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Mixing different RAMs

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  • Laptops
  • RAM
  • Computers
  • Memory
Last response: in Memory
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September 29, 2014 6:52:13 PM

I have an old laptop that I want to add ram on. There is a single 1 Gb ram stick installed and the label reads: 2RX8 PC2-5300s-555-12-F1.667. I want to add a 256mb 1RX16 PC2-4200S-444-10-C1 RAM stick. They are both made by Nanya. My questions are:
1. Will this 256mb RAM stick, which came originally with this laptop, be compatible with the other 1Gb one?
2. Will this help speed up my computer even if it has a lower frequency?

More about : mixing rams

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a b } Memory
September 29, 2014 6:59:10 PM

Your RAM will be set to the lowest speed RAM you have installed. It is always suggested to buy RAM in matched pairs (same size, and settings) - I go even further, I don't like installing or upgrading RAM that isn't all completely the same. Sometimes it works without issues - other times, there are big problems. I prefer to avoid the problems....
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September 29, 2014 7:00:44 PM

first of all yes they will work second of all your computer will actually slow down because you are using slower ram which means the fast ram will downclock to the slower one and third of all adding ram does not speed up your computer unless you are using that one gigabyte ram completely for example if you are using 957 mb out out of the 1 gb then adding more ram will make the computer faster because it does not have to read from the disk but lets say that you are only using 512 mb out of the 1024 mb then adding more ram will not make your computer faster or more responsive ram does not speed up your computer it only allows you to run more processes now if it feels that your computer is faster it is because you can have more programs loaded at a time and your computer does not need to read from the hdd which is slower
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October 1, 2014 10:12:16 PM

Computer LVR said:
first of all yes they will work second of all your computer will actually slow down because you are using slower ram which means the fast ram will downclock to the slower one and third of all adding ram does not speed up your computer unless you are using that one gigabyte ram completely for example if you are using 957 mb out out of the 1 gb then adding more ram will make the computer faster because it does not have to read from the disk but lets say that you are only using 512 mb out of the 1024 mb then adding more ram will not make your computer faster or more responsive ram does not speed up your computer it only allows you to run more processes now if it feels that your computer is faster it is because you can have more programs loaded at a time and your computer does not need to read from the hdd which is slower

I know. But say I'm using all of the 1256mbs of the slower ram vs. all 990mb of the faster ram. Which one will my computer run faster?
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October 2, 2014 9:47:24 PM

the 990 mb of faster ram will be faster than the 1256mb of slower ram IF you are using both of those at maximum capacity. If you are using all of your 1gb ram then yes adding more ram will make the computer faster but if you can try to add another 1 gb if not atleast 512 mb. If you are not using around 80-90% of your 1GB then then adding more ram will not increase performance

you can check how much ram you are using by going to the task manager in windows or system monitor in a Linux based OS
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Best solution

a b } Memory
October 3, 2014 12:35:40 AM

1) Yes it will be compatible and your final RAM will be with 1280 MB memory, 533 MHz frequency (since both are DDR - Double Data rate, the final speed will be doubled to 1066 MHz), CL 10 timings.

2) The speed depends on your type of usage. By combining the two RAM sticks, you mobo automatically restricts itself to use the lower speed (533 MHz) and timings as it cannot get higher speeds (667 MHz) from both the sticks. (But it can get 533 from both, clear?). So it will be slower overall. For more applications minimised (or working in background), the amount of memory helps. That work will be done on the speed.

More the amount of RAM, more room for opened apps. More the speed of RAM, faster the processing (multi-tasking).
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