusing that it needs to be, just wanted to make you aware.

anotherquestion

Thanks very much, will get ram off ebay, and see how it goes....:)
Another little thing I need to sort out is since its an old computer I have taken the heatsink off from the cpu a few times (last been a few days ago, and cleaned the dust out of it, and also the fan) 
Last time I did that was going on for a few years ago, and on each occasion I haven't applied any thermal paste to the cpu (AMD Phenom II X4 945 Processor)

It seems to be running ok otherwise current temperature is 52 degrees,  I have ordered the paste from ebay, but just wondering should I leave well enough alone, and not put any on when I get it.
Thanks so much again, so many questions I know....:)

 

Cisco001

Your motherboard support RAM speed upto DDR3 1333
Personally tends to buy RAM from CEX as they are usually cheaper than ebay and with warranty. But obviously, they may not come in pairs.
4GB stick from CEX is £5 each. Check if there are any near your location and pick up locally.
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=SMEM9QAH&sku=SMEM9QAH

[Deleted User]

Yes for the thermal paste, if you ever remove the heatsink from the CPU then a full renewal of thermal paste is recommended as you can end up with bubbles and hot spots when you put it back together with old paste.

Carefully but thoroughly remove all the old paste from the CPU / heatsink with some isopropyl alcohol and a tissue or cotton bud and then apply new paste to the CPU. A pea size blob of new paste in the middle is usual amount but if you dare you can enter the great thermal paste application debate that PC enthusiasts never tire of - see other websites.

[Deleted User]

Cisco001 said:

Your motherboard support RAM speed upto DDR3 1333
Personally tends to buy RAM from CEX as they are usually cheaper than ebay and with warranty. But obviously, they may not come in pairs.
4GB stick from CEX is £5 each. Check if there are any near your location and pick up locally.
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=SMEM9QAH&sku=SMEM9QAH

Motherboard will support up to 1866 speed according to Asus website, the limit is the AMD phenom II x4 945 which I've just realised is max 1333Mhz but will work perfectly with faster ram as do all CPU's which just clock at the appropriate speed so 1600Mhz is still suitable to fit this setup.

anotherquestion

Thanks everybody so much for all the good advice.

HereToday

anotherquestion said:

Thanks everybody so much for all the good advice.

To be fair; the advice was to buy the indicated RAM from the manufacturers approved list. You have gone against that. Likely it will work; but the extra would be better spent on upgrading the CPU. I would be looking at trying to get a good price on a six core: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144055409466

anotherquestion

Thanks HereToday for the advice, yes I know probably not on list but used the Crucial scan to give details of what they offer, so hopefully it should be ok, as I haven't got any Ram yet from Ebay, It could well end up being Kingston 8GB.
Thats a good price for the cpu on your link but does say it isn't tested as working, otherwise I would buy it, will keep an eye out though for a six core, thank you..
Cisco001 I did check local CEX but none in stock.

HereToday

anotherquestion said:

Thanks HereToday for the advice, yes I know probably not on list but used the Crucial scan to give details of what they offer, so hopefully it should be ok, as I haven't got any Ram yet from Ebay, It could well end up being Kingston 8GB.
Thats a good price for the cpu on your link but does say it isn't tested as working, otherwise I would buy it, will keep an eye out though for a six core, thank you..
Cisco001 I did check local CEX but none in stock.

Is it a joke?
First of all that isn't the price at all and secondly if it was, why would the fact that it hasn't been tested or used put you off buying it for £0.99p?? If it doesn't work then send it back. The only way the seller would be covered is it he listed it as Parts & Not Working.
So if it going cheap, buy it. 

I'm not sure why you are writing about the Crucial Scan. You are making it waaay too complicated. Just buy the RAM that I indicated. You don't need 12 GB of RAM and you don't need to spend more than £8.