12GB ram

[Tonsel]

Hey guys.

So I was really stupid and bought one stick of 8GB ram.

I want dual channel so I was thinking of buying another 4GB.

Is it possible to get dual channel from one 8GB and one 4GB?

G skill ripjaws ddr3 1600- blue

G skill ripjaws ddr3 1600- red

Thanks!

[EarthboundHero]

No, they need to be the exact same stick of RAM. And even then, if they don't come in the same package it isn't guaranteed to work.

[AlwaysFSX]

No, they need to be the exact same stick of RAM. And even then, if they don't come in the same package it isn't guaranteed to work.

Not really, no..

[EarthboundHero]

Not really, no..

You sure? That's what I've heard. Could be wrong.

[Jade]

You sure? That's what I've heard. Could be wrong.

Dunno about mismatched sizes, but I bought two of the same model about a year apart. (11 and a half months, to be exact). Didn't come in the same package and definitely aren't from the same batch. Hell, the PCB (? dunno the proper term for what's in between the spreader of RAM) is even different colors, despite the spreader and speeds being the same. Typically it'll work fine if they're the same spec wise (speed and CAS). Again, I don't know if this applies for mismatched sizes.

[EarthboundHero]

Dunno about mismatched sizes, but I bought two of the same model about a year apart. (11 and a half months, to be exact). Didn't come in the same package and definitely aren't from the same batch. Hell, the PCB (? dunno the proper term for what's in between the spreader of RAM) is even different colors, despite the spreader and speeds being the same. Typically it'll work fine if they're the same spec wise (speed and CAS). Again, I don't know if this applies for mismatched sizes.

The reason kits of 2 are 2 sticks are sold, from what I've heard, is because they're are validated to work in dual-channel. Doesn't mean other won't, just those will.

[AlwaysFSX]

You sure? That's what I've heard. Could be wrong.

Different sticks but same capacity work. Mixed brands work. I think mixed sizes work to the lowest common denominator.

[EarthboundHero]

Different sticks but same capacity work. Mixed brands work. I think mixed sizes work to the lowest common denominator.

That makes sense. It's just better to use the same sticks for better chance of compatibility.

[AlwaysFSX]

That makes sense. It's just better to use the same sticks for better chance of compatibility.

The day someone finds a set of sticks in a series that don't work together no matter what, call me.

[Tonsel]

How big of a difference is dual channel vs single channel anyways?

Just planning to use PC for school and wow, league and hearthstone

[FruitBasketSilex]

Hey guys.

So I was really stupid and bought one stick of 8GB ram.

I want dual channel so I was thinking of buying another 4GB.

Is it possible to get dual channel from one 8GB and one 4GB?

G skill ripjaws ddr3 1600- blue

G skill ripjaws ddr3 1600- red

Thanks!

Benefit from dual channel us within margin of error, so Dont worry about that.

[Hieb]

Generally motherboards have two slots per channel... i.e. 4 memory slots, 2 channels, 2 slots per channel.

 

All active memory units need to run at the same speed. In the case of mismatched RAM, the faster units will simply have to run at lower specification to operate with the slower RAM.

 

In order to use dual-channel mode, each channel needs to have the exact same amount of memory, however it doesn't matter within the channel how that size is achieved. The motherboard basically treats each channel as one big DIMM. So simply having one 8GB module and one 4GB module will not allow you to have dual-channel since the channels would not be the same size. You could have, for example, [8GB + 4GB] [8GB + 4GB] for dual-channel 24GB, or [4GB + 2GB] [4GB + 2GB] for dual-channel 12GB, etc.

 

So to put it simply, for dual channel (similarly with triple or quad channel on applicable platforms) all channels need to be the same size as each other, but each channel can contain different sized modules.

 

If you want dual-channel mode, you're going to need enough RAM modules to make sure that your channel 1 and 2 have the exact same amount of RAM... the simplest way to do this is with another 8GB stick of Ripjaws.