# [SOLVED] Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?



## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

I currently have 2 x 4gb of 1866 (tho ive never been able to run them at 1866 for some reason only 1600- I know my mobo is compliant they just would default back to 1600 tho i was told it wouldnt be noticeable anyhow?). 

I run very memory heavy stuff for my work and I am finding I am getting bottlenecked at 7gb usage- this causes the programs to not take on any more tasks till previous ones complete. So I am figuring I can increase my earning potential by increasing my ram as the more I can run at the same time = more efficency. 

Now I don't know exactly how much I will want. So can I buy one stick of 4 gb or 8 gb for instance and put in the third bay so that I have breathing room to see if I need another in future or does it always have to be 2 sticks these days?

I know my current ones are 2 sticks due to the dual channel thing but I read the beenfits of that are negligible? (i just read ridiculous things online like ppl say they prefer it because it makes their computer 'feel' more spritely - good empirical evidence there)

So I could go down to non dual channel using 3 dimms without sacrificing any noticeable performance and it would still work?


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Dual has not shown the increases in performance that the hype suggested. Unless you are running some specialized applications, you will get no more than perhaps a 5% increase in dual channel. If you wish buy a single stick with the same timings as your previous sticks then do so. Adding more RAM, if your system is sort on RAM, give more benefits than dual channel per se.



> MSI reps noted that "in [their] testing, there was almost no difference between dual-channel performance and normal performance."





> Anyone doing serious simulation (Computational fluid dynamics, parametric analysis) will heavily benefit from dual-channel configurations (~17.7% advantage).
> 
> Gamers, mainstream users, and office users shouldn't care. It's density and frequency that matters, not channeling.


RAM Performance Benchmark: Single-Channel vs. Dual-Channel - Does It Matter? | Gamers Nexus - Gaming PC Builds & Hardware Benchmarks


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Alright thanks. Another marketing hype hot air baloon that can be ignored then .

What about differnet mhz speeds? Ie is it worth figuring out why my 1866 ram will only run at 1600 and get another stick at that speed or is that also negligible to the point of it not mattering?


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Ok so reading around it seems the mhz dont matter at all really either even 800mhz vs 2400 mhz according to one vid i just watched.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

The difference in memory speed will make a difference, though between 1600 and 1866 MHz, the difference would probably be unnoticeable except in benchmarks. In any event, even if compatible with higher speed memory, the motherboard will often run it at a default speed. You generally have to manually set the speed and timings (and sometimes voltage) within system BIOS.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

A few years ago, Tom's Hardware did an exhaustive series of tests on RAM performance. Their conclusion?



> Our conclusion is very simple: you get the best bang for the buck if you stick to the mainstream of the memory market


If your motherboard runs your "1866" RAM at a data rate of 1600 MT/s and the system is stable then I see no reason to try to tweak the BIOS in order to get the RAM to run at its rated speed.

However, if you want to do so then post the specs of your system (make and model of computer, motherboard and RAM) and someone here will probably be able to assist you.


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Ye Im not bothered about it just for bragging rights alone as this is all alot of this silly spec stuff seems to be . Though it is nice to know you are not 'squandering' speed that is already latent in the computer (not in regards to overclocking since that risks instability). Not a huge priority tho so maybe I will get back to you guys on that but Ill probably just prefer not mess with it.

Looking around I see alot of different cas latency timings. My current ones are g skill ripjaw or whatever stupid name it is and cl 9. But ive seen some nice deals on ebay however tehy dont have the same latency. Is this an issue or not? The voltages are the same but differnet latency.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Everything should run at the timings of your slowest stick. However, if you can find reasonably-priced stick that matches your current timings it would probably be best.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

As stated, it is not critical that all RAM be identical. However, by keeping to DIMMs with near the same spec vastly reduces the chance of incompatibility

CL9 is pretty standard for DDR3 1600 memory.


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Well I noted today that mine is cl9-10-9-28 which seems to be idiosynchratic from most other ones from what i was looking. 

Would a couple of points different not matter much then so long as the new stick/s are stated at cl9?


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*



> Another marketing hype hot air baloon that can be ignored then .


Not really. It is important to understand that dual-channel memory architecture technology goes way back to the 1960s and mainframes. 

In earlier PCs motherboard, RAM and CPU speeds were not as great as they are today so doubling the channels did indeed offer significant performance gains. But today, everything is so much faster, the gains are just not that significant. 

