Hardware & Technical Mismatched RAM, big deal?

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
At the moment, I only have 8(2x4)GB of RAM DDR3@1600mhz(It's supposed to be 2133mhz, but my system won't boot at that speed, and I can't be bothered to figure out why. Lol)

I basically can't buy the same RAM anymore, as no one seems to sell it. And if I did, it wouldn't fit under my CPU cooler anyway. (Stupid tall heat sinks!)

Would it hurt my system if I just stuck in a random (but good) 8(1x8)Gb DDR3 1600mhz RAM module?

I know I'd lose dual channel mode, but I'd double my capacity, which will be helpful for video editing, and RAM hogging programs, like Windows... Lol

From what I've read, for gaming, dual channel doesn't have much of a noticeable impact (+/- 10%)

I can't afford to buy a matching set of 16+ GB of RAM, and my PC is getting old so I don't really want to spend that kind of money on a non-transferable part anyway.

So will an 8,4,4GB ram setup cause any major issues?

I don't mind going 4,4,4,4 if I can find a 2x4GB set cheap.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
 

Dural

Dural
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
At the moment, I only have 8(2x4)GB of RAM DDR3@1600mhz(It's supposed to be 2133mhz, but my system won't boot at that speed, and I can't be bothered to figure out why. Lol)

I basically can't buy the same RAM anymore, as no one seems to sell it. And if I did, it wouldn't fit under my CPU cooler anyway. (Stupid tall heat sinks!)

Would it hurt my system if I just stuck in a random (but good) 8(1x8)Gb DDR3 1600mhz RAM module?

I know I'd lose dual channel mode, but I'd double my capacity, which will be helpful for video editing, and RAM hogging programs, like Windows... Lol

From what I've read, for gaming, dual channel doesn't have much of a noticeable impact (+/- 10%)

I can't afford to buy a matching set of 16+ GB of RAM, and my PC is getting old so I don't really want to spend that kind of money on a non-transferable part anyway.

So will an 8,4,4GB ram setup cause any major issues?

I don't mind going 4,4,4,4 if I can find a 2x4GB set cheap.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Click to expand...

If the machine boots (some are fussy about RAM) you're golden. All the RAM will run at the speed and timings of the slowest stick. Worst case if beeps rather than boots. It almost certainly won't explode or catch fire.
 

Shadowdancer

Shadowdancer
Running boards with all sockets populated can be unstable. Check the board's memory QVL for known-good configurations, but even those need not be correct (Asus, I'm looking at you…)
 

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Dural said:
If the machine boots (some are fussy about RAM) you're golden. All the RAM will run at the speed and timings of the slowest stick. Worst case if beeps rather than boots. It almost certainly won't explode or catch fire.
Click to expand...

Sounds good!

That's basically the same principle I used when building my PC. If it boots, it's fine. Lol

I also use that same principle on my car and work van. If it moves, it's fine. :D
 

MickyG1982

M
I've had some weird & wonderful RAM combinations over the years as I've built, then rebuilt, then cannibalized various systems.

90% of the time it all works out fine, on one system it wouldn't boot, but that's because I didn't pay attention & added more RAM than the system could take (it'd recognise all the RAM individually). On one other system it booted but wouldn't recognise the extra memory, a known good stick. I ditched the old motherboard & CPU, bought a new one with some RAM & installed all the extra in that one & it worked fine, it was just the old AMD mobo, again couldn't cope with the extra RAM.

Moral of the story, it'll work if you pay attention to your mobo's specs!

Oh &

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT...qid=1523552550&sr=1-32&keywords=ddr3+ram&th=1
 
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Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
I think that we are many to have this configuration 2 * 4 DDR3

At the time it was powerful

And now we are certainly many to want to go to 16 GB without losing the dual channel and unfortunately not being motivated to buy 2 * 8

:p
 
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starman

starman
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
My PC already randomly freezes, so I won't notice the difference. :D
Click to expand...

At least 10 reasons https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/solved-windows-10-freezes-locks-up-randomly-easily/

There are some who worry about whether the memory is colour coordinated.

Where is your memory on the 'curve'?

500px-Bathtub_curve.svg.png
 

Dural

Dural
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
Sounds good!

That's basically the same principle I used when building my PC. If it boots, it's fine. Lol

I also use that same principle on my car and work van. If it moves, it's fine. :D
Click to expand...

Solid no messing about logic there :D

OK, ran a 3D mark benchmark with the RAM in single then dual channel mode, no appreciable difference after one run and CBA to run loads to get a proper sample size.

starman said:
At least 10 reasons https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/solved-windows-10-freezes-locks-up-randomly-easily/
Click to expand...

Probably want to add checking the event log and hardware conflicts to that list as well.
 

popuptoaster

P
I used to run mismatched RAM in my last PC and it was fine, never had any issues with it, but you can't tell if it'll work until you try it. Just because you can't buy RAM new anymore doesn't mean you can't pick it up secondhand from somewhere, i'd try that first unless i already had a lod of it laying around.
 

starman

starman
Shadowdancer said:
If you had any idea about the OP's post history... I probably would not call the whole setup a "computer", and it's a small wonder it has not caught on fire yet.
Click to expand...

