RAM Upgrade Advice

I dropped that link in for you—it’s 1.5V RAM, so whether it actually works... honestly, who knows? It should probably run fine if you dial back the clock speed a bit. You're working with a motherboard that has some pretty bizarre RAM specs, though—the kind of stuff you just can't find sitting on a shelf at Best Buy anymore.

You'll likely need something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ram-memory-listing-example

Honestly, I’m done buying anything from these guys ever again. -.-

I think I'm just gonna try to offload this one I picked up, because I seriously doubt Best Buy gives a single damn that the RAM isn't even compatible with my setup.

Thanks anyway, though. ^^

Look, you can generally return items to the store within seven days of purchase. Just tell them it’s incompatible—honestly, you probably don't even need to go into detail about why.
That way, you should be able to ask for an exchange for something else if you want to.

Glad you gave me a heads-up 😁

I just fired off an email to them asking if there's any way I can actually return this thing

I’d say that by law you should be able to, especially if you want to swap it out for something else that actually works for you. Now, how that plays out in practice at specific retail stores is always a bit of a question mark. That said, I don't think it should be much of an issue; most places will be willing to help you out.
Try swapping it for the one rated at 1.5V—the voltage is likely the culprit here. The RAM speed shouldn't be a dealbreaker, since the system should automatically downclock to match the slower module. (They'll just refund you the difference, or you can put extra money toward the upgrade.)

So, I'm looking at this ASUS ROG Maximus paired with an AMD 870 setup—just sitting here thinking about it—and honestly, where do we even start? It’s one of those builds that makes you wonder if we're chasing performance or just chasing the feeling of finally getting everything to play nice together. Is it worth the headache? Maybe. Or maybe we're all just spinning our wheels. Who knows?
So, I'm looking at this old setup—just some dusty Corsair Vengeance DDR3 modules, specifically the 2 x 2 GB 1333 MHz CL9 variety—and it really makes you wonder where the time went, doesn't it? It’s one of those "is this even worth my time?" moments. Does anyone else ever just stare at their hardware and feel a sudden, inexplicable wave of nostalgia mixed with mild annoyance? Probably just me. Anyway, back to the specs...
So, I'm looking at picking up another 2x2 GB of RAM—because apparently, my current setup just isn't enough—and I noticed something kind of weird. Why on earth is that Kingmax 2x2 GB kit running at 1600 MHz actually cheaper than the 1333 MHz version?! It feels like one of those "wait, is this a glitch in the matrix?" moments. Anyway, would that 1600 MHz stuff actually work for me? Or am I just asking for trouble?

There’s about a 30-$13 difference between grabbing two separate 1600MHz sticks versus just picking up a matched 2x2GB 1333MHz kit. It would probably work, I guess, but everything would just default to the slower speed, so you'd be stuck at 1333 across the board.

http://www.newegg.com/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=7540

http://www.newegg.com/product_info.php?c...oducts_id=6315 X2

I'm not entirely sure how this NANO module will play with yours, but it should be fine, maybe.

What are you planning to use the extra RAM for?

So, I finally picked up an SSD—exciting times, right?—and while digging through some reading material, I stumbled upon this bit of advice: "Basically, you should disable virtual memory because this macOS setting is the absolute worst thing you can do to your SSD's lifespan. But—and this is a big but—before you go ahead and flip that switch like we discussed earlier, you’ve got to meet one specific requirement regarding your RAM capacity. If you want to kill off the paging file, you really need at least 8GB of RAM under the hood. Otherwise, macOS 7 is going to run out of breathing room for system tasks and apps almost instantly. This is especially true if you're the type who likes to fire up a dozen different programs all at once. If your RAM is low, don't touch the virtual memory settings. Just accept it, or risk tanking your SSD's performance and cutting its life short significantly." So, because of that...
http://www.bozzabench.com/Tests/Test...SD-diskom.aspx

I’m currently running 1GB of RAM at 350MHz. I want to upgrade, but the sticks available start at 800MHz. Is it better to go with 3GB running at 350MHz, or 2GB at 800MHz? From what I understand, if I install two 800MHz sticks, they’ll just throttle down to match the slowest one.

*MHz, you don't need that g 🙂

What motherboard are you running? Maybe check with CPU-Z or AIDA64.

You don't have 350 MHz RAM. With DDR2, we're talking 400, 533, 667, 800, or 1066 MHz. Just keep in mind that tools like CPU-Z or AIDA64 usually show you the effective speed with a 2x multiplier, which makes it look half as fast as it actually is.

Look, regardless of whether you're running 533 MHz or 667 MHz, you're much better off having 3GB of RAM, even if it is slightly slower. You won't notice that tiny speed difference anywhere, but that extra 1GB of capacity is going to be a lifesaver when you actually need it.

Thanks for the reply 😁