Should I upgrade from 4GB of ram?

I found a deal for 8gb of ram for $35 and 16gb of ram for $60 (G. Skill). Now, some questions:


The 4GB of ram I have now (2 x 2GB sticks) are f3 DDR3 1600 G. Skill Ram. From what I remember the ASUS M4A87TD board I have has 4 slots for ram. So, do I buy 2 x 4GB of ram and then keep the ram I have now, for a total of 12GB of ram? By the way, can you even mix and match different sticks of ram? 2GB, 2GB, 4GB and 4GB of ram?

Or, do I upgrade to 16GB of ram? I do some photoshop work once in a while. Will this ram fit my motherboard?
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GAO

I am thinking 16GB of ram might be a little overboard, but for $60 why not? Also, my processor is a Phenom x4 965 BE at stock speeds 3.4Ghz.(I might overclock that sucker once I learn how). I don't plan on upgrading my pc for at least a couple of years, so how much ram should I go with? 8 or 16? Basically, I plan on keeping this pc for like 5+ years.

If you are looking at this PC for the 5 year plan, I'd say go for it. You will see a bit of a gain now, and down the road a couple years 16GB will be standard. I also don't see DDR3 getting too much cheaper really. Won't be long and it will be obsolete, supplies will dry up, and it will be more expensive than it is now. Just look at DDR2 prices compared to DDR3 now.

I glanced at the ASUS manual and it looks like you could just add the 2x4GB for 12GB total, or pull the 2x2GB sticks in there now and put 4GB in all four slots. Just make sure to get only pairs of sticks and put the matching pairs (2GB or 4GB) in the same color slot (blue or black) so the whole lot runs dual channel mode. Maybe some one else with more direct experience with that board can confirm that though as I'm just going by what ASUS seems to be saying.

I don't see any mention of the board being able to run 8GB sticks, but that was just a quick look at google. Again maybe someone can chime in there with their experience, but I'd say it looks like it is maxed out at 4x4GB sticks for 16GB.

It's sometimes creates error when 2G mix with 4G sticks.