Jump to content

Can I Combine a 4GB Stick and an 8GB Stick?

Bob Jim
By Bob Jim
in CPUs, Motherboards, and Memory
 Share
Posted

Hi,

 

After experiencing several crashes with the MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error and running memtest86, I have determined that one of my two 4GB sticks of DDR4 RAM is broken (way out of warranty). I was going to replace it with another 4GB stick (just £15 on amazon), but noticed that the 8GB stick was only £10 more. If I use the exact same RAM (Crucial Ballistix "Sport" DDR4 2400Mhz White), but 1 new 8GB stick and 1 old 4GB stick, will I see any compatibility or performance issues? I could do with the extra RAM capacity.

 

Thanks for any help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

You're getting into sketchy territory there.

If you firmware decides to support that configuration, you can run it. But you will lose out on Dual channel memory performance improvements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

It'll be okay, idk about performance differences but it'll most likely work.

 

source- replying using a computer with 1 4GB and 1 8GB stick 

also I've mixed up the ram in lots of systems with different capacities per stick and never seen any impacts, but maybe others have had different experiences

Specs: CPU: AMD Ryzen R7 3700X @4.4Ghz, GPU: Gigabyte RX 5700 XT, RAM: 32 GB (2x 8GB Trident Z Royal + 2x 8GB TForce Vulkan Z) @3000Mhz, Motherboard: ASRock B550m Steel Legend, Storage: 1x WD Black 1Tb NVMe (boot) + 1x Samsung 860 QVO 1Tb SSD (storage), Case: Thermaltake Core V21, Cooler: Noctua NH-D15

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
1 minute ago, Trinopoty said:

You're getting into sketchy territory there.

If you firmware decides to support that configuration, you can run it. But you will lose out on Dual channel memory performance improvements.

How significant are dual channel performance improvements?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
2 minutes ago, Bob Jim said:

How significant are dual channel performance improvements?

I can't give you figures because I don't know them. I'd wager that dual channel speeds up memory access by about 50% under certain conditions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Yeah that should be fine. :)

PC SPECS: CPU: Intel Core i7 3770k @4.4GHz - Mobo: Asrock Extreme 4 (Z77) - GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 680 Twin Frozr 2GB - RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x4GB (8GB) 1600MHz CL8 + 1x8GB - Storage: SSD: Sandisk Extreme II 120GB. HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB - PSU: be quiet! Pure Power L8 630W semi modular  - Case: Corsair Obsidian 450D  - OS: Windows 7

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

It will work just fine.  It will downclock to the lowest common denominator for stability.  You will have dual channel performance, which can be significant depending on the software - but either way single channel on either platform (Intel or AMD) is degrading on performance.

Workstation Laptop: Dell Precision 7540, Xeon E-2276M, 32gb DDR4, Quadro T2000 GPU, 4k display

Wifes Rig: ASRock B550m Riptide, Ryzen 5 5600X, Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6700 XT, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz V-Color Skywalker RAM, ARESGAME AGS 850w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750, 500gb Crucial m.2, DIYPC MA01-G case

My Rig: ASRock B450m Pro4, Ryzen 5 3600, ARESGAME River 5 CPU cooler, EVGA RTX 2060 KO, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz TeamGroup T-Force RAM, ARESGAME AGV750w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750 NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 3tb Hitachi 7200 RPM HDD, Fractal Design Focus G Mini custom painted.  

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 video card benchmark result - AMD Ryzen 5 3600,ASRock B450M Pro4 (3dmark.com)

Daughter 1 Rig: ASrock B450 Pro4, Ryzen 7 1700 @ 4.2ghz all core 1.4vCore, AMD R9 Fury X w/ Swiftech KOMODO waterblock, Custom Loop 2x240mm + 1x120mm radiators in push/pull 16gb (2x8) Patriot Viper CL14 2666mhz RAM, Corsair HX850 PSU, 250gb Samsun 960 EVO NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 500gb Samsung 840 EVO SSD, 512GB TeamGroup MP30 M.2 SATA III SSD, SuperTalent 512gb SATA III SSD, CoolerMaster HAF XM Case. 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/37004594?

Daughter 2 Rig: ASUS B350-PRIME ATX, Ryzen 7 1700, Sapphire Nitro+ R9 Fury Tri-X, 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz V-Color Skywalker, ANTEC Earthwatts 750w PSU, MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO cooler in Push/Pull config as rear exhaust, 250gb Samsung 850 Evo SSD, Patriot Burst 240gb SSD, Cougar MX330-X Case

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
19 hours ago, Bob Jim said:

Hi,

 

After experiencing several crashes with the MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error and running memtest86, I have determined that one of my two 4GB sticks of DDR4 RAM is broken (way out of warranty). I was going to replace it with another 4GB stick (just £15 on amazon), but noticed that the 8GB stick was only £10 more. If I use the exact same RAM (Crucial Ballistix "Sport" DDR4 2400Mhz White), but 1 new 8GB stick and 1 old 4GB stick, will I see any compatibility or performance issues? I could do with the extra RAM capacity.

 

Thanks for any help.

Should work fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing CPUs, Motherboards, and Memory

×