F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL Compat. w/4GBNQ?

[cneblett]

Gigabyte P55A-UD3
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad
Windows 7 Pro, 64 Bit
G.Skill F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ (2GBx2)

The above components have performed flawlessly since building the system about 5 months ago. I want to add 4GB of additional memory and I just bought Ripjaws, F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL from Newegg. I should have asked this question before buying, but I thought that since the specs are identical, the Ripjaws would be compatible with the original 4GBNQ. However, since searching the list for similar questions, it appears that they may not be compatible. I have not yet installed the Ripjaws to test compatibility since my case is physically very difficult to access and replace.
Do you recommend that I return the 4GNRL Ripjaws and purchase 2 more stiicks of 4GBNQ (cost $10 more + cost to return Ripjaws), or is there a good chance of compatibility using the 4GBRL Ripjaws? Assuming compatibility, does the installed order of the 4 sticks in the 2 memory channels make a difference?
I?m also curious as to what the last 2 characters in the part numbers mean (NQ vs RL). I've searched the lists for info on understanding the DDR3 part numbers, but did not find the answer. Thanks for your help.

[Tradesman]

They should work together okay, might be a minor bit of tweaking, the Ripjaws (RL) use a different, slightly newer and higher end ICs. If you stay with these I'd put them in slots 2-4 and the NQs in 1-3. Also, want to keep in mind that if you do switch to another set of NQs, you still might have to do a bit of tweaking as even within the same exact model of sticks they can be slight variations from set to set, based on the lot they came from and even the simple fact that they are DRAM, which is why different sets (1,2, 3, 4, 6, 8 sticks) are available, they are tested together as a set to ensure compatibility.

If you got them from say, the Egg, you should have 30 days to try them and check compatibility.

As far as the model numbers go, for the generalities you can take a look at this post:

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=7000

and also some models go further, in the case of the Ripjaws, the RL here is for Ripjaws Light, there are also RH - Ripjaws Heavy and RM - Ripjaws Medium, other models go differently i.e. the PI series is PI, but they also have a slightly newer PI Black which is PIB...

hope this helps

[cneblett]

Thanks for the Excellent Response

Tradesman - Thanks for the prompt, thorough, and very helpful information in your reply. I'm going to go ahead and give the 4GBRL Ripjaws a try.

[GSKILL TECH]

They should work without a problem. Enabling the Extreme Memory Profile would set the memory for you. Otherwise, you would need to manually configure memory frequency, timings, and voltage since this kit is above ther standard DDR3-1333 CL9.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH