Quick ram compatibility question

[Sorradude]

Hey LTT forum! I made my account here to ask this because I couldn't think of a better place to get a solid answer.

I'm upgrading my gaming rig right now, and I'm looking to add two more sticks of ram to my system. My ram I have now is two sticks of 8GB DDR4, 3200 (No idea what brand it is, G-skill maybe?)

Do I need to get two sticks of the exact same ram for the best performance? Or can I upgrade to 3600 sticks, or maybe even 4000+? I know they are technically compatible if they are different speeds, but I've heard that it could impact performance and add extra stress to my motherboard. 

 

Is it worth swapping ALL my ram for 3600, or 4000+ speed? I have an I9-9900k and a 2080Ti for reference. 

 

Thanks for the help! 

-Adam 

[henryjhost]

3200mhz RAM is just fine for a 9900k. I would try to find an identical set of memory to the one you already have to keep dual channel functionality.

[Sorradude]

Just now, henryjhost said:

3200mhz RAM is just fine for a 9900k. I would try to find an identical set of memory to the one you already have to keep dual channel functionality.

Okay! Is it alright to mix 8gb, and 16gb sticks? I hadn't even thought about that

[henryjhost]

1 minute ago, Sorradude said:

Okay! Is it alright to mix 8gb, and 16gb sticks? I hadn't even thought about that

As far as I know mixing RAM capacities would cause it to run in single channel, which might negatively affect performance. If you're fine with 32gb of ram then I would go with what I said above. If you really want more RAM then I would buy a whole new kit.

[Sorradude]

4 minutes ago, henryjhost said:

As far as I know mixing RAM capacities would cause it to run in single channel, which might negatively affect performance. If you're fine with 32gb of ram then I would go with what I said above. If you really want more RAM then I would buy a whole new kit.

Gotcha, thanks for the help!!