Adding different types of ram.

[cameronh779]

Hello,

Gonna make this short and sweet. Im gaming alot and have alot of things open at once and my ram is being used almost to max. I have 8GB. Now currently in my computer is 2 sticks of 4gb DDR3. Now, in my closet I have a 2X2GB set of DDR3 as well. Im not too concerned about ram performance unless it hurts more than it would help putting it in. Only overclock I have is im at 4.3Ghz on stock volts on my i5 2500k.

Just wanting to know if it would help to put those 2GB in there.

 

[alucasa]

Should work.

 

[Kursah]

More RAM is better than faster RAM in many cases. All of your RAM will have to operate at the slowest max-rated speed of either kit of RAM.

So if you have your 2x4GB at DDR3-1600, but the 2x2GB kit is 1333, all kits will likely need to run at 1333, with the compatible timings and voltages applied as well. You might be able to OC the slower RAM to match the faster RAM. This is more speculative than provided off of what you provided, but I feel it is useful to share.

If it is all the same speed, but one kit runs looser timings... i.e. 9-9-9-24 vs 10-10-10-30 (looser), odds are you'll need to run looser timings on all kits. I'd go for the easy compatibility route...faster RAM usually has no issues running at lower speed with looser timings.

But yes it should work. You'll have 12GB of RAM and that'll be nice if you do enough that you're pegging out 8GB and hitting the page file. It'll keep your system smoother with more stuff running. I'd go for it!

 

[cameronh779]

More RAM is better than faster RAM in many cases. All of your RAM will have to operate at the slowest max-rated speed of either kit of RAM.

So if you have your 2x4GB at DDR3-1600, but the 2x2GB kit is 1333, all kits will likely need to run at 1333, with the compatible timings and voltages applied as well. You might be able to OC the slower RAM to match the faster RAM. This is more speculative than provided off of what you provided, but I feel it is useful to share.

If it is all the same speed, but one kit runs looser timings... i.e. 9-9-9-24 vs 10-10-10-30 (looser), odds are you'll need to run looser timings on all kits. I'd go for the easy compatibility route...faster RAM usually has no issues running at lower speed with looser timings.

But yes it should work. You'll have 12GB of RAM and that'll be nice if you do enough that you're pegging out 8GB and hitting the page file. It'll keep your system smoother with more stuff running. I'd go for it!

Once again my man Kursah to the rescue! Im considering a possible CPU upgrade if its bottle-necking my GTX 1060 6GB. In games like World of Warcraft, once a scene loads I get 100fps+ but once i start moving around and changing graphics it dips, then stays steady. Not sure what that is all about.

Also, does the ram speed affect my CPU overclock noticeably? Or will it affect the speed of anything I do noticeably? Will my board auto tune the ram or do I need to go in and set the speed manually?

EDIT: ''Staff Member'' - Congratulations! Im sure im late but wow thats awesome man!

 

[eidairaman1]

More RAM is better than faster RAM in many cases. All of your RAM will have to operate at the slowest max-rated speed of either kit of RAM.

So if you have your 2x4GB at DDR3-1600, but the 2x2GB kit is 1333, all kits will likely need to run at 1333, with the compatible timings and voltages applied as well. You might be able to OC the slower RAM to match the faster RAM. This is more speculative than provided off of what you provided, but I feel it is useful to share.

If it is all the same speed, but one kit runs looser timings... i.e. 9-9-9-24 vs 10-10-10-30 (looser), odds are you'll need to run looser timings on all kits. I'd go for the easy compatibility route...faster RAM usually has no issues running at lower speed with looser timings.

But yes it should work. You'll have 12GB of RAM and that'll be nice if you do enough that you're pegging out 8GB and hitting the page file. It'll keep your system smoother with more stuff running. I'd go for it!

