Ensure your system supports dual-channel RAM and verify compatibility with your motherboard and processor.
Ensure your system supports dual-channel RAM and verify compatibility with your motherboard and processor.
the pc uses an asrock b450m pro4-f board. currently it runs only one 8gb ddr4 2666 mhz stick, crucial ct8g4dfs8266.m8fj cl 19 1.2v. i bought just one stick initially, planning to add more later for dual channel. in my country, the available options are cb8g2666 and ct8g4dfra266, both ddr4 crucial 2666mhz. i also checked cl19 1.2v on the manufacturer's site but couldn't find compatibility info. unsure if those would work with dual channel.
What processor do you have? Honestly, 2666MHz isn't suitable for anything you'd fit into an AM4 socket, particularly at the CL19 level. That's really poor. You should aim for a chip with at least 3200MHz in the CL16 range, or preferably 3600MHz in the CL16. Otherwise, you're just moving from extremely bad performance to only marginally worse.
the supported max speed for that model seems to be around 2933 mhz. budget was a big factor too, especially since i only had the option of one ram stick at the time. i noticed only a small difference between 2666 and 3000 mhz in benchmarks, but without dual channel performance varied a lot. when the corona crisis hit, my job was lost, so i couldn’t afford another upgrade then. now i can buy another stick, but i’m not sure if it will work on my current motherboard—i need to check compatibility first.