New stick of RAM!

So, I'm thinking about picking up another stick of RAM once my paycheck hits this week.

Right now, I have Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM KHX1866C9D3/4G but whenever I browse through online retailers, all I can find is stuff like HX316C10FW/4 and a bunch of other random versions, but basically nothing that matches my exact model...

My motherboard is rated at 1600MHz, so here's what I'm wondering: can I just grab one of those other models and still run everything in Dual-channel mode, or am I strictly required to get the exact same model number? I mean, if that "C" in the name refers to latency, shouldn't it be fine as long as the specs align (like that C9D3 part)? Since 1866 is just the MHz, wouldn't those initial letters not really matter much in the grand scheme of things?

Actually, if anyone out there happens to have this specific stick lying around, please shoot me a DM!

edit: This seems to be the closest thing I could track down http://www.newegg.com/DDR3-4GB--1x4G...569993432.aspx

It says C3D9 in the description... so, can someone who actually knows their stuff tell me which one I should go for?

People usually tell you to stick with the same manufacturer if you want to nail those low latency timings or push some serious overclocking... But honestly, you can mix and match brands too. As long as you get them into the right slots for Dual-channel mode, it'll work. Just keep in mind that if the speeds or latencies don't match, the faster stick will just throttle down to play nice with the slower one... but it'll still function.

William Morris13 said:Basically, everyone tells you that you should stick to the same manufacturer if you want to nail those latency numbers and maybe try some overclocking later on. But honestly, you can totally mix and match brands, and you'll still get Dual-channel (just make sure you plug them into the right slots!)—the catch is that if the speeds or latencies don't match, the faster stick will just throttle down to match the slower one... but hey, it'll work perfectly fine.

So what you're saying is that latency is the real deal here, right? I think I'm gonna grab the same HyperX sticks from that link I posted earlier, though I might just check if my local Best Buy has the exact same ones in stock since I'm picking up a whole rig there soon, so I'll head over this week and see.

Anyway, I know that if the MHz differs, the faster one slows down to match the slower one, but does the same thing happen with latency? Like, if I find two sticks with the exact same latency, I'll just grab those and call it a day, right? Also, by the way, how do I actually verify if I've got Dual-channel running once I finally pop the sticks in?

It’ll just scale down to match the slower sticks, both in terms of latency and MHz. Honestly, if you aren't chasing peak performance or trying to push some extreme overclock, it won't even matter. If you pick two decent brands with similar specs, you won't notice a thing unless you're really redlining the system...

I don't know which chipset you're running, but when you look at the motherboard, certain slots are color-coded. Just pop the RAM into the two matching slots and you're set... it'll run in Dual-channel mode. It's not exactly rocket science.

William Morris13 said:Basically, the system will just scale down the latencies and the MHz to match whatever the slowest stick is, right? Honestly, if you aren't some hardcore overclocking nut trying to squeeze out every single drop of performance, it really doesn't matter that much. If you just pick two solid brands with similar specs, you won't even notice a difference unless you're pushing your hardware way past its limits.

So, I'm not totally sure which chipset you're running, but usually when you look at a motherboard, certain slots are color-coded differently, so you just pop the sticks into the two matching colored slots and boom... you're running in Dual-channel mode. It’s not rocket science, really.

Man, I've got an ASRock FM2A88M Extreme4+; nothing fancy, honestly kind of a junk board, but hey, it gets the job done for what I need... I've got a 6790K clocked at 4.3GHz paired with these 4 gigs... everything is running smooth so far, haven't had a single issue...

I just want to circle back to my question though, how can I actually tell if Dual-channel is working? My board has four RAM slots, and right now I've got one stick in the first slot, so I was planning on putting the new one in the third slot to get that Dual-channel setup going —but the problem is, all the slots are black... does this board even support Dual-channel? —quick update: okay, it does support it—I just saw it listed on their website... alright, so if that's the case, should I go with the third slot then?

The motherboard manual will explicitly tell you which slots to use for Dual-channel

It’ll also show you if Dual-channel is active within the BIOS or through tools like CPU-Z

If you're looking at four slots, you just go with the first and third, then the second and fourth—they're color-coded to make it easy...

Timothy Kim60 said:it’s literally right there in the manual, man

Honestly, who even knows where to look for that stuff...

William Morris13 said:If you've got 4 slots available, you just go with the first and third, then the second and fourth—they're actually color-coded to show you that.

Man, I must've been dreaming or something, okay thanks!

No worries, I actually went ahead and double-checked the compatibility for DC Comics just to be safe. The motherboard supports everything, here are the specs: http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A88M...Specifications
All you need to do now is grab some RAM and you're good to go 😁

William Morris13 said:No worries at all! Just to be absolutely certain, I went ahead and double-checked the compatibility for DC Comics, and yeah, this motherboard supports it—here are the specs if you want to take a look: http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A88M...Specifications
Now you just gotta grab some RAM and you're good to go! 😁

I know that site well, let me just take a quick look 😁

Hey, so I noticed my RAM is just sitting there running at 1333, even though it's actually rated for 1866, and I was wondering if there's any way to actually get it up to speed if that's even possible?

Try enabling the Intel XMP Profile in your BIOS settings. If you need more details, you can always find the manual on the manufacturer's official website.

Timothy Kim60 said:Maybe try toggling the Intel Memory Profile in your BIOS settings? If you get stuck, the manual is always available on the official support site if you need to dig deeper.

Alright, thanks! I'll give that a shot...
edit: Hey, it actually worked! Just two clicks in the BIOS and now I'm sitting at 1866—I honestly wasn't even looking to mess with those settings, you know? Hopefully, this gives me at least a tiny little boost in performance, right?
Oh, and just a heads up, there isn't an Intel Memory Profile option here, it's just EXPO