I am kind of a newbie in computer hardware and I have an old computer that has actually 3GB of RAM installed, splitted on 4 slot: slot1 has a 1GB RAM stick, slot2 has 512MB RAM stick, slot 3 has 1GB stick and slot 4 a 512MB stick. I would like to know if it would be possible to replace one of the 512MB stick with a 2GB one; wich would give me 4.5GB of physical RAM. Will that cause a problem? Ive searched but couldnt find an answer to this.
-
If the computer has a 32-bit operating system then it may only see 4GB of RAM.– Andrew MortonCommented May 28, 2018 at 10:01
-
@AndrewMorton its a 64 bits Windows 7– Martin B.Commented May 28, 2018 at 16:37
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
4.5GB of physical RAM. Will that cause a problem?
It will work fine, just possibly slightly suboptimal.
FYI What's the downside of mixing differently sized RAM modules? and https://www.tecinfoo.com/2018/02/cisco-unified-computing-system-freshers.html:
Mixing different sizes of RAM bars makes the CPU cycle asymmetric, which can cause delay in the CPU’s data fetching that could become a bottleneck. However, this would not cause a problem of compatibility.
answered May 28, 2018 at 5:23
-
In addition to the above answer, ensure that all your RAM DIMMs work at the same clock speed.... for better performance– PrasannaCommented May 28, 2018 at 5:35
-
@Prasanna That's usually very minor, as all of them will simply run at the lowest speed among them. Especially with such small quantities, the capacity is almost certainly more important than throughput.– BobCommented May 28, 2018 at 5:41
-
1"Mixing different sizes of RAM bars ..." -- I disinclined to trust a source who makes up jargon and doesn't know proper nomenclature. Proper name is memory module; that's what the "MM" in DIMM stands for. If the motherboard doesn't support dual channel (or N-channel), then there's no performance hit at all.– sawdustCommented May 28, 2018 at 5:44
-
Ok thank you!, for information purpose the motherboard is an Asus P5QL Pro and all the memory stick on it were Kingston's, at 400Mhz, the 2GB one I bought is of Corsair brand and it says its at 800Mhz, will that cause any problem ? Commented May 28, 2018 at 6:22
-
@sawdust the motherboard is an Asus P5QL Pro, wich in the user manual they say to use DDR2 non-ECC and unbuffered memory module, at 1600/800/663/400mhz. The 2GB I bought is a Corsair DDR2 at 800Mhz, but I couldnt find any informations on if its non-ECC and unbuffered or not. The actual memory module installed in the PC are all kingston brand, at 400mhz. Hopefully the one I bought is going to work Commented May 28, 2018 at 6:27