Upgrade from 8 GB to 16 gb, quad or dual sticks?

[DonMilagro]

Hey all, and Tradesman.

I have a somewhat trivial question, that is almost a matter of opinion.
I want to upgrade from my F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL modules. These are 2 x 4 dual channel DIMMS at 1866. I Need 16 GB now a days in some intense games and future proof. So, rather than risk getting the sticks above again and risking compatibility, What is the best for board listed below? Keep in mind, I'm thinking of moving to 2133 MHz or higher, if the cas can be kept to 10 or even 9, otherwise its kind of a wash in speed. Is it best to use 2 sticks or will a quad channel kit of 4 work well? If so, I would look into a more "even" spread of quad because I do plan in the next year or so to get a new motherboard and cpu that supports quad channel for a serious gain. However, if id lose performance on this dual channel board by using 4 sticks, let me know. What is the best case ... and modules for this board you can recommend? Here are 2 I really like

G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL8Q-16GBZM

above I love the 8 CAS and quad ready however it doesn't state it works with the Z77, just X79 and 2011 chipset.

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-2133C9D-16GXH

This is faster with a great CAS and is 2 DIMMS

My motherboard is ASrock Z77 Extreme 4
currently have a core i5 ivy OC at times to 4.5 stable

Please Advise, Thank you

[GSKILL TECH]

That's a great kit for the price. Anything else goes up significantly in price.

If you plan to upgrade to quad channel, definitely get a quad channel kit.

The XH kit is very good, so it is a tough choice!

[DonMilagro]

thanks

Do you see any issue with either of those on my ivy bridge core i5, and astock z77 extreme 4 board. The dual channel is not listed under its specs and the quad will not lose anything by having 2 sticks on each channel speed wise?

[GSKILL TECH]

Particularly which i5? Not all are capable of DDR3-2133.

A quad channel motherboard with only 2 modules installed will run in dual channel, losing some performance.

A dual channel motherboard with 4 modules installed will run in dual channel, and not lose anything since the minimum 2 stick requirement is fulfilled.

[DonMilagro]

specs

I am currently running a Core i5 3570k . I believe it will support up to 2800 OC since that ivy bridge cpu came out the same time almost that the Asrock Z77 extreme 4 board did...roughly. So the Quad kit will lose no performance installed on dual channel board? I heard possible rumor it may since the memory controller see's two channels and has to possibly differentiate between the two sticks on each channel? If there is really no loss than I would think going with the quad kit is best. I think it will be at least a year or 1.5 years but I plan to build into a quad channel motherboard with a 6 core cpu. At the moment I will upgrade my SSD's and Ram, than video card and lastly cpu w/motherboard to see what socket types are best in a year. I'm leaning on the 2011 v3 cpu sockets for quad channel and 6 core cpu but in truth ill see whats out there when direct x12 makes its debut, that's when the real gain for 6 cores will be there! Yes to your answer on Overclocking here are my specs

1 set of F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL at 1866mhz running CAS 9 with 1N timing
Core i5 3570k with an overclock variable to 4.5 ghz by an offset voltage of +.085v
(I could run it at default at a set voltage of .900 v about, pretty good chip)
Sandisk Extreme II SSD 240 GB and adding a Sandisk Extreme Pro 420 soon
GTX FTW 670 2GB card overclocked stable up to 1215 MHz and voltage of +550mhz to ram
(stable thermals and tested, driver preferred 334.84 for card and precision x used)

Great system, rocks anything well, but starting to plan for the future. Any thoughts on the MEMORY Questions?

Thank you ADMIN!

[GSKILL TECH]

I don't think so, i7-4770K was required to have a good chance at DDR3-2800.

Quad channel RAM will not lose performance on dual channel mobo. It is fine to use quad channel kit, but you will have no space to upgrade in future.

[DonMilagro]

THANK YOU ADMINISTRATOR.

been talking to you guys for a long time on many threads over the past year and I appreciate it. Yes I will not be able to upgrade past 16gb but that is fine, I won't need more than that for games, nothing will use more than 12 gb on most games so thanks. I will use the G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL8Q-16GBZM kit and may see if I can OC it further but in reality as long as I keep the standard timmings to have a rate of .0042 ill be very good, and when I upgrade to a quad channel board in the next year or so using 2011 v3 or whatever socket I will be very happy with that. That's the goal, to buy in and upgrade now, but be able to upgrade the mainboard and cpu later and utilize what I buy into later. It looks like a great kit! ill let you know if I need any help once I install it!

[emissary42]

You will need DDR4 memory with LGA2011-3 motherboards. Broadwell(-K) will be the next mainstream architecture using DDR3 (on LGA1150).

[DonMilagro]

Thank you emissary42, I looked into what you said and agree on that. $$ wise I may wait on the quad thing than and see how DDR4 matures...at the moment its not like the timings are much better , however the bandwidth increase but its pricey and ill see how Broadwell will come out as well as how the LG2011 v3's look in a half a year.

Questions! please! what is my chance of just doubling up my kit I have now F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL ? is there a good chance that these stable modules will play well with a second set? If so, would you recommend trying it with my current set moved to the same channel and the new set on its own channel or how? just saying....its $100 cheaper but not a guarantee I know all about that.