Can I have different brand ram sticks in the same PC without issues?

[Peter Boyle]

Hi,

 

I am looking to upgrade from 16GB to 32GB of RAM for my gaming PC. I was going to just order two 16GB sticks from Amazon but my friend has offered to give me his two old 8GB sticks for a pretty cheap price.

 

My current setup is 2x 8GB 3200MHz sticks but I have four slots available on my motherboard. My main question is will I encounter any issues if I just install my friends old RAM sticks along with my current ones? His are also 3200 MHz however his are Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB while mine are GSkill Trident Z sticks. I've always tried to stick to having all my sticks being the same to avoid any possible issues but I dont see a point in wasting money if using his will work perfectly fine.

 

Thanks in Advance.

 

My motherboard:

https://www.asus.com/us/motherboards-components/motherboards/all-series/maximus-viii-hero/

[CommanderAlex]

You have to check the subtimings of both RAM kits to see if they are identical. If they are, you may not have any issues...but mixing RAM kits is generally not recommended as they can have different ICs, subtimings, voltages, etc and enabling XMP may not be achievable and may not be worthwhile. 

 

It's best to buy the same RAM kit as the one you have currently. That also may have issues due to different revisions and manufacturer components being swapped out across multiple revisions. 

[191x7]

Check which RAM is on your sticks and check which is on his old. Use both Passmark RamMon and Thaiphoon Burner.

If the RAM is the same or from the same manufacturer with similar timings - it will work together.

I had Samsung B-die and Hynix CJR work together fine. Now I have the Samsung and 2 other sticks that the softwares can't read which RAM it is and it works fine.

All the RAM is Kingston, the CJR had large font HyperX written, the Samsung had a small font also HyperX and the newest has small font Fury written. I'll provide picture samples.

 

[Peter Boyle]

28 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

You have to check the subtimings of both RAM kits to see if they are identical. If they are, you may not have any issues...but mixing RAM kits is generally not recommended as they can have different ICs, subtimings, voltages, etc and enabling XMP may not be achievable and may not be worthwhile. 

 

It's best to buy the same RAM kit as the one you have currently. That also may have issues due to different revisions and manufacturer components being swapped out across multiple revisions. 

I might just buy a new kit all together then. Ill link the RAM I currently have. I have a feeling it was one of the earlier versions of the trident Z line as it has no rgb and seems to be out of stock in most places Ive checked

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/G-Skill-F4-3200C16D-16GTZB-Trident-PC25600-Noir/dp/B015FY3BJ2/ref=sr_1_16?crid=2SFUD3K2KVHEX&keywords=gskill+trident+z+rgb+16gb+3200mhz&qid=1675125171&sprefix=gskill+trident+z+rgb+16gb+3200mhz%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-16

[Peter Boyle]

28 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

Check which RAM is on your sticks and check which is on his old. Use both Passmark RamMon and Thaiphoon Burner.

If the RAM is the same or from the same manufacturer with similar timings - it will work together.

I had Samsung B-die and Hynix CJR work together fine. Now I have the Samsung and 2 other sticks that the softwares can't read which RAM it is and it works fine.

All the RAM is Kingston, the CJR had large font HyperX written, the Samsung had a small font also HyperX and the newest has small font Fury written. I'll provide picture samples.

 

Ill give this a go and check. Its looking like I wont be able to find the same kit as the one I currently have as it seems to only be the RGB version thats readily available. If the timings look out between the two kits I'll just order a new 32GB set with 2x 16GB sticks. Thanks for the help I didnt actually know you could check speeds this way

[CommanderAlex]

4 minutes ago, Peter Boyle said:

I might just buy a new kit all together then. Ill link the RAM I currently have. I have a feeling it was one of the earlier versions of the trident Z line as it has no rgb and seems to be out of stock in most places Ive checked

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/G-Skill-F4-3200C16D-16GTZB-Trident-PC25600-Noir/dp/B015FY3BJ2/ref=sr_1_16?crid=2SFUD3K2KVHEX&keywords=gskill+trident+z+rgb+16gb+3200mhz&qid=1675125171&sprefix=gskill+trident+z+rgb+16gb+3200mhz%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-16

You can if all comes to worse. Definitely though check out with @191x7's post on using Thaiphoon Burner and RamMon to see if there's a chance they will work together.

[Peter Boyle]

Just now, CommanderAlex said:

You can if all comes to worse. Definitely though check out with @191x7's post on using Thaiphoon Burner and RamMon to see if there's a chance they will work together.

Will do, thanks again for the suggestion. All this hassle just because Escape from Tarkov wants to use all my RAM xD

[CommanderAlex]

4 minutes ago, Peter Boyle said:

Will do, thanks again for the suggestion. All this hassle just because Escape from Tarkov wants to use all my RAM xD

That's a game I've seen gameplay of but afraid to play. Looks amazing but I gotta really see if I'm into it. Minecraft modded will eat up my 32GB of RAM. 

[Peter Boyle]

21 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

That's a game I've seen gameplay of but afraid to play. Looks amazing but I gotta really see if I'm into it. Minecraft modded will eat up my 32GB of RAM. 

Its a really good game but its a steep learning curve. I was actually debating getting 64GB ram if I do buy a new set but I plan on building a new PC when I hopefully get a job after graduating in the summer so I dont wanna spend a lot on DDR4 just to then possibly get a DDR5 PC within the next year

[Peter Boyle]

20 hours ago, CommanderAlex said:

You can if all comes to worse. Definitely though check out with @191x7's post on using Thaiphoon Burner and RamMon to see if there's a chance they will work together.

I tried putting his RAM sticks in today. It SEEMS to be working fine and they seem to be at 3200MHz without needing to XMP again. Ran a game of tarkov and the PC was using 17-18GB ram so im guessing theyre compatible 

[CommanderAlex]

1 minute ago, Peter Boyle said:

I tried putting his RAM sticks in today. It SEEMS to be working fine and they seem to be at 3200MHz without needing to XMP again. Ran a game of tarkov and the PC was using 17-18GB ram so im guessing theyre compatible 

~Snipped~

Hey that sounds great!!! Have you checked running CPU stress tests to put a load on the CPU??? If you really want to go extreme, prime95 or cinebench R23 at 10 minutes should give a good indicator of stability.

[Peter Boyle]

Just now, CommanderAlex said:

Hey that sounds great!!! Have you checked running CPU stress tests to put a load on the CPU??? If you really want to go extreme, prime95 or cinebench R23 at 10 minutes should give a good indicator of stability.

I'll try that later on once I finish my uni work. Hopefully all goes well with it and itll save me buying totally new ram sets

[CommanderAlex]

Just now, Peter Boyle said:

I'll try that later on once I finish my uni work. Hopefully all goes well with it and itll save me buying totally new ram sets

Definitely for sure it does sound like the RAM DIMMS are playing nicely together as well as with the CPU.