PC3 12800 DDR3 Ram: The stick I bought is narrower, is this a problem?

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Dave Thompson

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Jun 11, 2014
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Hi,

I tried to find this through searching, but struggle to find the answer.
According to my Gigabyte system information viewer, the RAM I have is PC3 12800l (800mhz) DDR3. I understand that in real terms, it's 1600 mhz. Anyway, only have a 4 gig stick, and wanted to buy another one. I found on Ebay, a PC3 12800 DDR3 stick that was sealed, http:// so I bought it. It arrived today, and I can see that the length is correct, and can just about see the notch behind the sticker which suggests it would physically fit. However, it is narrower by about a centimeter. Before I break the seal and try it, does this sound OK? I've only ever bought ram once in my life, so I don't know if this is a problem. I was hoping for it to be identical in shape and size.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 
Solution
timeconsumer
Basically anytime you mix any sticks (even two of the exact same type) that weren't sold together as a kit there is going to be a chance they do not work. Brands, heights, speeds, latencies, motherboards they're being used on and plenty of other things can be different or the same and you can end up with results all over the board.

So even if you do try it and it doesn't work, buying another stick of standard height doesn't guarantee success either. Many enthusiasts when upgrading buy a whole new kit and just sell the old stick, use it in another build, or keep it for a rainy day.
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timeconsumer

timeconsumer

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Nov 28, 2011
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So your new stick is thinner than your old one?

Sounds like the old one has a heatspreader and the new one doesn't. Not a big deal.

This is what memory with a heatspreader looks like: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/4vWrxr/gskill-memory-f42400c15d16gvr
This is what it looks like without: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/xvLypg/crucial-memory-ct8g4dfd8213

But just be warned, two sticks of memory not purchased in a kit together are not guaranteed to work together, so there is a chance it will not work. The only way to guarantee that 2 sticks will work properly together is to buy them in a kit.
 
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Dave Thompson

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Jun 11, 2014
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There's no heat spreader. I found some images on google which very closely (if not exactly) match the sticks. This is the one I have: http://www.devicelog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Samsung_8GB_DDR3_SDRAM_2R%C3%978_PC3-12800U-11-12-B1_M378B1G73QH0-CK0_1408.jpg

This is the one I've just bought: http://g02.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1pnjSJVXXXXaSXXXXq6xXFXXXe/Kingston-8GB-Singolo-Modulo-Memoria-Ram-DDR3-1600-MHz-PC3-12800-CL11-240-Pin-DIMM-KVR16N11.jpg

Both of them say "PC3 12800 DDR3 4 GB". I assumed as long as that was correct, then the sticks would be compatible
 
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Dave Thompson

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Jun 11, 2014
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OK Thanks. Well, it's sitting here with a seal on it. It will be easier to re-sell without opening it, so would you open it and try it? Anyone have 1st-hand experience that two sticks with a different height have worked fine together?
 
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timeconsumer

timeconsumer

Splendid
Nov 28, 2011
3,130
0
22,960
Basically anytime you mix any sticks (even two of the exact same type) that weren't sold together as a kit there is going to be a chance they do not work. Brands, heights, speeds, latencies, motherboards they're being used on and plenty of other things can be different or the same and you can end up with results all over the board.

So even if you do try it and it doesn't work, buying another stick of standard height doesn't guarantee success either. Many enthusiasts when upgrading buy a whole new kit and just sell the old stick, use it in another build, or keep it for a rainy day.
 
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