Does Memory Slot Matter

by admin

No, you really need to read the instructions. Some motherboards suggest a certain color or order in which the memory needs to be in. Don't be a jerk. The terminology doesn’t matter beyond technicalities, but it’s useful to know that the terms are relatively interchangeable colloquially. Between one memory slot.

Summary :

It is extremely important to make a RAM compatibility check when purchasing a new RAM, right? If the RAM is not compatible with your motherboard, your computer won’t run as normal. How to check RAM compatibility? Let’s explore this question together with MiniTool.

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Why Check RAM Compatibility

Does RAM matter? RAM is an integral component of your system. Once your RAM gets damaged or incompatible, your computer will not operate properly. It is necessary for your processor to run an operating system and different programs on the computer.

Does It Matter Which Memory Slot I Use Imac

Usually, the more RAM you have installed, the faster your processor can handle and the more process your computer can run at a time. However, the RAM storage capacity depends on your motherboard specs can support.

So, it is necessary to make a RAM compatibility check before upgrading RAM. How to check RAM compatibility? Is my RAM compatible with any motherboard? Please keep reading to get the answers.

Is My RAM Compatible with Any Motherboard

When it comes to RAM compatibility, it is inevitable to discuss the motherboard. In fact, the RAM compatibility checking depends on what motherboard you have installed. As is well known to us, there are all types of RAM memories such as DDR3, DDR4, and so on. Not all RAM chips can mix and match the memory slot of your motherboard.

For example, if your motherboard was designed for DDR4 RAM, the memory slots of your motherboard cannot fit other types of RAMs like DDR3. Besides, the motherboard memory slots usually are integrated into the board and cannot be changed.

So, it important to make a memory compatibility check on your motherboard.

Does it matter which memory slot i use

How Do I Know My RAM Compatibility

How to check RAM compatibility for your computers? Your operating systems and motherboard are 2 important components that have great significance on the RAM compatibility. So, you need to know your system information first. After that, you can refer to the following information to make a RAM compatibility check.

Here’s a way to check your Windows 10 system information.

Step 1. Press Win + E keys to open the File Explorer.

Step 2. Right-click This PC on the left side and select Properties to open the system information window. Then you will see the current Windows edition as well as the system type.

The operating systems will affect the maximum capacity of RAM you can use on your computer. Compared to the consumer editions, a typical server Windows version can support several times the maximum RAM.

Usually, the Windows 8 Enterprise and Professional editions can support a maximum of 512GB RAM, while the consumer version only supports up to 128GB. Windows 10 operating systems have similar RAM limits. You can refer to the information from Microsoft.

Does Memory Slot Matters

It is different between a 32-bit and 64-bit processor as well. Without considering the Windows editions, a 32-bit system has the limitation of 4GB physical memory, while a 64-bit system can be able to handle a 128GB RAM physical memory.

In addition, your motherboard also determines how much RAM your computer can support. This is because your motherboard has a memory module slot limit. If you don’t know how to check the motherboard model, please read this post.

Here are several common memory types that you can refer to:

  • DDR 2 SDRAM: This technology is commonly found in those computers that are made after 2003.
  • DDR3 SDRAM: It is suitable for those computers made after 2007.
  • DDR4 SDRAM: It is the newest RAM type. So, please make sure you are using a modern PC with the latest builds.

RAM is an important part of your computer’s performance. In fact, after your processor and graphics card (if you’re gaming), your RAM will play the next biggest role in your system’s performance.

However, while RAM is an integral part of your computer and it does have an impact on your system’s performance, there is a lot of confusion on how it affects framerates in gaming. So, in this article, we’ll go over how RAM will affect your framerate by considering a couple of different scenarios.


Does More RAM Mean More FPS?

There have been many benchmarks done that shows that, in general, just adding more RAM won’t increase your in-game performance.

However, the question of whether or not more RAM can increase FPS might not be the right question to answer. Rather, the better question would be, “if I have a low amount of RAM, will adding more RAM increase my FPS in games?”

