Mixing 2 sets of different RAM sizes in dual channel

Benjiwenji · Aug 26, 2015

Greetings,

I have a mobo with dual channel and 4 RAM slots. Currently, In slots A &B, I am running dual channel with 2 sticks of 4 Gb DDR3 1866 1.5V cas latency:9 Timing :9-10-9-28

These sticks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231550

My question is whether or not I can add 2 sticks of 8 GB ram with same speed, voltage, cas latency, and time in slots C&D. So with 24 GB in total.

For example, these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231627

First, will it work?

Second, will the 2x4 sticks run in dual channel while 2x8 sticks run in dual channel?

My mobo is Biostar Hi Fi A85W with an AMD Athlon 760k.

This is my mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138366

boosted1g · Aug 26, 2015

As long as the pairs match on each channel this is not a problem.

Now all of your memory will be downclocked to whatever the slowest stick is. So if 2 are 1600 and 2 are 1866 then all run at 1600.

Benjiwenji · Aug 26, 2015

boosted1g :

Right, but since both sets are running at 1866, then downclocking shouldn't be an issue right?

Thanks.

boosted1g · Aug 26, 2015

Correct, just throwing that in as more of an FYI

Tradesman1 · Aug 27, 2015

If things were so easy, you can try there is no guarantee when mixing DRAM, take a look at my article (Item 2) here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ddr-dram-myths,4155.html

And if you want a better chance when mixing DRAM, you split the pairs between the channels, many people for what ever reason seem to think channels operate independently, which is ridiculous, the MC (memory controller) sees all the DRAM in each channel as a single 128 biit device, if all in one channel it would see it for what it is, a 64bit device. Also have an artical about FAQs on DDR3 here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ddr3-dram-faq,review-33220.html

Benjiwenji · Aug 28, 2015

Thank you. The articles are informative, and I am still sipping through them.

If I do install the new 2x8 GBs sticks, then what are some signs if they are incompatible? Aside from the good old memtest86, it just takes forever for that size.

Tradesman1 · Aug 28, 2015

If you get bluescreens, crashes, etc

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Mixing 2 sets of different RAM sizes in dual channel

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