extreme mixing ram

[ariel621]

hey guys!

i'm about ot finish my pc built and i ran into a small budget problam. How extreme can the ram mixing get? Can i put 1 stick of 8 GB and another one of 4GB (assuming that they have the same brand and speed)? and what is the cl thing ram is measured by? should i match the cl as well?

 

[Gargone77]

ALWAYS match the CAS latency!  Aside from that, the capacities can be mixed.  The system will, in your example, use 8GB as dual channel, and the remaining 4 as single channel (theoretically).

[manikyath]

well, the more mismatched the sticks, the more chance something will act up.

[Imakuni]

While you could, it's not advised unless you already own the 4gb module (in which case you might as well put it in with the recently bought 8gb one).

 

As for matching, just get whatever your 8gb stick would be and ignore the specs of the 4gb one; you'll likely sell it later down the road in favor of a matching 8gb one, so no need to stress over matching the 4gb stick. Everything will most likely just work together regardless, mobos are pretty smart. They might not, but the worse that could happen is just running the 8gb stick and ignoring the 4 one, if your PC refuses to post with both at the same time.

[ariel621]

6 minutes ago, Gargone77 said:

ALWAYS match the CAS latency!  Aside from that, the capacities can be mixed.  The system will, in your example, use 8GB as dual channel, and the remaining 4 as single channel (theoretically).

what's cas? is that the cl?

[Gargone77]

Just now, ariel621 said:

what's cas? is that the cl?

yes