Mixing RAM...

mAdMaLuDaWg · October 20th, 2002, 09:46 PM

Ok,
I've got a doubt... I have a stick of 256 MB Crucial DDR in my PC right now. I just bought a stick of Kingston 256 MB DDR. Would it be OK if I mixed those sticks and put them in my PC? Would anything catastrophic happen? Or is it just an issue of better performance with the same brand sticks?
Thanks.

Scott Tiger · October 20th, 2002, 09:48 PM

It shouldn't matter.. I usually by the same brand just out of superstition - but it really doesn't matter so long as it's quality memory and all sticks are the same speed. If one stick is slower than the others than all sticks will perform at the slowest speed.

Hope that helps...

Atomic Rooster · October 20th, 2002, 09:49 PM

Nothing catastrophic will happen. They should get along just fine as long as they have the same specs.

kjg · October 21st, 2002, 05:55 AM

As said they will be fine.
At this point I repeated what had already been said.Sorry.

Examiner1 · October 22nd, 2002, 03:02 AM

At the risk of redundancy, I also state it will work fine. At least I am speaking from personal experience, since the machine I am typing this on has a MSI KT3 Ultra2 motherboard, with, you guessed it, one 256 MB stick of Crucial DDR and one 256 mb stick of Kingston Valueram DDR. Works fine, but then I don't have my memory set to aggressive timings, either. Am also not overclocking my XP 1700+, at least not yet. It is possible that more "aggressive" settings could be restricted by the use of the Kingston Valueram, since I have heard that the Crucial overclocks better. YMMV

Bob The Great · October 22nd, 2002, 03:07 AM

If you do run into any problems you can try switching them to other slots, but like everyone else has said they should be fine. I don't think you should even have to worry about not having the aggressive timings because both Crucial and Kingston sell quality ram!

Shocker · October 22nd, 2002, 03:11 AM

Someone mentioned Kingston Value RAM. Does Kingston sell a "non-Value Ram?" If so, is it better, and how?

Ruler2112 · October 22nd, 2002, 03:26 AM

I'll chime in on something I discovered when trying to mix RAM in my computer.

Before you install the second chip, benchmark your computer. (Mine was 130.) Then install the new chip and bench it again. If it's significantly slower (mine was 80), the two chips have different latencies. The above really confused my for a long time until a friend told me about it. Either stick by itself and my machine benched the same- 130. Mix the two and performance plummeted.

I don't know if DDR has this property, but PC100 sure does! What's more, almost nobody bothers to print this on the packaging, so the only way to tell really is to try.

Just a word of caution for something to watch out for.

Idigguns · October 22nd, 2002, 03:49 AM

Everything that I have heard says it shouldn't be a problem. Everyone here seems to agree. Funny thing happened to a buddy of mine though, he had a Compaq with 64MB. He put in another 64MB of the same RAM from a reputable company. The PC wouldn't even boot-up. He put in just the aftermarket stick, and took out the Compaq stick. The PC worked fine. He put the Compaq stick back in, wouldn't boot. The two just wouldn't get along! I can't see any logical reason for this... other than it being a Compaq. We all know how much Compaq's SUCK!

mAdMaLuDaWg · October 22nd, 2002, 01:12 PM

Thks guyz...
Anyone know what proggie to use to benchmark?
Tks.