Mixing ram?

[V4oLDbOY]

I asked this a while ago when I was upgrading my ram, but that pertained to the 2 sticks of ddr3 in the same dual channel.

I am thinking of upgrading to 8gb of ram lately. I would be adding another 2x2gb sticks in the other 2 dual channel slots on my mobo.

Do the 2 sets of ram need to be similar, or the same, in anyway?

In terms of voltage, ect ect.

 

[thefreeaccount]

The sticks all have to run at the same voltage, but DDR3 will usually work over a pretty large range of voltages. They will all run at the same speed, which by default will be the speed of your slowest stick.

 

[PyreSpirit]

Uhh if you don't want them to run optimum speed, go ahead. But if you want your sticks to run 1600mhz, it'd be a bad idea because it's a little unstable (depends how your mobo likes it, maybe it won't post)

 

[vsboxerboy]

Man, there is some black magic that goes into mixing ram. Even if they are of the same speed, voltage, and timing you might get some errors or instability. Happened to me (same everything, just mixing brands) and I swear I'm not the only person who has encountered these problems

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1543591
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1542776

Do as you wish, but I'm not dealing with that headache again.

 

[pbcustom98]

i would stick to having all the same ram. mixing it is just asking for headaches.

 

[V4oLDbOY]

ehh, I ended up just sticking with 4gb or ram. Decided to save the money for an eventual mobo/cpu upgrade down the line.

 

[pbcustom98]

ehh, I ended up just sticking with 4gb or ram. Decided to save the money for an eventual mobo/cpu upgrade down the line.

when you do decide to upgrade, sell off the old ram and get a kit of whatever size/speed you decide on.