RAM compatibility

[Dan942]

So a friend of mine is selling me his 2x4gb RAM sticks for a really cheap price and I was wondering if it will be fine to put in my computer because i currently have 1x8gb ddr3 and im not sure if 1 8gb stick and 2 4gb stick will work ok. Also they are different brands mine is ADATA and his is something else (cant remember) Thanks in advance.

[RadiatingLight]

They will work as long as they are both DDR3

[Dan942]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

They will work as long as they are both DDR3

ok thanks for the reply yeah they are all ddr3 and same speed just wasnt sure if 2 4gb stick will work with 1 8gb stick. oh and also should i put the ram is any slot like does it matter where it goes?

[S a f a r i m a n]

8 minutes ago, Dan942 said:

ok thanks for the reply yeah they are all ddr3 and same speed just wasnt sure if 2 4gb stick will work with 1 8gb stick. oh and also should i put the ram is any slot like does it matter where it goes?

You shoul put the 2 ram sticks in A2 and B2 and the 8 gb in A1

 

I once had a pc with 3 different type ram and screwed the order on the slots,it wasn't going to post until i put the only 2 equal ram sticks in the right order

It may change and it's not a scientific fact that it will work for you,but a try doesn't hurt anyone

[Equilibrium_FOOL]

RAM can be hit and miss for compatibility, however most modern products will work just fine with almost any other speed, latency and size ram. 

 

I threw a 4gb stick of ddr3 in an older pc, the new ram was running at 1600mhz and at CAS 12 or 13, and the old stick was running at 1333mhz and at a much lower latency.  I was concerned about reliability, but I ran a memtest and everything checked out fine.  While doing research to ensure success, I found many stories of unsuccessful combinations, and the general consensus was that it *should* work, in *most* cases.  You will be fine.

[RadiatingLight]

14 minutes ago, Equilibrium_FOOL said:

I threw a 4gb stick of ddr3 in an older pc, the new ram was running at 1600mhz and at CAS 12 or 13, and the old stick was running at 1333mhz and at a much lower latency.

Actually, AFAIK that's impossible.

different channels can run at different latencies, but not different speeds.

@MageTank amirite?

[RadiatingLight]

38 minutes ago, Dan942 said:

ok thanks for the reply yeah they are all ddr3 and same speed just wasnt sure if 2 4gb stick will work with 1 8gb stick. oh and also should i put the ram is any slot like does it matter where it goes?

put the two identical sticks in the same colored slots. then the odd-one out. (the 8GB stick) in a different color slot. these slots correspond to channels, and each channel works best with identical RAM in it.

[Equilibrium_FOOL]

11 hours ago, RadiatingLight said:

Actually, AFAIK that's impossible.

different channels can run at different latencies, but not different speeds.

@MageTank amirite?

The motherboard automatically chose the lower speed.  Now both sticks are running at 1333Mhz, not 1600Mhz.

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Equilibrium_FOOL said:

The motherboard automatically chose the lower speed.  Now both sticks are running at 1333Mhz, not 1600Mhz.

Yes. it defaults to the lowest speed.