If building a new computer or upgrading all your RAM, then I would still go for enabling dual-channel. But if you just want to increase your RAM, then it is just fine adding a single stick. 

More RAM in single channel will provide better performance than less RAM in dual. However,


Remes said:


> I currently have 2 x 4gb of 1866


Understand 8Gb is commonly considered the "sweetspot" for RAM. That is, less and performance is notably degraded, but more RAM and any performance gains are negligible, if noticeable at all! 

IMO, you probably don't need and won't benefit by adding more RAM. 



> I am finding I am getting bottlenecked at 7gb usage


How are you determining this? What programs are you running? Tell us about your other hardware, including the CPU, graphics, and HD (including amount of free disk space).

Have you scanned for malware?


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

As I said in my OP I need it for programs related to work not for gaming or such tomfoolery.

It isnt for speed as you state it's to make the programs functional with more threads open and/or to prevent errors and locking up from not having any memory left.

I look in task manager and the programs are taking up between 1 and 2 gigs and the memory graph shows 7/8gig used. This is normal since I run automation tasks on infinite scroll websites so the ram they can take doesnt end.

Hence why more ram will be better as I see it because the programs get frozen and produce errors when the RAM is up there and free up once previous tasks complete.



Bill_Bright said:


> Not really. It is important to understand that dual-channel memory architecture technology goes way back to the 1960s and mainframes.
> 
> In earlier PCs motherboard, RAM and CPU speeds were not as great as they are today so doubling the channels did indeed offer significant performance gains. But today, everything is so much faster, the gains are just not that significant.
> 
> ...


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Oops...I just bid on some ram and realised it is 1.65v rather than the 1.5 of my current ram. This will be a problem won't it?


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Phew luckily i got outbid


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

I might also consider getting an SSD and putting your page file on it. SSDs are ideal for PFs and would likely help a lot here, but also in everything else if you made it your primary drive too.


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Looking at this stick: HyperX Black Fury 8 GB RAM Memory (1 x 8 GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL10 Dimm Black | eBay

1.5v
CAS Latency 9-9-9-27 and 10-10-10-30 

Seems like a good price doesnt it for 8gb? 

Im presuming it will work with my current G.Skill ripjaws? they have cl 9-10-9-28 and 1.5v


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

I don't see where you ever told us your motherboard specs as requested by MPR a month and a half ago so we can see what it supports. 

Not all motherboards even support 8Gb sticks.


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Asus m5a97 r2

I just looked in the manual and it supports 8gb sticks. 

It says not to use different cas latencies tho or is that just a wanring ratehr than it deifnintely wont work?


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Buy RAM with the same specs as RAM listed on your motherboard's RAM QVL (which I bet your motherboard manual says you should refer to).


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

ye i thought this one was a bargain but it seems the prices are similar for most brands. but other brands might work fine mightent they its just the company didnt bother to test all.


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*



> its just the company didnt bother to test all.


That's a near impossibility. 

They can and do test all available CPUs because the chipset used on the motherboard only supports a very limited number of CPUs from just one maker (either AMD or Intel). So you must buy a CPU listed on the CPU QVL. 

But there are way too many RAM makers selling under dozens of brand names and each brand producing dozens of models. That means there are 100s and 100s of different RAM models compatible (by specs anyway) with each board the board maker makes. So there are just too many brands and models for motherboard makers to test them all for every board they product. 

So you don't have to buy RAM listed on the QVL, but as I said above, you do need to buy RAM with same specs as listed RAM.


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

Ok so just put a new 8gb stick in. Its working nicely so far. One query tho. It says it works at both cl 9 and cl 10: HyperX Red Fury 8 GB RAM Memory (1 x 8 GB) DDR3 1866Mhz CL10 Dimm Red | eBay

My current ones are g skill ripjaws which are cl 9-10-9-28. I thought there would be an option somewhere to set clock speeds but didnt see anything in the bios. As I said it all booted fine but I wondered will the new stick be running at cl9 or will the others clock up to cl10? Either way does it matter? ie any performance problem/possible damage if the ripjaws clocked up to 10 rather than the hyper x clocking to 9? or something like that?


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## Remes (Oct 12, 2010)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*

EDit: I looked in my diagnostics and the new stick says its running at cl9. but strangely the old ones seems to have cls all over the place between cl5 and 10.

Everything is running smooth as I said so far so I will presume all is good


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Can I buy single ram sticks or does it have to be pairs always?*



> Everything is running smooth as I said so far so I will presume all is good


I'd go by the old saying, "_If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it!_"


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