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November 26th, 2024 17:35
Compatible memory speed
I Have an Optiplex Precision 360 mini tower, and want to upgrade the RAM. My processor is the Intel i9-9900K, 3.6GHz cpu, 8 cores. The current memory is 2x oem DDR4 8GB sticks @2666MHz.
There are now many more versions of these chips than when the computer was assembled. Is there any advantage to picking a DDR4 chip with higher clock speed, or is the memory speed limited by the motherboard? Or are there downsides to running faster RAM on this computer?
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Chino de Oro
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November 28th, 2024 04:54
Yes, using mixed RAM will confuse the board and it might not boot. If it does, the speed will be the slowest one. Having enough memory at higher speed will give your better performance than having more of unused memory but at slower speed.
Just use two 32GB RAM that you already bought for now. Test use for a while and see how the performance is improved and how much is your memory usage. Then, adding the slower pair to see if it works. See how much slower the memory affect performance.
ejn63
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November 26th, 2024 17:45
The CPU controls the memory speed so any faster RAM will simply downclock to the existing speed.
derosaid
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November 26th, 2024 17:54
In some cases I am finding 3200 speed RAM cheaper than 2666 chips. Can I get the cheaper 3200 chips, or are there cases where the (slightly) faster memory chip could slow the processer?
ejn63
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November 26th, 2024 18:03
As long as the RAM is otherwise compatible with the system, it will simply downclock to the CPU's memory controller speed.
You either have an Optiplex or a Precision -- be sure you purchase the correct RAM (they're not the same systems).
derosaid
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November 26th, 2024 18:08
Oops, insufficient caffeine this morning. I have a Precision 3630 Tower.
Chino de Oro
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November 27th, 2024 08:52
Yes, you can upgrade your system with DDR4-3200 UDIMM memory. Refer to system memory specifications below and see compatible memory upgrade kits at Crucial https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/dell/precision-3630-tower
derosaid
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November 27th, 2024 15:49
It looks like I have two sets of slots for RAM on the motherboard, 1 with black release tabs and one with white tabs.
Can add more RAM (4 chips total) as long as it is in pairs, and inserted into the same color slots?
Can I add different speed RAM, as long as it is paired in the same color slots? In this case I have two oem 8GB (2666MHz) RAM chips in two banks using the white color tabs. I bought two 32GB (3200MHz) RAM chips and will insert them into the slots with black tabs.
I know the 3200MHz chips will run at the slower 2666MHz speed, but want to check if the difference in chip speed will confuse the motherboard.
derosaid
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November 28th, 2024 11:34
Thanks, that is what I suspected. RAM is fairly inexpensive now and I don’t really need the extra 16GB of older memory, but I thought I’d check.