Is this the product research focus group?

[video=youtube;PF7EpEnglgk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=282&v=PF7EpEnglgk[/video]
 

mazi

mazi
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
At the moment, I only have 8(2x4)GB of RAM DDR3@1600mhz(It's supposed to be 2133mhz, but my system won't boot at that speed, and I can't be bothered to figure out why. Lol)
...
I know I'd lose dual channel mode, but I'd double my capacity, which will be helpful for video editing, and RAM hogging programs, like Windows... Lol
...
So will an 8,4,4GB ram setup cause any major issues?
...
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Click to expand...

Actually mixing RAM in different sizes is no problem at all. Only in the beginning of Dual Channel there were some systems having problems with mixed up configs. That is history and keeps coming up as an urban legend. Now I'm just assuming your computer is not such an ancient type - then actually if you would combine a 2GB and 4GB in one bank and then 8GB - on those first two the Dual Channel would work up to 2GB and the other 2GB and the 8GB would be single channel. In that case you would swap the two bigger ones together into one bank.

As the others said, try to find compatible RAM. Either by checking a qualified vendor list provided by the mainboard vendor or by looking up your mainboard on websites of RAM vendors.

About your 2133mhz issue: You might be able to plug in a higher speed RAM, but in case your mainboard and/or CPU doesn't support higher clocks it won't show up. Usually it clocks down to the next best known JEDEC profile that is stored on the memory modules, hence the compatibility list of RAM vendor. The systems needs to find one. These tell if a valid JEDEC profile for your mainboard comes with a certain RAM module.

Most systems do actually downclock the RAM to the smallest/slowest values of a given setup, however there were some mainboards and BIOS available that allowed missmatch like one fast bank and one slower. But that is sth. you better have an expert on site to check (or becom an expert yourself :D ).
 

lizzy

L
Well, it's only really a problem if you're running Ryzen. I'm running an Intel machine, so I can't really speak if it's truth or not, but there's documentation that Ryzen is RAM picky.

The only other time it matters is if you're picky, like me and choose to have 8GB because you can't find the exact same RAM. LOL
 

Morbad

Morbad
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
At the moment, I only have 8(2x4)GB of RAM DDR3@1600mhz(It's supposed to be 2133mhz, but my system won't boot at that speed, and I can't be bothered to figure out why. Lol)
Click to expand...

Very few platforms officially support the highest speed memory of a given generation and going beyond officially supported speeds either needs a compatible XMP profile or significant manual tuning.

CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
I know I'd lose dual channel mode
Click to expand...

Generally, you wouldn't.

If you have the same amount of memory in each channel, it's all dual-channel. 2x4GiB in channel A and 1x8GiB in channel B is fully dual-channel across all 16GiB, provided the memory is placed correctly.

Even if you have lopsided amounts of memory in each channel, it will still be dual-channel to double the capacity of the lower density channel, on most platforms. 3x4GiB in a dual channel platform is typically dual channel for the first 8GiB of memory addresses and single channel for the remaining 4GiB. Same goes for 1x4GiB + 1x8GiB, as long as the DIMMs are placed in slots connected to separate channels.
 

The Chairmaker

The Chairmaker
I have mismatched ram in my machine.

3 x 2GB DDR3 Dominator 7-7-7-20 1600 MHZ 1.65v xmp
1x 4GB DDR3 Low profile 9-9-9- 24 1600 MHZ 1.5v xmp.

The interesting thing was that the manual gave a specific order that you should put ram in but this did not work. I had to play around a bit until i found what worked

The manual stated ram should go 1,3, 5 and then 2, 4, 6 Sticking a dominator or low profile in 2 just failed all the time

What i ended up with is

Slot 1 had to have the highest spec ram which was the 4gb ram stick
Slot 3 and 5 then each had a 2 gb Dominator
Finally slot 4 had a 2 GB dominator.

With regard to memory timings and voltages, the motherboard didnt allow individual voltages for ram so i had to work out timings and voltages stable for all 4 sticks.

Another thing i noticed is that the motherboard boot post sequence took longer than with just the 3 Dominator matched memory.

Motherboard is however reporting its operating in triple channel mode
 

Necronaught

Necronaught
Just upgraded my laptop ram to 16 GB. I had in single channel, a Crucial 8GB DDR4 2133. I couldn't find an equal match so I got the next gen of the installed ram, which is a Crucial 8GB DDR4 2400 stick. It works great, sat here at work on my lappy rocking 16GB and I can't tell if there is any difference. Arma 3 alt tabs quicker I guess but the actual game play is the same. So much for needing extra RAM. I should have switched the HDD to an SSD. Yes I have an SSD in the M2, just would be nice to have my storage drive as an SSD too :)
 
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