Currently running a set of Mushkin redline 3X2GB @ 1633mhz, cas 8.  I'm wondering if it's worth it to upgrade to 12gb or 24gb.  I've noticed playing Skyrim (and having a few apps running in the background) that @ times all 6GB is being used.  Is 12GB enough or should I go with 24GB.  
 
I'm considering Mushkin's 3X4GB cas 7 dimms or GSkill's 6X4GB cas 9 dimms.
 
Other components are in my sig...
 

On second thought; are there any problems running a 12GB set with a 6GB set, 3X4 and 3X2 for a total of 18GB?  As long as the new set of 3X4GBs can handle my current 7, 8, 7, 21, 72, 1t timings 1.65V.  I might have to relax those, but I think they should run fine together. 

I am pretty sure running 4g sticks and 2g sticks will cause you some problems. I have always been told you want to have the same exact memory in all your dimms pretty much, well as close to as possible. Same size, speed, timings, and if possible same brand. I do not think brand makes that big of a difference but IMO it just looks better for it all to match. 

They don't play well together.  Ran memtest 5 times with different timings.  The individual sets are fine by themselves, but together I haven't been able to find settings that work. 

Now skyrim doesn't work.   I play for 30-60 seconds and Skyrim  becomes unresponsive or quits without warning to desktop.  I guess I'll be troubleshooting tomorrow.... stress testing and all that goodness.  I haven't done it in a few years.  Should be fun.

jonny80s


Now skyrim doesn't work.   I play for 30-60 seconds and Skyrim  becomes unresponsive or quits without warning to desktop.  I guess I'll be troubleshooting tomorrow.... stress testing and all that goodness.  I haven't done it in a few years.  Should be fun.

Did you increase CPU VTT when you increased the amount of Memory?

I'll be looking into it.  I didn't run linx/ibt/prim95 to see is the cpu and memory are completely stable under load.  I'll be verifying voltages tomorrow. 

Tried to run prim95 over night last night.  Woke up this morning to a dead motherboard.  Wonderful.  Not sure if it's the CPU or the board.  PSU and RAM check-out fine.  I guess I'll be ordering a 980 (been kind of wanting 6 cores anyway) to verify whether it's the board or cpu.

Classy 3 on it's way, and a 980.

No need to upgrade to 12GB of RAM unless you plan on using some programs that need a lot of memory. Even when playing BF3 I see a maximum memory usage of about 4.5GB out of my 6GB of memory.
 
The big thing I've noticed is these games using ridiculous amounts of VRAM. You might want to look into that with your current GTX 295's. Upgrading to something like a pair of GTX 480's that are currently $209 dollars on newegg.

When playing Skyrim with a few apps open on a second monitor I use all 6GB. 
 
For the short period I played Skyrim with 12GB, it seemed a little faster, but I didn't have enough time to go in and out of buildings inside any of the cities to see if lag is still there. 
 
Classy 3 and 980 arrived an hour ago.  I'll be playing with that as soon as  I get home.  The heat sink that comes with the 980 is a beast compared to what was shipped with my 920 3 years ago.

Im loving my 980

IMHO, hex core doesn't do squat for gaming. If it's not too late, I would suggest returning the 980 and Classified 3, and use that money to get an i5 2500K (the golden standard for most gaming applications) and a Z68 mobo. You would probably have enough money leftover to upgrade to at least a GTX 560 with 2gb VRAM (which blows Skyrim away in my personal experiences). I would suggest 8gb of RAM, but I was able to get a 16gb kit for cheap so look for deals.
 
I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your rig; this is just a config that has worked for me quite successfully, especially for Skyrim (1080p, maxed out everything, smooth fps). It saves a lot of money compared to buying an i7-980 (expensive, hex-core is useless, last-gen technology). Hope you have success with your rig (no matter what you choose to do with the config) and playing Skyrim

IF I were to step up to newer chipset it would be X79 with a 3930; quad channel memory controller, PCIe 3.0.  However, EVGA's current offerings for X79 MBs are horrible compared to the competitions'.
 
I've been looking @ Gigabyte's UD5.  A very nice blend of everything nice.
 
There are $1200 worth of components sitting in my wish list for my next build.  Just waiting on nvidia to release the new cards.  I have to retire my 295s some day. 
 

I'm waiting for nVidia to release their new Kepler cards too. Wish they would at least give some teasers about them instead of keeping them top-secret
 
I agree about X79. I was just describing a Skyrim rig I built for my bro and recommending that over spending any more money on the antiquated X58 architecture. An awesome looking X79 in my opinion is the Rampage IV Maximus by Asus. Not as expensive or unnecessary as the Rampage IV Extreme...