commit 981317ff2722530ca11c3f69cc63ad1750b89bb7
parent ee75d40a3c71793fdb810212543b552a9c440934
Author: Jake Bauer <jbauer@paritybit.ca>
Date: Fri, 1 May 2020 23:45:36 -0400
Track missing blog post page from previous day
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diff --git a/pages/blog/i-got-more-ram.md b/pages/blog/i-got-more-ram.md
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+## I Got More RAM!
+
+[//]: # "A few days ago, I posted about how I would sometimes run out of RAM while playing heavily modded video games like Minecraft but I think I've solved that problem with an extra 8GB of RAM."
+
+[//]: # "main.min.css"
+
+[//]: #
+
+<div class="byline">
+<b>Written By:</b> Jake Bauer |
+ <b>Posted:</b> 2020-04-30 |
+ <b>Last Updated:</b> 2020-04-30
+</div>
+
+A few days ago, I posted about how I would [sometimes run out of RAM while
+playing heavily modded video
+games](https://www.paritybit.ca/blog/how-much-ram-is-enough) like Minecraft and
+how this would cause my computer to completely lock up, requiring a full
+restart.
+
+Well, some time ago I built and upgraded a couple of computers for a friend and
+they gave me their old set of 2x4GB _G.Skill Ripjaws 4_ DIMMs since they didn't
+need them anymore and as thanks for helping them. I already have 2x8GB 3200MHz
+_G.Skill Ripjaws V_ DIMMs in my computer which I got to run with my _Ryzen 5
+1600_ at 2933MHz; first generation Ryzen is quite finicky when it comes to
+getting some memory to run at higher clock speeds and the XMP profile didn't
+work. Usually, you either need to choose RAM that your motherboard vendor has
+tested and confirmed to work at certain speeds, or you need to spend some time
+tinkering to get the best possible results.
+
+When I first got this RAM, I tried putting it in my computer but was only able
+to get it to run stably at a really low speed, something like one step above
+2133MHz. I wasn't willing to make that sacrifice for what I thought at the time
+was an unnecessary increase in RAM. However, with me constantly running up
+against my computers limits, I decided to give it another go.
+
+I first tried keeping my settings the same and plugging in the two new modules
+into the two available slots on my motherboard. As expected, this failed to
+boot. Then, I tried a configuration where the two smaller capacity DIMMs were in
+the primary memory slots (A2 and B2) and were the only memory modules in the
+system. This, surprisingly, worked without any problems; the modules were
+running at 2933MHz and I had a total of 8GB of RAM.
+
+Then, I reset my memory settings and I put the 16GB modules in the remaining
+slots (A1 and B1). The computer booted fine, with 24GB of RAM running at a stock
+speed of 2133MHz. Slowly, I increased the speed and upped the voltage until my
+motherboard threw a tantrum, beeped loudly at me, and reset my settings. I
+landed on 2866MHz at 1.25V but there was an instance where the motherboard
+failed to boot, but tried again and succeeded which made me up the voltage to
+1.35V hoping that it was just a voltage problem.
+
+So, as I am writing this, I have 24GB of RAM running at 2866MHz at 1.35V. Slots
+A2 and B2 are the _Ripjaws 4_ 4GB DIMMs and slots A1 and B1 are the _Ripjaws V_
+8GB DIMMs. I ran a few stress tests using `stress` and did a memory benchmark
+and things looked okay. Except that Firefox tabs keep crashing… and now the
+`apt` module in polybar is reporting "a corrupt package file or wrong hash".
+Hmm…
+
+Okay, I'm back! I dropped the speed down to 2800MHz at 1.35V and things seem to
+be running stable now. I tried dropping the voltage as well to reduce power
+consumption and heat generation but anything below 1.35V was not stable either.
+
+Despite running the RAM 133MHz slower, there is not a noticeable difference in
+the responsiveness of my computer or the performance of my games. Then again,
+even if there's something like a 5FPS drop in games, it's worth it for the peace
+of mind of not running into OOM situations. I'll see in the coming days if the
+current speed is causing instabilities and if I'll have to drop it down even
+further (the next lowest mark is 2733MHz) but, for now, I'm just enjoying my
+extra 8GB of RAM.
+
+(If you're wondering, I arrived at a maximum voltage of 1.35V because that's the
+voltage the XMP profile set and I didn't want to risk going higher than that.)
+
+_This is my sixth post for the
+[#100DaysToOffload](https://social.paritybit.ca/tags/100DaysToOffload)
+challenge. You can learn more about this challenge over at
+[https://100daystooffload.com](https://100daystooffload.com)._
