Can you MIx ram brands?

[daiv]

I currently have 2x4gb ram in my computer. My computer doesnt support 2x8gb (for 16), but it does support 4x4 GB (for 16). I want to upgrade to 12 GB ram buy buying another 4gb slot, since I max out my ram pretty easily.

 

Can I buy any brand/speed of ram as long as its 1x4 GB? or does it have to be the same exact model?

[GirlFromYonder]

Just now, daiv said:

I currently have 2x4gb ram in my computer. My computer doesnt support 2x8gb (for 16), but it does support 4x4 GB (for 16). I want to upgrade to 12 GB ram buy buying another 4gb slot, since I max out my ram pretty easily.

 

Can I buy any brand/speed of ram as long as its 1x4 GB? or does it have to be the same exact model?

Can u mix lays with pringles. OF COURSE. And depending who you ask, the mix is tasty A F

[DragonTamer1]

I sure hope so, I'm using 3 different sets of RAM in my system and it's seeing all 48GB with no problem.

[W-L]

1 minute ago, daiv said:

I currently have 2x4gb ram in my computer. My computer doesnt support 2x8gb (for 16), but it does support 4x4 GB (for 16). I want to upgrade to 12 GB ram buy buying another 4gb slot, since I max out my ram pretty easily.

 

Can I buy any brand/speed of ram as long as its 1x4 GB? or does it have to be the same exact model?

You can mix RAM, it will go down to the most common denominator between the RAM speeds however using different brands or even kits can potentially cause issues with stability, but it is usually rare but not unheard of. 

[daiv]

Just now, DeezNoNos said:

Can u mix lays with pringles. OF COURSE. And depending who you ask, the mix is tasty A F

 

Just now, DragonTamer1 said:

I sure hope so, I'm using 3 different sets of RAM in my system and it's seeing all 48GB with no problem.

Sweet. Even speeds? My current ram is 1333hz, but i figured I might just get 1600mhz which is the max my mobo supports

[daiv]

Just now, W-L said:

You can mix RAM, it will go down to the most common denominator between the RAM speeds however using different brands or even kits can potentially cause issues with stability, but it is usually rare but not unheard of. 

Oh so no point buying 1600mhz if the other 2 sticks are 1333mhz

[DragonTamer1]

Just now, daiv said:

 

Sweet. Even speeds? My current ram is 1333hz, but i figured I might just get 1600mhz which is the max my mobo supports

It would only run at 1333 speeds unless you can overclock that RAM to 1600. It will only be as fast as the slowest RAM in the system. In my case all the RAM is 1600 speed but 2 of 4 kits don't support XMP.

[Enderman]

You should use same brand, same spec for best chances of compatibility.

[GirlFromYonder]

Just now, daiv said:

 

Sweet. Even speeds? My current ram is 1333hz, but i figured I might just get 1600mhz which is the max my mobo supports

yes bu it will run at its lowest common speed. 

 

Say you have airplane, a cow and a donkey pull a dead horse on a sledge. Now would it be better for the cow, airplane and donkey to pull the sledge in unison at the same speed or for them to go as fast as they can?

 

What would happen if every one when at their own stop speed.

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, daiv said:

Oh so no point buying 1600mhz if the other 2 sticks are 1333mhz

It will all run at 1333Mhz so the extra speed wouldn't be utilized. 

[daiv]

3 minutes ago, Enderman said:

You should use same brand, same spec for best chances of compatibility.

The ram I currently have is some awful no name brand called EDGE and its hard finding the exact stick, let alone finding it at a decent price.

 

I see a kingston stick for just $10 (+5 shipping), so ill go with that. if any issues happen I wont really care since its 15 dollars (I'll still try to send it back if it doesnt work)

[Flavlus]

Short answer , YES .. Long answer : they more have to be the same spec if you wnat to run them at the same spec otherwise it goes by worse case scenario ... Slowest speed ... etc . 

[Not_Sean]

3 minutes ago, Flavlus said:

Short answer , YES .. Long answer : they more have to be the same spec if you wnat to run them at the same spec otherwise it goes by worse case scenario ... Slowest speed ... etc . 

Yip this is correct.. and just adding, Even at the worst case it just lowers the speed of the one. thats it. your system will still be stable and in honesty the speed game if you not highly OC'ing will have such a tiny mark on performance. 

[Flavlus]

Just now, Not_Sean said:

Yip this is correct.. and just adding, Even at the worst case it just lowers the speed of the one. thats it. your system will still be stable and in honesty the speed game if you not highly OC'ing will have such a tiny mark on performance. 

Unless Ram is the bottle neck then yeah. You have to be running some serious CPU and GPU combo for that 

 

[daiv]

3 minutes ago, Flavlus said:

Unless Ram is the bottle neck then yeah. You have to be running some serious CPU and GPU combo for that 

 

My ram maxes out and makes my computer freeze (Since i like to keep alot of chrome tabs open). 

 

The speed isnt a problem, its the amount. 12gb should be plenty

[Jade]

11 minutes ago, daiv said:

My ram maxes out and makes my computer freeze (Since i like to keep alot of chrome tabs open). 

 

The speed isnt a problem, its the amount. 12gb should be plenty

Use a tab suspender.

[Flavlus]

On 24/04/2017 at 9:59 AM, daiv said:

My ram maxes out and makes my computer freeze (Since i like to keep alot of chrome tabs open). 

 

The speed isnt a problem, its the amount. 12gb should be plenty

8gb shoudl really be enough .. chekc to see whats using all the ram

 

[MagicSun]

Well first off. You shouldn't really run 12GB (or 3X4gb). You should either run 8 (2x4) or 16(4x4). Cos it's dual channel. If you run 3 sticks, all 3 will run in single channel. 

 

Secondly mixing and matching brands will generally be ok. Technically though RAM runs in a matrix. If you have one stick that has slightly different frequencies it may play wit how the motherboard is providing the voltages to the ram, impacting upon the stability of the matrix. 

 

But generally if you have same RAM in each channel it's ok (i.e slot 1,3 is X RAM, and slot 2,4 is Y RAM). 

[daiv]

On 4/27/2017 at 2:28 AM, MagicSun said:

Well first off. You shouldn't really run 12GB (or 3X4gb). You should either run 8 (2x4) or 16(4x4). Cos it's dual channel. If you run 3 sticks, all 3 will run in single channel. 

 

Secondly mixing and matching brands will generally be ok. Technically though RAM runs in a matrix. If you have one stick that has slightly different frequencies it may play wit how the motherboard is providing the voltages to the ram, impacting upon the stability of the matrix. 

 

But generally if you have same RAM in each channel it's ok (i.e slot 1,3 is X RAM, and slot 2,4 is Y RAM). 

Shoot.... I bought another 4gb stick to get 12 like right after I posted this.

 

Will it be worse than before? What does single channel mean?