Mixing ram

J

Jon Boy

New Member
Hey I'm pretty sure you can do this but thought I better ask before I did something wrong.

Ok the story goes. I'm selling my old computer to my dad (he bought it for me as well so I got a good deal there ;)). And he would like the ram upgraded from 1gb to 2gb. He will never need anymore than that before he throws it away so I decided on 2 512 sticks as I hear thats faster than one 1gb. Also he has 2x 512 in there already.

So what I wanted to know is can I mix different brands of ram?

I want to know as the people who make the ram in there well I just can't find any stuff on the internet from them. At the moment he has 2x512mb DDR 3200 ram when looking on the internet I saw almost all ran at 400mhz.

1. Is it a safe assumption that the ram in there already would be running at 400mhz and would it run still if it wasn't?
2. As stated above can I mix different manufacturers of ram?
3. Anything else I should consider while upgrading the ram?

Thanks

Jon
 
I wouldn't really recomend mixing RAM, I don't know what it does, I'm sure it isn't too good though. Don't know if you're definately not supposed to, but I'm pretty sure it isn't a good idea!
 
Even if it is like same type i.e. DDR 3200 400mhz? If not how am I going to upgrade cos im not buying 2gb for it? Only difference would be manufacturer?
 
Yeah, I think so, even if it is the same speed. I guess if you set the Mhz and the latency the same, then there wouldn't be so much of a problem, I'm not too sure though. I know I wouldn't want to buy a whole new set of RAM.
 
What make and model is the board there? Sometimes boards will get fussy with different brands even if all are the same. On one old Socket A board here both Corsair xms series DDR400 PC3200 dimms a matched pair and later of pair of Kingston Value Ram 1gb dims same speed but value not performance all saw errors when tested with memtest.

The last build also a board by Asus saw those same dimms error free when tested. You can choose there between adding two more 512s or go with a new pair of 1gb dimms recommended for enabling the dual channel mode since both would be the same brand and type. The specifications for the board will need a look to see if you can use 1gb dimms.
 
Well the motherboard is "MS-7046 VER:1" by median I believe. The shop are quoting £60 to put 1 gig of DDR memory in there and I said no chance. Might aswell buy 2gig of OCZ or Corsair DDR2 for £60 lol.
 
I keep running into MSI not Median when running a search for information on that model board. The MSI board with that number shows DDR not DDR2 memory is used. Median is the model name not manufacturer's brand name as seen at http://cgi.ebay.de/MS-7046-V-1-Micr...HP-795-de_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ260160786764

Apparently that's an Intel 775 micro atx model that runs PC4200 184pin dimms not the 240pin dimms seen with DDR2. One problem was trying to find the actual specifications on that model board since this was seen at MSI's support site: "Product does not exist." http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_search.asp
 
The make and model system the board is in if not a custom build would help since HP, Dell, Gateway, and others have their own product details and specifications pages. You never mentioned the make and model since they always seem to use boards not usually seen at online vendors for custom system builders.
 
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