Add another 4gb of different brand Q - CAS 7 and CAS 8

[kwarde]

Hi all,
I have a question that is probably common about adding RAM. I have 4GB OCZ Ram w CAS 7 timing and am interested in upgrading to 8GB. I saw the PNY XLR8 listed below on newegg for cheap and thinking about getting those to add to the OCZs. The PNY's appear to match except for the CAS 8 instead of 7s. So the Q is, will it work? What do I need to do adjust timings, etc.? Is this a bad idea?

I built this computer but never really dived into adjusting the whole memory timing thing before so I consider myself new but willing to learn about the memory adjustments.
More detailed info below.
Thanks all.


Current RAM: OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 / 1600MHz / Platinum Edition / Low Voltage / Dual Channel 2x2gb OCZ3P1600lv4g
1.65 V CL 7-7-7-24 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)

New RAM: PNY XLR8 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MD4096KD3-1600-X8
1.65V CAS 8

Other Computer Info:
Motherboard MSI P55-CD53 (MS-7586)
Processor Intel I5-750
Hard Drive Samsung HD502HJ 500 GB 7200 rpm

 

[Guest]

It's never a good idea to mix memory timings. It may work but you may run into problems with it.

 

[saood06]

and if it does work it usually defaults to the worse timing

 

[dalauder]

The new RAM will almost certainly work. And it will almost certainly slow your Auto timings down, which you will almost certainly not notice.

8GB of RAM will provide performance improvements that you will almost certainly not notice and maybe not even find in benchmarks. It might actually be slower to use 8GB in 4 channels (versus 4GB in two), but might be worth it if you do graphical work or intense mathematical simulations.

You can go into your bios and manually set some timings and RAM voltages then stability test (with Memtest86+). That's really the only way to get better timings than the slower RAM's defaults.

EDIT: That PNY is a good price, after rebate, but I don't know if it will benefit you.

 

[kwarde]

Best answer selected by kwarde.