Hi guys, about 5 years ago I built myself a PC. It probably is getting to the point where I should eventually build a new one, but the CPU honestly is still holding strong [for the time I perhaps overbuilt it], and just upgrading the vid card every few years has been great [on a 770 now so prob need to upgrade that eventually again anyway, but honestly that thing is still holding strong so I am not rushing it]. Plus I mostly just use this computer when away at school and am not doing as much gaming anyway, so this is getting me by for now.

Anyway, I am at the point where I feel my ram is suffering the most. 5 years ago for anything you needed 6 gigs was pretty overkill honestly, but now lots of games are recommending 8 gigs or more. I however haven't built a computer in so long, I was wondering if some of you guys could help me figure out which parts I would need at preferably the most affordable price? I looked up my purchase history on newegg where I originally purchased it and I can show you what I have now, and my motherboard:

[Don't laugh, keep in mind that was 5 years ago :P]

The RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145236

And the motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

So basically, I am just using 3/6 of the RAM slots on the motherboard right now. Could I just get another 3 set of ram and plug that in, or would that not work? What would generally my best option be for upgrading ram, and I would like to do it relatively cheaply because honestly this is an only going to do if it is cheap enough sort of thing [because honestly I am not super needy on the ram yet anyway even with only 6, most everything on this computer runs at max settings still quite well]. Also, if I can just plug 3 more in, does it have to be 6 gigs worth to match the others? I remember some weird rules or something about ram last time I built it and honestly I just don't remember what they were LOL or if that is even the case.

I would like if you could find me a specific product please, as I am very bad at picking this sort of thing out. I am just not sure what product to buy with this ram situation at all.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231466

Well your mobo supports a max 24GB of DDR3 2000 and has triple channel support so if using 3 DIMM's, use slots A1, B1 and C1. If using 4 DIMM's use slots A1, B1, C1 and A2. If using 6 DIMM's use slots....well, obviously just use all 6 slots at that point.

I can't recommend a specific memory but something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233166&cm_re=ddr3_2000-_-20-233-166-_-Product is a step in the right direction.

As a final note....you could try supplementing your existing memory but my recommendation would be to get a new set of matching DIMMS either 3,4 or 6 of em.

As some others have said, probably smarter to get all new RAM. Will cause issues if there are any differences in performance. Something to think about is the speed of the RAM, something most people like to ignore. Having lots of slow RAM will still cause issues. If you are going to use all six slots I'd say just double your current allotment to 12 GB of 1600 or 2000 DDR3 RAM. I also am curious how much video RAM you have on your 770. I believe they made models with both 2 GB and 4 GB and as far as gaming performance goes, doubling the VRAM is going to provide you with much bigger gains than doubling your system RAM. Also if you hold off on the system RAM upgrade you could get DDR4 RAM along with a new CPU/MOBO next year when the prices start coming down on Intel's new stuff. That would provide a massive improvement in performance that simply doubling your RAM won't give you, especially if you only have 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM in your 770 as games will be GPU constrained far more quickly than they will use up 6 GB of RAM.

I'd just get a whole set honestly. DDR3 Ram prices have really come down in the last few months. You can an 8GB kit for like $40, and 16 GB for around $80.

K thanks all. Actually I am not interested in a whole new set of upgrades, as I am not finding problems running most things. Where I am finding problems is I run out of available RAM when running many things at once which tends to slow things down more than anything. If I am just running stuff plain I really have no issues on that even mostly 5 year old desktop with a 2 year old video card on max settings. RAM though seems to be full too often with only 6 gb when I am doing enough things at the same time. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the advice!

I'm on socket 1366 as well.

I bought 3x2 GB of ram in 2008, and then complimented with 3x4 GB earlier this year, different specs although all 6 sticks are corsair, works fine.