Fill All Ram Slots Or Not

  1. Or, if you bought a different Dell Config (for example, one using 4x4GB in all 4 slots), you could remove two of the modules and replace them with higher capacity 8GB modules to get more memory (for example, replacing 2 of the 4GB modules with 8GB modules to get 24GB total using 2x4GB + 2x8GB).
  2. Unplug ALL power - then remove the memory modules - then put them back in (that process is known as reseating and will help if there is a corrosion or other contact issue). If that does not help remove both again and put the one that was in the second slot in the first slot to see if it actually works. If that does not work you have a bad.
  3. Maximum memory: 8192MB Slots: 4 (2 banks of 2).Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory. 2GB 2GB 2GB 2GB. This is fantastic news both in terms of PC performance - and my wallet! On top of all that, the exisiting 2x2GB sticks that came pre-installed with the PC 3 years a go stay put - so no need for throwing unwanted memory sticks in a drawer.

Here is an example where we do see some difference in performance for the Core i9-9900K, but not the Ryzen 9 3900X. The Intel system saw a mild 4% performance boost when using four memory modules.

AllNot
Joined
Feb 20, 1999
Messages
51,022

Fill All Ram Slots Or Nothing

Fill All Ram Slots Or Not

Fill All Ram Slots Or Not Available

All

Fill All Ram Slots Or Not Recognized

The motherboard I am getting (ASUS P5WD2) has four slots for memory, total of 8 Gig. I'm going to put 2 Gig in (need it for large video editing files) Am I better off to get 4 512s and fill all slots so if one goes bad I can replace at cheaper price or am I better off to go with two 1 Gig sticks? Will that board run on only 1 stick or does it need to be in pairs? If the memory needs to be installed in pairs, then I think it would be better to have 4 sticks so you can troubleshoot memory.
What do you think?
And what about memory brands? Is Altas Good? If not what is do you recommend?