Using different sized RAM okay?

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ferrari91169

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Apr 16, 2009
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Hi, I have a quick question about RAM, hopefully someone can answer it for me.

If I currently have 2x4GB 1600MHz Corsair Vengeance 9-9-9-24 RAM Sticks installed in my system, would it be okay to add (to the two empty slots) 2x8GB 1600MHz Corsair Vengeance 10-10-10-27, bringing my total RAM to 24GB's?

If I install them in the correct slots (For instance the 4GB sticks in Channel A1 and A2, and the 8GB sticks in Channel B1 and B2) would dual-channel still be active?

Would the different timings matter? From what I understand, all that would happen is the 4GB sticks would run at 10-10-10-27, instead of their normal 9-9-9-24, but I've also read that the 8GB Corsair Vengeance sticks will work fine if I change the timings from 10-10-10-27 to 9-9-9-24, so that's an option as well.

But basically, my main question is, will RAM that's the same brand, same bandwidth, but different sizes, still work just fine?

Or would I see better performance from just installing the two 8GB 1600MHz sticks and leaving the two 4GB 1600MHz sticks out of my system?

Thanks for any help!
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards can be very sensitive to this.
That is why ram vendors will not support ram that is not bought in one kit.
Although, I think the problem has lessened with the newer Intel chipsets. Still,
it is safer to get what you need in one kit.

That said, if it works, and, it is likely to, all the ram must operate at the same voltage and specs You will get the lowest common denominator of specs.
If you install the ram so that each channel has equal capacity, you will get dual channel operation.
If the sizes do not match, the odd size only will operate in single channel mode.

You do realize, that >16gb needs more than home premium?
 
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ferrari91169

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Yes, I realize that. I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. I guess I'll just stick to the 2x8GB sticks and save the 2x4GB's for another build. Don't necessarily need 24GB's of RAM, just figured I might as well if there'd be no performance hit.

Thanks for the response!
 
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Dinokilla7

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How do you find the correct voltage and specs?

 
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geofelt

geofelt

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The voltage, speed, and timings are found printed on the sticks themselves.
It is the motherboard that will normally set these.
Assuming it works, use CPU-Z and look at the ram tabs to see what voltage, speed and timings were actually set.

If you have a problem upping the voltage in the bios a notch may well get it to work.
I would not worry too much about ram speed, more is usually better than faster.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Jun 5, 2013
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If you have the sticks, can always give them a try (8GB sticks in slots 1-3) than then enable XMP and make sure they work, then add the 4GB sticks in 2-4, and will prob have to up the DRAM voltage at least + 0.05, if any problems if you try give me a holler
 
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