Can I mix RAM Brands??

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Thread: Can I mix RAM Brands??

  1. #1
    Tiger Shark Dark-Knight's Avatar
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    Can I mix RAM Brands??

    Hello,

    Topic says it all... can I mix different brands of RAM? Assuming of course they would be same size and same speed.

    I have currently 2x 512MB from Crucial (PC-3200). The third Dimm would be a Kingston, same specs.

    As to why I dont just get another Crucial... well, I need to import it... it gets more expensive.. and a Kingston I can find it around here.
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  2. #2
    Administrator Steve R Jones's Avatar
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    "Most" of the time this will work. Only one real way to find out.....
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  3. #3
    Reef Shark I2ift's Avatar
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    i've not heard mixing ram failing. just remember that whatever frequency you put in there matches. i know if you mix a backwards compatible pc3200/2700 with an only pc3200 stick of memory it will not work...double check your frequencies.
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  4. #4
    Tiger Shark Dark-Knight's Avatar
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    Could there be a problem between timings? It seems the original RAM is.. CL 2.5...
    and the Kingston one is... CL 3....
    Greets from Hell, the Dark-Knight.


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  5. #5
    Catfish imbuildingacomp9874's Avatar
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    Yeah make sure the timings and the frequencies match, but other than that youll have to try it to see if it works, Tell us if it does
    Last edited by imbuildingacomp9874; 12-02-2005 at 05:20 PM.
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  6. #6
    Ultra Great White Shark!! richardginn's Avatar
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    Mixing ram is not a bad thing, butttt it will only work as fast as the slowest piece of RAM you put in the machine.
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  7. #7
    LOLWUT ImaNihilist's Avatar
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    The other thing with mixing RAM is that you might not even be mixing. There are actually only a few RAM manufacturers: Micron, Samsung, Infineon, and Hynix. The rest are RAM assemblers.

    It's actually possible that the Kingston DIMM uses the same Micron chips as the Crucial DIMMs. It's hard to say, and depends on the modules in question. The only thing that is certain AFAIK is that all Crucial DIMMs use Micron chips, and all Corsair DIMMs use Samsung chips. I think everyone else is a bag of mixed chips. I know that Kingston does use Samsung chips in a lot of their HyperX DIMMs, but I *think* they also might use Micron chips. I'm not sure on that, so don't hold me to it.

    That's why it's really kind of silly when people preach one particular brand over the other (such as OCZ vs Corsair) because most of the DIMMs use the same damn Samsung chips.

    Personally, I only buy Crucial because I know exactly what I'm getting. There's never any guess work. Always Micron chips.

  8. #8
    Catfish imbuildingacomp9874's Avatar
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    ^so true
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  9. #9
    Tiger Shark Dark-Knight's Avatar
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    Thanks for the responses.

    It seems all PC-3200 Common Dimms are CL=3... (With common I mean not ballistix.. No corsair super mem.. or stuff like that). So from that side Im covered.

    Doing some more research before buying anything, since given the mobo, and CPU.. If i put in certain combination of single rank with double rank memory, the speed will drop to 333Mhz.. instead of 400Mhz. So, im looking into some Bios thingies, that seem to fix this.... or at least that is what Gigabyte site implies...

    Dont want to purchase more PC3200.. to have it all run like PC2700....

    I have not yet found what exactly "double rank" means.. any takers to explain this? Some have said.. this is the same as double sided (ie, having mem chips on both sides of the Dimm). I bought the ram from Crucial as single sided.. (only chips on one side).
    Greets from Hell, the Dark-Knight.


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  10. #10
    Hammerhead Shark drs1771's Avatar
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    Actually, I HAVE seen cas latency differences screw up the machine. It mainly happens in proprietary systems like Compaqs and Dells where they used no name boards with bios' you can't edit, and they are set to a faster cas (say 2) and you throw in a stick of cas 3, it will cause all sorts of issues. It is better to make certain your cas latencies match. Your frequencies aren't as crucial, people mix those all the time.
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  11. #11
    Hammerhead Shark mikead_99's Avatar
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    Double-ranked = double-sided, which btw, has nothing to do with whether chips are on each side of the stick or not, but with the way the addresses are set up on the stick. If you are buying 512MB on a single stick, it is double-sided, double-ranked, whatever you want to call it guaranteed. In fact, in most cases even a 256 stick is double-sided these days.

    Having said all that, yes, on your platform you will have issues running 3 512 MB sticks. You may be able to get by with reduced clocks, PC2700 as you mentioned, or it may not work at all. Unfortunately this is all due to the mem controller on your cpu and nothing to do with the board.
    Last edited by mikead_99; 12-02-2005 at 10:01 PM.

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