Does mixing memory have any effect?

D

deveritt

New Member
Just a quick question.....Will mixing 2 different pieces of memory have a worse effect than having 2 of the same?? Hope that makes sense....

ie: I have 2x1GB of Corsair PC6400......if I wanted another 2x1GB would it be best to buy the exact same Corsair or fine to buy something like Patriot?
 
The best combination when adding one pair onto a system with another existing is to go with the same to avoid things like different timings or mismatching memory speed or even the type of memory used. If you presently have 2gb of value ram you would need another 2gb of similar memory not any gaming performance memory added to value ram. That would see timing Cas Latency as well as other conflicts.

Simply adding a different brand with the exact same memory should never be a problem while not being the ideal. If both pairs see say 4-4-4-10 timings and are DDR2 800 memory the only problem that oculd be seen in some cases is a board that's fussy about the brand of memory used rather then any direct brand to brand problem.
 
Also make sure the voltages are compatible or at least fine working together. Most memory is between 1.8V and 2.2V.

Right now I am using OCZ and Crucial and it seems to be fine. I even overclocked them and haven't had an issue.
 
That's simply another item of concern there. Some performance memory will see 2-2.5v while others will run at 1.8, 1,9, 2v as a rule. The ideal is going for additional memory from the same batch as the first by the same brand seeing everything exactly the same. In real life of course you have to go with what will work when adding more at a later date.
 
How do you think these two types would match up??

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 Matched Pairs 2GB kit (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240-pin Dual Channel Memory

OCZ (OCZ2P800R22GK) DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz Platinum XTC Revision 2 2GB (2x1024MB) 4-4-4-15 240-pin Dual Channel Kit
 
The one difference is in plain sight namely the slight difference in timings. For stock application you might slide by without too much of a problem being noticed. But if you were planning to oc at all that would be even more noticable. Generally the idea is to go with identical memory whenever possible to avoid any incompatibility problems that could come up at some point.

The first thing to remember when adding more memory is to match up the new memory as closely as possible to what is already in use or what will be used. The two diffferent brands there have always been a pair of the top brands while you would generally look at 2gb of the same brand and type when adding more later.

For adding another pair of 1gb dimms here running Kingston Hyper X DDR2 800 memory I would have to look at another identical kit or simply look at replacing the current memory with a pair of 2gb dimms ro see 4gb in. The board here will support upto 8gb while 2gb has still been quite adequate. Unless you are running CAD or some intense deveopment or engineering software you usually end up with ide ram simply from not being put to use.
 
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