Hopefully, this will be an easy one. I have a P55 GD65 Mobo and I have 2 x 2GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) RAM in there. There's a great deal on newegg today for 2 x @GB OCZ Special Ops (complete with camouflage heat spreaders, you know, so that terrorists can't see it...ergo the name Special Ops) DDR3 1600 (PC12800) RAM that I'm thinking about getting. I know that the RAM will run at the settings of the lower performing ram which is fine. I have a few questions:
1) can my MoBo run this ram?
2) if it can, will I still be able to take advantage of the dual channel feature? I feel like I've read some things that say that for dual channel to work you have to have the same RAM in all 4 slots, and I feel that I've also read that just the ram in the corresponding channel slots have to match (slots 1 & 3 have the same ram and slots 2 & 4 can have different ram, as long as the ram in slots 2 & 4 match).
3) if dual channel is a go with this particular set of RAM, then does it matter which I have in slots 1 & 3? Or is there any advantage to having the RAM with higher specs in slots 1 & 3 vs having them in slots 2 & 4? I feel like I've read that I should use the the bigger capacity chips in the 1 & 3 slots, but since they're all going to be 2GB sticks, does it matter at all?
4) Is there anything special that I have to do before I install the RAM? In the past it's always just been stick the RAM in the available slots and and that's it, but that was when I was running a lowly single core machine with DDR ram. These iX machines are awesome and I just want to be sure I don't do anything to screw it up.
5) if i can't do dual channel with this, is it still worth the upgrade or should I hold out for compatible ram?
Thanks for your help o wise gurus of the forum. A novice computer builder thanks you in advance for any insight into these matters
ps - if you're wanting to know about the deal, it's 4 gb for 65 bucks after rebate on newegg.
pps - system specs, i5 750, P55-GD65 Mobo, 650W power supply, windows 7 pro.
1) can my MoBo run this ram?
2) if it can, will I still be able to take advantage of the dual channel feature? I feel like I've read some things that say that for dual channel to work you have to have the same RAM in all 4 slots, and I feel that I've also read that just the ram in the corresponding channel slots have to match (slots 1 & 3 have the same ram and slots 2 & 4 can have different ram, as long as the ram in slots 2 & 4 match).
3) if dual channel is a go with this particular set of RAM, then does it matter which I have in slots 1 & 3? Or is there any advantage to having the RAM with higher specs in slots 1 & 3 vs having them in slots 2 & 4? I feel like I've read that I should use the the bigger capacity chips in the 1 & 3 slots, but since they're all going to be 2GB sticks, does it matter at all?
4) Is there anything special that I have to do before I install the RAM? In the past it's always just been stick the RAM in the available slots and and that's it, but that was when I was running a lowly single core machine with DDR ram. These iX machines are awesome and I just want to be sure I don't do anything to screw it up.
5) if i can't do dual channel with this, is it still worth the upgrade or should I hold out for compatible ram?
Thanks for your help o wise gurus of the forum. A novice computer builder thanks you in advance for any insight into these matters
ps - if you're wanting to know about the deal, it's 4 gb for 65 bucks after rebate on newegg.
pps - system specs, i5 750, P55-GD65 Mobo, 650W power supply, windows 7 pro.