Dual Channel with 3 modules + later upgrade

italiamo

Honorable
Oct 18, 2013
3
0
10,510
Hi,
of course i've googled first but all the results were pretty outdated on this topic. Right now i am running 2x4 gb of corsair ram (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9). Since i work on 3D model and image processing i figured i wanna upgrade my memory a bit (i have one program that actual benefits from more ram). I thought i get another 2x4 gb totalling 16 gb of ram. Now i saw that a single 8 gb module of the corsair ram (e.g. CMZ8GX3M1A1600C9) is a few bucks cheaper than the 2x4 kit. Can i mix 2x4 gb and 1x8 gb without shortcomings (e.g. dual channel)? Because the big plus would be that once i get hunger for more ram i could add another 8 gb for a total of 24 gb of ram :). Again in my case it's not useless the amount of ram i have available sets the quality levels i can process (this is set in stone).
 
Solution
Best to get full amount in a single package, mixing can be problematic, also if 1600 and above XMP only works in packaged sets (programming is for individual package)
You may end up with issues if the latencies don't match. Also, some motherboards only recommend configs with 1, 2, or 4 modules. What kind of motherboard do you have?

At any rate, as a general rule, to minimize the chance you'll have issues, I'd stick with RAM that matches across all slots.