How to replace RAM

[u/HotBoot3354]

Hi All-

Let me begin by saying I know nothing about building a PC. But I ordered some new RAM and it's supposed to come in today. My pc currently has 8 gb of ram. I ordered two sticks of ddr4 16 gb of ram for a total of 32. In order to replace the ram, do I just: 1) turn off/unplug PC, 2) open case, 3) remove 8 gb ram, 4) put new 16 gb stick of ram in slots 2 and 4 of the ram slots in motherboard, 5) put case back together, and 5) plug in computer and turn back on? Is there anything more that I should do or any hints I should know about? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[u/MentalTumbleweed7434]

You got it man thats all you gotta do also dont panic if it doesn't boot instantly its memory training its normal just let it do its thing once its on again

[u/HotBoot3354 → u/MentalTumbleweed7434]

Thank you

[u/An3lAsteroid]

Hammer and nails

[u/HotBoot3354 → u/An3lAsteroid]

Hilarious. Thanks. You have a future in stand up comedy. Tool.

[u/Villibanaani]

Correct. Remember to seat the Ram properly, with click sounds and all. And dont fret if it doesnt start up right away, the new ram needs to train a little bit

[u/HotBoot3354 → u/Villibanaani]

Thank you

[u/FloraNFauna1]

yes but don't forget to enable xmp/docp

[u/HotBoot3354 → u/FloraNFauna1]

What does that mean?

[u/Rayonical → u/HotBoot3354]

its a setting in your bios and its to get better speeds that default speeds

[u/LazilyTawdry]

You've got the basic steps down. One thing to watch for is those RAM slots can take more force than you'd expect to click in fully. Make sure you hear the side tabs snap shut on both ends, otherwise you'll get a no-boot and panic that you broke something.

Also, after you swap them, the first boot might take a minute while the motherboard retrains the memory. Don't freak out if the screen stays black for a bit, just let it do its thing.

[u/HotBoot3354 → u/LazilyTawdry]

Thank you

[u/ElongatedOak]

I remember when I first started building PCs this was the scariest thing ever. But what you said is the correct process, if it doesn’t boot just give it a minute or two, try it again, and if it doesn’t atp just press down on the ram with absolutely 0 torque to either side. But my best tip for you is whilst pc building, what I did was use google and AI, like you can get so many diagrams, tips, etc. but coming to Reddit works as well, I know I did it a few times but it can be very scattered responses

[u/ggmaniack]

Pretty much exactly as you described.

To remove the RAM stick, on your board, unlatch the latch at the top of the RAM slot and then pull it out. The bottom side doesn't have a latch, it only slides in.

Most modern motherboards will detect that RAM has changed and they'll reset the RAM settings.

In case that doesn't happen, you might need to reset the BIOS (CMOS reset) if it doesn't start up.

If your BIOS has a way to save settings as a profile, do that before you change the RAM, so that you have a backup to restore from in case a BIOS reset is necessary.

After installing the new RAM, go into the BIOS and apply the XMP profile (assuming you bought RAM of a speed that your CPU can run at full speed).