mixing ram

[ElectroBrocoli]

Hi, im an desktop user who wants to upgrade my RAM, recently i bought my upgrade ram which is 4gb ddr3 1600mhz. now when i try that ram to replace my old one which is 2 gn ddr3 1600mhz, it didn't work. but when i try my old ram i can boot up. so the question is, can i mix my ram ? 2gb ddr3 1600mhz 1.5v by samsung with 4gb ddr3 1600mhz 1.5v by v-gen. my system have 2 slots with single channel config. can i do it ?

[emosun]

If the new ram isn't compatible with the board then mixing in the old ram with it isn't going to help you.

[richodude]

yes and no. On paper, the memory gets added together and wabbam! it works. It's always said you should get the exact same kind of ram you already have if upgrading. The reasons were mainly it will only run as fast as the worst stick. As for not working at all ive never heard of it not but i dont hear much.

 

You said you swapped out 4gb for 2gb? or did you add the 2 together

[ElectroBrocoli]

2 minutes ago, richodude said:

yes and no. On paper, the memory gets added together and wabbam! it works. It's always said you should get the exact same kind of ram you already have if upgrading. The reasons were mainly it will only run as fast as the worst stick. As for not working at all ive never heard of it not but i dont hear much.

 

You said you swapped out 4gb for 2gb? or did you add the 2 together

i swapped my 2gb with the 4gb, and i didn't try the mixed one yet

[Joseph K]

1 hour ago, ElectroBrocoli said:

Hi, im an desktop user who wants to upgrade my RAM, recently i bought my upgrade ram which is 4gb ddr3 1600mhz. now when i try that ram to replace my old one which is 2 gn ddr3 1600mhz, it didn't work. but when i try my old ram i can boot up. so the question is, can i mix my ram ? 2gb ddr3 1600mhz 1.5v by samsung with 4gb ddr3 1600mhz 1.5v by v-gen. my system have 2 slots with single channel config. can i do it ?

Only mix RAM if it has the same CAS timing. If you don't know what that means, don't mix RAM.

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to CPUs, Motherboards and Memory

[ElectroBrocoli]

20 hours ago, Joseph K said:

Only mix RAM if it has the same CAS timing. If you don't know what that means, don't mix RAM.

my CL for the old one is 9, but idk with the new one since it is not labeled on the description of the product (4GB 1RX8 PC3-12800U-11-12-A0)

[ElectroBrocoli]

Hi, i was about to uograde my system RAM to 4GB, now i have buy a new RAM that i wanna to use, but it didn't work, but when i replace it with my old module (2GB) it booted up, now i wonder can i mix my ram ? my old RAM was the 2GB 1RX8 PC3-12800U-11-13-A1 and my new RAM is 4GB 1RX8 PC3-12800U-11-12-A0

[ElectroBrocoli]

this is my module

top : old

bottom : new 

[HanZie82]

9 minutes ago, ElectroBrocoli said:

this is my module

top : old

bottom : new

-pic snip-

It matters if the motherboard is compatible with the new one.

Mixing should be possible, model numbers look similar enough that i would give a high chance of succeeding.

But on normally working machines trying should not break anything.

 

(ps also the RAM stick in picture are left and right, not top and bottom )

[Aditya K]

Try to put the 4GB one in the slot marked "DIMM-1"

And boot without the older stick

 

[bellabichon]

Ram compatibility is a tricky thing, and the only way to know is to try. It might work, it might not. But don't worry, you're not going to damage it or anything. 

[ElectroBrocoli]

1 minute ago, Aditya K said:

What's the speed of the older one?

 

both are the same 1600MHz

[Outamale]

Probably a bad RAM stick.  I would advise to stay with the same size RAM stick in each slot at a time.  Want 4GB of RAM?  Buy a 2GB RAM stick and you'll have 4GB of dual channel memory, while mixing different sizes will make it single channel, roughly 25% slower.  Want 8GB ram?  Buy 2 4GB RAM sticks.  So on and so forth.  You can also do quad channeling if you got 4 of the same size and speed RAM, assuming you have 4 slots and your mobo supports it, but virtually all supports dual channeling.

[ElectroBrocoli]

Just now, Outamale said:

Probably a bad RAM stick.  I would advise to stay with the same size RAM stick in each slot at a time.  Want 4GB of RAM?  Buy a 2GB RAM stick and you'll have 4GB of dual channel memory, while mixing different sizes will make it single channel, roughly 25% slower.  Want *GB ram?  Buy 2 4GB RAM sticks.  So on and so forth.  You can also do quad channeling if you got 4 or the same size (and speed) RAM, assuming you have 4 slots.

my system right now running at single channel so it wouldn't be a problem right ?

[ElectroBrocoli]

4 minutes ago, bellabichon said:

Ram compatibility is a tricky thing, and the only way to know is to try. It might work, it might not. But don't worry, you're not going to damage it or anything. 

okay

[Outamale]

No not really a problem, but it has been running that way cause a single DIMM can only do one channel.  You'll have faster RAM if you run it in dual channel mode.  But will it hurt it or not work; not at all.

[ElectroBrocoli]

8 minutes ago, Outamale said:

No not really a problem, but it has been running that way cause a single DIMM can only do one channel.  You'll have faster RAM if you run it in dual channel mode.  But will it hurt it or not work; not at all.

okay, i'll try that

[Joseph K]

7 hours ago, ElectroBrocoli said:

my CL for the old one is 9, but idk with the new one since it is not labeled on the description of the product (4GB 1RX8 PC3-12800U-11-12-A0)

It is right in the name no?

[ElectroBrocoli]

2 hours ago, Joseph K said:

It is right in the name no?

edit, it was CL 7. it is right in the name no ? idk what you mean

[LogicalDrm]

*** Threads merged ***

 

Like I said before, don't post multiple times about same stuff. Doing this more will be seen as spamming.

[freeagent]

Run it and find out! It will either work, or it will crash.. I would put the slowest stick in the right slot and fastest in the left.

[Joseph K]

On 1/9/2021 at 9:16 AM, freeagent said:

Run it and find out! It will either work, or it will crash.. I would put the slowest stick in the right slot and fastest in the left.

Just because it works doesn't mean it's a good idea. The CAS timings are not the same and it will be slow.

[freeagent]

6 hours ago, Joseph K said:

Just because it works doesn't mean it's a good idea. The CAS timings are not the same and it will be slow.

I didn't say it would work, and I didn't say it would be a good idea. I've had mixed ram work and not work, that's why I said TRY it and find out.

[Joseph K]

20 hours ago, freeagent said:

I didn't say it would work, and I didn't say it would be a good idea. I've had mixed ram work and not work, that's why I said TRY it and find out.

Did you even read what I said? It doesn't matter if it works, his RAM will be slow as fuck and his computer will be constantly stuttering.