Single to Dual Channel Upgrade Help

[schroederbrian]

Hi,

Currently i have this ram 1x8GB Ballistix BLS8G4D32AESCK

and i want to buy another stick of 1x8gb ram to reach 16gb DUAL CHANNEL , but i cannot buy it exacly the same one. 

I will have to buy this one 1x8GB Ballistix BLS8G4D32AESBK

 

My motherboard : Asus PRIME-H310M-K-R2-0 which has 2 memory slots.

CPU : i5 9400f

 

I know i am limited to 2666mhz by the motherboard, that is no problem for me. I just want to ask you if i buy another stick which it doesnt come in a 2x8 package, will i be able to reach Dual Channel benefits.

I hope you get what i am saying, please let me know.

 

I have put links of my specs if you want to see extra specifications of them.

Thank you

[barkydoggo]

It won't look pretty but it'll certainly work. They're both 3200 CL16. Haven't looked into the other timings, but the general rule of thumb is that the dual channel pair will operate at the speed of the slowest stick.

[Tristerin]

It will reach dual channel.  The only issue you may find is you will have to set frequency to 2666mhz and voltage to 1.35 as they will likely just post to 2133mhz at 1.2v

[schroederbrian]

3 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

It will reach dual channel.  The only issue you may find is you will have to set frequency to 2666mhz and voltage to 1.35 as they will likely just post to 2133mhz at 1.2v

Sorry for asking, i am new to this, Both sticks are 3200mhz, 1.35 V, Cos latency 16. The mobo will limit them to 2666mhz.

Why are you saying it will just post to 2133mhz at 1.2v, please if you could explain it to me. Thank you

[Tristerin]

with XMP enabled in your BIOS they will attempt to run at 3200mhz CL16 @ 1.35v.  Without XMP enabled (or its called DOCP on some motherboards) it will run at 2133mhz @ 1.2v.  XMP is "overclocking" and they "auto" overclock to those speeds (if board and CPU memory controller allow for that frequency) when you set XMP/DOCP in your BIOS settings.  

 

So example, if you download CPU-Z and take a look at the Memory tab - what is the NB frequency right now with your current single stick?

[schroederbrian]

Just now, Tristerin said:

with XMP enabled in your BIOS they will attempt to run at 3200mhz CL16 @ 1.35v.  Without XMP enabled (or its called DOCP on some motherboards) it will run at 2133mhz @ 1.2v.  XMP is "overclocking" and they "auto" overclock to those speeds (if board and CPU memory controller allow for that frequency) when you set XMP/DOCP in your BIOS settings.  

 

So example, if you download CPU-Z and take a look at the Memory tab - what is the NB frequency right now with your current single stick?

I attached the picture.

[Srnewbee]

1 minute ago, Tristerin said:

with XMP enabled in your BIOS they will attempt to run at 3200mhz CL16 @ 1.35v.  Without XMP enabled (or its called DOCP on some motherboards) it will run at 2133mhz @ 1.2v.  XMP is "overclocking" and they "auto" overclock to those speeds (if board and CPU memory controller allow for that frequency) when you set XMP/DOCP in your BIOS settings.  

 

So example, if you download CPU-Z and take a look at the Memory tab - what is the NB frequency right now with your current single stick?

since his rams are not the exact pairs. OP might have to do it manually. XMP IMO, is not recommended

[Srnewbee]

Just now, schroederbrian said:

I attached the picture.

Its at 1333. Understandable tho. since its  a single channel. Lets see it handle 2666 when u get the second ram.

[Tristerin]

3 hours ago, Srnewbee said:

Its at 1333. Understandable tho. since its  a single channel. Lets see it handle 2666 when u get the second ram.

Not true - DDR stands for Double Data Rate - you take that number times two and its running 2666mhz.

 

3 hours ago, schroederbrian said:

I attached the picture.

Running at 2666mhz CL16.  I recommend just inputting the new stick - and seeing if it will operate at 2666mhz CL16 with voltage of 1.2v

 

My current kits in my machine are 2x8gb 3600mhz CL18 and 2133mhz CL14 - I manually set to 2666mhz for stability (using 32gb for specific workloads) over 4 DIMMS (Ryzen first gen is testy over tolerances) and they both run at 1.2v (not needing the extra voltage that XMP employs which is 1.35v for the OC).

 

If it does not, set the frequency in BIOS to 2666mhz and change no voltages and see if that takes.  If not set voltage to 1.35 for your RAM and it should be just fine.  

[schroederbrian]

17 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Not true - DDR stands for Double Data Rate - you take that number times two and its running 2666mhz.

 

Running at 2666mhz CL16.  I recommend just inputting the new stick - and seeing if it will operate at 2666mhz CL16 with voltage of 1.2v

 

My current kits in my machine are 2x8gb 3600mhz CL18 and 2133mhz CL14 - I manually set to 2666mhz for stability (using 32gb for specific workloads) over 4 DIMMS (Ryzen first gen is testy over tolerances) and they both run at 1.2v (not needing the extra voltage that XMP employs which is 1.35v for the OC).

 

If it does not, set the frequency in BIOS to 2666mhz and change no voltages and see if that takes.  If not set voltage to 1.35 for your RAM and it should be just fine.  

Ok thank you for your answers, i checked some yt videos on XMP and it was not that complicated imo. I contacted crucial (ram brand) and they said i need the exact same ram to reach dual channel. 

I will try to find and buy the same one. Will post here again if it doesn't work or anything. Thank you

[Tristerin]

They just cant guarantee it will work, so they wont say it will work in dual channel - Ive never had this issue with mixing DDR4 personally (diff freqs, timings etc)