And, the answer to that is: in some scenarios and depending on how much RAM you have, yes, adding more RAM could increase your FPS.

Games require a certain amount of memory to run. The amount of memory that games require to run can vary from game to game. Some games might require a lot of memory, whereas other games might not require nearly as much.

Also, the settings you play your games at will also affect how much memory the game uses. If you want to play your favorite games at maximum settings, those games are going to utilize more memory than if you were to play those same games at the lowest settings.

So, to answer the question of whether or not adding more RAM will increase your FPS, the correct answer would be something along the lines of the following:

If you already have a decent amount of RAM (say, 8GB), adding more RAM will probably not increase your FPS in most games and scenarios as there still aren’t very many games that utilize more than 8GB of memory. On the flip side, if you have a low amount of memory (say, 2GB-4GB), adding more RAM will increase your FPS in games that utilize more RAM than you previously had.

If you’re building a new gaming computer or upgrading your existing system, then 8GB of RAM is still probably the best capacity to go with in terms of what you pay for what you get. If you’re also doing video editing or graphic design, then it might make sense to choose 16GB of RAM (or more) over 8GB if your budget permits for it.

Does Faster RAM Equal More FPS?

Just like how adding more RAM can increase your FPS in certain scenarios, faster RAM can increase your performance in some situations, too.

However, most benchmarks show that the performance difference between base speeds of RAM (2133MHz is the lowest speed of DDR4 memory) performs very similar—or only slightly lower—than even the highest RAM frequencies in the majority of applications.

There are exceptions, though. For instance, many benchmarks show that Ryzen-based systems are able to deliver higher framerates in many games and synthetic benchmarks when they are paired with faster memory (~2666MHz or higher) than when they are paired with slower memory (2133Mhz).

Of course, this can vary from game-to-game. In some games, memory operating at higher clock speeds helps boost performance more than in it does in other games.

So, there is really no standard answer for whether or not faster memory will help you. It really depends on the types of programs you are running and the games you are playing.

It is also important to note that there is a difference in price between slower RAM and faster RAM. The price difference can vary, but as a rough estimate for DDR4 prices, 2133MHz memory is typically ~10-15% less expensive than 3000MHz memory. However, depending on where you’re shopping, the difference in price between 2133MHz kits and 2666MHz kits can actually be a lot less and, in some instances, can be the same price.

So, my best advice would be, first, if you’re building a system with a Ryzen CPU and you have the budget to afford faster RAM, try and get a memory kit that has a clock speed of at least 2666hz. Again, this is not going to increase your framerate and system performance in every game and application. However, it will cover you for those games and programs where faster memory does help.

The second thing to consider is your budget. If you’re working with a tight budget and the price difference between getting a slower kit of memory and getting a faster kit of memory means that you’d have to downgrade on your CPU or GPU in order to afford that faster memory kit, then you’d be better off choosing the slower RAM so that you can get the faster CPU and GPU.

Memory Slot Motherboard

Because, ultimately, the difference in performance between a lower-tier CPU/GPU and a higher-tier CPU/GPU is greater than the difference in performance between faster memory and slower memory.

But again, depending on the memory clock rate in question, in some instances, faster memory kits are only slightly more expensive than slower memory kits (2133MHz vs 2666MHz for example.)

So, maybe the best way to phrase what you should be looking for in terms of RAM speed is to say:

Does It Matter Which Memory Slot I Use

For new systems, get at least a 2666MHz memory kit (DDR4) and go with faster memory if the price increase won’t affect your choices on other more important components (like your CPU and GPU.)

The Bottom Line on RAM’s Impact on Framerates

The bottom line is that memory can impact the framerates you get in a given game. However, the amount it can impact it can vary from game-to-game and scenario-to-scenario.

As a general rule of thumb, 2666MHz is probably the best starting point for DDR4 memory as it typically doesn’t cost much more than 2133MHz memory. And, 2666MHz memory offers a decent performance boost over 2133MHz memory (at least, according to benchmarks on Ryzen-based systems), but not much less of a performance difference when compared to faster memory kits.