As what Kursah said, however, there is always a 50/50 it will or not work, just try it and see, if your board supports profiles, I'd save it. Then reset your cmos, boot, save optimized defaults, shut down then add the other sticks, for a proper configuration I'd read your board manual on how to key up the slots right.

 

[Kursah]

Once again my man Kursah to the rescue! Im considering a possible CPU upgrade if its bottle-necking my GTX 1060 6GB. In games like World of Warcraft, once a scene loads I get 100fps+ but once i start moving around and changing graphics it dips, then stays steady. Not sure what that is all about.

Also, does the ram speed affect my CPU overclock noticeably? Or will it affect the speed of anything I do noticeably? Will my board auto tune the ram or do I need to go in and set the speed manually?

EDIT: ''Staff Member'' - Congratulations! Im sure im late but wow thats awesome man!

Hey thanks! Just happened a few days ago so you're right on time my friend.

Slower RAM will cause some performance degradation but not to the same extent as not enough RAM. When you reach a certain limit data from RAM is moved to HDD/SSD storage. Both of which are much slower than even DDR3 1333 speeds.

You may find you can OC your CPU further if your MCH isn't as stressed with faster RAM. Though populating more DIMMs with RAM introduces increased MCH load as well...though with newer systems I find that to be far less of an issue with stability or performance vs. Faster RAM.

Your board should hopefully set to the fastest speed of the slowest RAM. That's your goal to achieve...manual or auto. You may have to fiddle around, or you might luck out and have to do little more than install the memory modules. I would expect to manually change it regardless if it were me tho.

 

[Komshija]

Back in a while I installed 10 GB RAM (2x4 GB + 2x1 GB) in my grandpa's PC. RAMs were from the same vendor, same speed and probably the same latency (Kingmax DDR2 800 ). It worked OK for a while, but then started to throw errors. I pulled out two 1 GB sticks and the problem was solved.

I also mixed RAMs. I installed 6 GB DDR2 RAM - 2x2 GB Kingmax 667 MHz and 1x2 GB Transcend 800 MHz. They all worked at 667 MHz and I had no problems whatsoever whit this PC.

The point is that one can tell you for certain whether some RAM setup will work or not. You'll have to test them, but make sure that your other RAMs are not burned or damaged.

 

[EarthDog]

As what Kursah said, however, there is always a 50/50 it will or not work, just try it and see, if your board supports profiles, I'd save it. Then reset your cmos, boot, save optimized defaults, shut down then add the other sticks, for a proper configuration I'd read your board manual on how to key up the slots right.

this...

Not to mention with only one stick, it will be in single channel.

Buy 2x8gb and save yourself potential hassle.

You may find you can OC your CPU further if your MCH isn't as stressed with faster RAM. Though populating more DIMMs with RAM introduces increased MCH load as well...

i believe you meant IMC (integrated memory controller). There isnt really an mch(northbridge) on 2500k.

 

[Keullo-e]

I've NEVER had any problems using different RAM modules since SDR SDRAM era.

-Had 128 + 256 + 512MB sticks of SDRAM running fine
-Had four different DDR1 512MB sticks running fine (they're still on my Asus A8V Deluxe with an Athlon 64 X2 3800+)
-Had 2x2GB 800 + 2x2GB 1066 DDR2 running @ 1000MHz on my nF650i SLI setup 8 years ago
-Had 4x4GB HyperX Fury 1600 + 2x4GB HyperX Blu 1600MHz DDR3 (total 24GB) on my X58 setup
-Having 2x4GB Corsair 2400 + 2x4GB Crucial 2400 DDR4 now and the only problem was that my system automatically ran these @ CL14, manually put to CL16 and works flawlessly.

From MY experiences, it must be very damn bad luck to have any problems. Or I've just had good luck, since non-identical RAM setups has been working fine for me for the last ~15 years.

edit: On my HTPC, it has a Transcend 4GB 1333MHz and a Kingston 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 sticks, and yes, no problems there also.

 

[EarthDog]

Lucky...