Core i7-920 and additional memory

Factual Questions
1

I have a Core i7-920 with 6GB of memory running Windows 7 Home Premium. I was getting fairly frequent BSODs and I suspected the memory, so I bought a new 6GB. Now, I think it’s something else (and I may have found the problem – yay!).

I remember reading somewhere that with the new Core i7 front-side bus, or lack of bus, or something like that, having three sticks, and only three sticks, of tri-channel memory is somehow extra fast.

Is that true? I never actually use even 6GB of memory, but now that I have an additional 6GB, I was thinking of installing it, rather than just having it sit around.

I guess my question is, will having 12GB (6 sticks) of memory installed somehow slow down my system, if I never run out of memory as it is? Is 3 sticks of tri-channel memory extra super fast on the Core i7 machines?

The old memory is: Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Newegg.com (PC3 10600)

The new memory is: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Newegg.com (PC3 12800)

Will the different PC3 numbers make a difference? I don’t do any overclocking.

RS

2

If you’re running 32-bit Windows, anything above 4 GB is useless, 32-bit Windows can’t access it.

3

I’m running 64-bit Windows Home Premium. Any comment on the memory questions?

4

The RAM will all run at the slower speed. If you do alot of high end gaming you will notice a small drop in overall performance. If you are never using the full 6GB your computer will be faster using the faster ram without the extra 6 GB.

5

Also, the tri-channel memory allows a small increase in memory bandwidth when use in multiples of three, so six sticks will fully use the three channels.

6

OK, so the slower ram will cause all of it to operate at the slower speed.

So, three sticks or six sticks will both take advantage of the Core i7 architecture.

Looks like 6 sticks is fine, but I’d be better off with just the three faster sticks unless I start doing video editing or something.

Great answers! Thanks!