Mixing similar but not identical RAM

[Setzera]

Hey everyone, I have done a fair bit of Googling and the overall consensus seems to be to get a kit, but I would like to pose my question anyways as the mix is extremely close here.

 

I have a GA-AB350M-DS3H motherboard and along with other components I had bought a 2 x 8 kit of Hyper X HX424C15FB2K2/16 RAM last year when I built this PC.  The past month I've been having random blue screens and ran some tests.  MemTest86+ is showing one of the sticks is getting hundreds of errors, while the other stick seems to be fine solo, I tested the slots too so I know it's the stick itself.  I'm currently using the working 1 x 8GB stick right now.

 

Unfortunately Amazon does not have any of the same sticks and no idea when there will be more.  The other unfortunate part is that while I haven't called them, Hyper X's website says RMA's of kits must include both sticks to be RMA'd, not just one.  So I'd likely be RAM-less during that time, or would end up purchasing RAM anyways to be able to keep using my system since I'd have to send this working stick back too.  I'm also in Canada and I'm unsure how long it would take to get replacements.

 

I have a few options but suffice to say I'm wondering what you all think of me buying this other very similar stick and using it, AND whether or not I should attempt Dual Channel slots or use Single Channel, if I buy it.

 

Current RAM: https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX424C15FB2K2_16.pdf   1 x 8 remaining out of 2 x 8 kit.

Purchasable RAM: https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX424C15FB3_8.pdf   1 x 8 GB.

 

Spec wise they are almost identical, hence why I needed to ask.  I'm going to sleep on this but I look forward to feedback in the morning, thanks!

[boggy77]

go for it and go dual channel

[TrigrH]

13 minutes ago, Setzera said:

Unfortunately Amazon does not have any of the same sticks and no idea when there will be more.  The other unfortunate part is that while I haven't called them, Hyper X's website says RMA's of kits must include both sticks to be RMA'd, not just one.  So I'd likely be RAM-less during that time, or would end up purchasing RAM anyways to be able to keep using my system since I'd have to send this working stick back too.  I'm also in Canada and I'm unsure how long it would take to get replacements.

 

I have a few options but suffice to say I'm wondering what you all think of me buying this other very similar stick and using it, AND whether or not I should attempt Dual Channel slots or use Single Channel, if I buy it.

 

Current RAM: https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX424C15FB2K2_16.pdf   1 x 8 remaining out of 2 x 8 kit.

Purchasable RAM: https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX424C15FB3_8.pdf   1 x 8 GB.

 

Spec wise they are almost identical, hence why I needed to ask.  I'm going to sleep on this but I look forward to feedback in the morning, thanks!

This is the part you need if you want the exact same kit:

https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX424C15FB2_8.pdf

 

HX424C15FB2K2/16

HX424C15FB2/8

 

K2/16 = Kit 2 16GB total.

/8 = Single stick 8GB total.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254458740603/

 

 

[Setzera]

Thank you for the feedback.  I have been considering buying another set, then having these ones RMA'd and then either keeping the replacements for future use or selling them.  I still need to contact them to ask about an RMA on 1 stick but based on the website saying a kit must have 2, I'm not expecting.

 

I actually hadn't thought about checking eBay or used sticks of the same RAM, but if that's an option I'm assuming, if I buy 2 8GB sticks of the same RAM, rather than a kit with 2 sticks, that be fine too?

[Setzera]

For closure, I ended up buying 2 of those 8GB sticks (not in a kit), currently running them dual channel and have done MemTest, everything is running really good after nearly a week.

 

I'm going to RMA that 16GB kit some time soon, I'll either save them for another build down the road or sell em off.  I think in the future I'm not going to bother buying kits.  I never adjust timings or voltages for my setups anyways so that probably helped in this situation.  I did not used to buy kits back in the DDR2/3 days and while times have changed, I guess I just don't like the idea of having to RMA a kit and basically wasting one of the sticks lol.

 

The serial numbers seemed quite close on the labels so I imagine that I got them roughly from the same batch.

 

Thanks for the replies.