RAM upgrade compatibility

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paulstenning123

Member
System spec:

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-10700KF (3.8GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B460-PLUS: ATX, LGA1200, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language

I bought this a year ago to use as a workstation. I am running a few virtual servers in Hyper-V and ideally need to upgrade the RAM. 48GB (adding 2 x 8GB) will be fine and obviously more affordable than increasing to 64GB.

As a test I tried installing a pair of good Corsair Value Select 8GB DDR4 2666MHz modules (borrowed from another PC so known good) but the system would not boot. After maybe 30 seconds of blank screen it beeped and restarted, and occasionally got to the UEFI BIOS prompt. Pressing DEL entered the BIOS which showed the installed RAM on the main screen but was frozen (no mouse or keyboard, no fan animations etc).

Attached photo shows the label on the existing RAM and screenshot shows the SPD information in CPU-Z. Timings are 16-18-18-35 according to the label which seems to match the XMP-2666 column in CPU-Z,

Looking up the spec of Value Select here https://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb...0-2666-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-18-18-18-43-12v the timings are significantly different at 18-18-18-43, so I am assuming this is the problem. Value Select is obviously a lower grade product than Vengeance too.

The system is not over-clocked, and everything is running as auto detected in the BIOS. I don't understand what these timing figures mean, I'm just highlighting them as they are a difference that could be important.

How closely to the figures and other details etc need to match for RAM to work and the system be stable? Would any 2666MHz Corsair Vengeance RAM be OK, or do I need to be looking at the chip manufacturers and version numbers etc? I am looking at this https://www.scan.co.uk/products/16g...-(2666)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-16-18-18-35-xm which seems to have the correct timings. Will 2 x 16GB (slots 1 and 3) and 2 x 8GB (slots 2 and 4) work or does it need to be 4 x 16GB?

I obviously don't want to waste money on something that might not work, so welcome the advice of knowledgeable people here to get it right, please. Thank you.
 

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Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
The best way of making sure you get the correct RAM is, go to your orders page on the main site, select the order and then select upgrade this order, and check what is offered in the upgrade configurator
 
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paulstenning123

Member
That offers the options shown in the attached screenshot. That would probably assume replacing the existing RAM rather than as additional RAM to work alongside the existing though.

Price for 2 x 8GB 2666MHz is £72.94 incl VAT so about a fiver more than Scan. If buying here would be guaranteed to work with existing RAM then it could be worth the extra.
 

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DarTon

Well-known member
I'd be rather careful doing this. You're going to be adding 2x8GB DIMMs to 2x16GB DIMMs. The 16GB DIMMs are dual rank while the 8GB DIMMs will probably be single rank. Could cause instability or even an inability to boot. Even if it works, it may degrade performance.

It's also not clear to me that PCS is offering the same RAM. Ideally, you want the same manufacturer but your DIMMs were first produced around 18 months ago. Corsair could now be using another manufacturer for their 2666Mhz Vengeance DIMMs.

I'd just make sure you can return anything you buy without quibble whether from PCS or another provider.
 
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paulstenning123

Member
It looks like the best option for upgrade would be to remove the existing RAM and purchase 64GB (4 x 16GB or 2 x 32GB) new. I have been looking at the officially supported RAM on the ASUS website for the specific motherboard https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-C...ing/TUF-GAMING-B460-PLUS/HelpDesk_QVL_Memory/

The actual memory type installed is not listed, however most Corsair 16GB are only listed as suitable for 1 or 2 socket use, not 4 sockets. It must work for 4 socket use as PCS sell it in that configuration though.

The cheapest listed 16GB for 4 socket use I have found so far is Kingston Value RAM which would be £220 for four https://www.ebuyer.com/797215-kingston-value-ram-16gb-2666mhz-ddr4-dimm-memory-module-kvr26n19d8-16 Technically it would be a bit slower with CL19 compared to CL16 for the current Corsair but for my use that wouldn't matter.

The existing Corsair RAM would probably sell for around £80 on eBay looking at recent sold listings.

That's still significant cost though, which won't happen straight away.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
paulstenning123 said:
The existing Corsair RAM would probably sell for around £80 on eBay looking at recent sold listings.
Click to expand...
Just bare in mind, that should you ever have to send it back to PCS you have to send it back with the original hardware configuration, so you'll have taken any mods out to ensure its not them that's causing the problem prior to requesting an RMA
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Martinr36 said:
Just bare in mind, that should you ever have to send it back to PCS you have to send it back with the original hardware configuration, so you'll have taken any mods out to ensure its not them that's causing the problem prior to requesting an RMA
Click to expand...
I object to this assertion that 'mods need to be taken out' prior to an RMA. We mods have done nothing wrong - please don't have us killed! 😟
 
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