Is mixing completely different RAM at all "dangerous"?

pteradox · Jun 1, 2013

My system (bought as an Inspiron 580, made some tweaks but same board for now) came with 3x2GB stock RAM which is rated at 1333MHz. I also bought a 2GB Kingston stick (also 1333) for a total of 8GB. So far (~ 1 year) I have had absolutely no problems with this setup, but I'm investing in a new Z77 board soon and I'd like to know if there is anything about this setup that could screw up my motherboard. I'd think it safe to assume the voltages, timings, etc. of the three stock RAM sticks do not match those of the Kingston.

I've heard of boot issues and performance hits, but so far it has booted fine and performance has been great. Do I have anything to worry about provided that the motherboard accepts the RAM configuration on boot?

Kisianik · Jun 2, 2013

pteradox :

As long as your RAM has the same timings and other values it is OK, but not advised (to mix different manufacturers) to prevent possible compatibility issues, no you are not going to damage motherboard, more likely you will go nuts, if something would not be compatible, and your would not know what is wrong.
So, maybe in your case, you got the same RAM and that is why everything went well.

I hope I understood your question correctly and answered coherently.

pteradox · Jun 2, 2013

After getting the serial number from the stock RAM and looking up the Kingston stick I actually think they agree on almost every specification, so perhaps that's just a fortunate coincidence. If not, the first thing I'll do if I get boot or major performance issues is remove the Kingston stick and see what happens. I just wanted to make sure it was all reversible if I did hit trouble. Thanks for the response.

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Is mixing completely different RAM at all "dangerous"?

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