[SOLVED] Adding a third Ram stick with different specs ?

[GGOD]

so when i built my pc i had 2 DDR4 Ram sticks ,4Gb each (Avexir Budget series running at 2133Mhz on my system on dual channel) ,and i wanted to add another 4Gb stick (cant afford 2 more for now) ,and in my country i didnt find more sticks with the same specs ,so can i add another stick from Adata (4Gb which runs at 2666Mhz and will it play nicely with my system)
i have an MSI b150m mobo

 

[Lutfij]

Adding a mismatched stick is like purposely putting on a deflated tire on a vehicle that has 3 other functional tires. That being said, my answer for your endeavor is no, don't do it.

You're advised to find an identical stick of ram, for your ram upgrades but even then you're supposed to invest in a dual channel ram kit. What processor are you working with at the moment? Exact model for your MSI motherboard?

 

[GGOD]

Adding a mismatched stick is like purposely putting on a deflated tire on a vehicle that has 3 other functional tires. That being said, my answer for your endeavor is no, don't do it.

You're advised to find an identical stick of ram, for your ram upgrades but even then you're supposed to invest in a dual channel ram kit. What processor are you working with at the moment? Exact model for your MSI motherboard?

Hey ,thanks for answering
I have an intel i5-6400 @2.7Ghz
as for my motherboard i have an MSI B150M mortar arctic

 

[RememberThe5th]

You "Can" run the 3rd stick, but all other will degenerate to the speed of the slowest (2133 in this instance).
I mean what will you get if you have 8Gb's instead of 12Gb's?
Which GPU do you have?

I would give you an advice, save money, buy an kit of 16Gb with 2666Mhz or higher.
That will save you in long run rather than buying 4 sticks of ram with 4Gb's of different speed.

 

[GGOD]

You "Can" run the 3rd stick, but all other will degenerate to the speed of the slowest (2133 in this instance).
I mean what will you get if you have 8Gb's instead of 12Gb's?
Which GPU do you have?

I would give you an advice, save money, buy an kit of 16Gb with 2666Mhz or higher.
That will save you in long run rather than buying 4 sticks of ram with 4Gb's of different speed.

honnestly i would want that too ,but seeing how i dont yet have a job (im a student) ,and RAM's prices are quite high in my country ,plus i need to add 4gb soon (in order to play a game that requires that amount) ,i may just go for this one
my Mobo's limit is at 2133Mhz (i just verified and found that the two Ram sticks i have are originally clocked at 2400Mhz ,so they are already got down clocked ) ,when i add the third one ,itll get downclocked to the same frequency too right ?
also here is the model of the two Sticks im already using (Avexir AVD4U21331504G-1BW) ,and the one im gonna buy is an (Adata CL 19 AD4U2666J4G19-B )

hope there are no known copatibility issues between the two brands

 

[RememberThe5th]

As i suspected averix ram supports CL 17 TO CL13 where adata supports cl19 (not mentioning other).
Now adata is 512MBX16bit ram chip configuration but averix is 512mbx8bit.
Now i dont know will it work with each other.
But you can ask seller if it doesnt work could you return it.

Well i could run 2 different rams in ddr2 system (2+1) and in my current 24gb configuration (2x8Gb hyperx 1866 and 2x2gb some elpida which were original 1333mhz but managed to run at 1600mhz all of them).

 

[alceryes]

Putting in a mismatched stick will drop your system memory down to single channel mode, slow speeds, and horrible timings (if it works at all). Your system will be slower with the 3rd stick of mismatched RAM.

Also, if you are trying to throw another stick of RAM in to play Cyberpunk 2077 then you'll probably need a lot more than just another 8GBs of RAM. 😉

 

[geofelt]

You take your chances.
Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.

If you add a 4gb stick, and it works, you will indeed have 12gb, 8 of which will be running in dual channel mode(flex mode) and the odd 4gb will run in single channel mode. All in all, a functional boost.
If the new stick is faster, it will only run at the speed of your original kit as well as the timings.

The problem is that it may not even run at all if the motherboard is unable to find a common set of speed, voltage and timings.
I put your odds of success at 80% mainly because of the native timing differences.
Brand is less important than the specs. Is there a 4gb stick of a different brand with the same specs as you currently have?

What is your plan B if the new stick does not work?
Could you return it?

Why not buy the game and see how it does with 8gb?
If you have a ssd, an increase in page faults due to a shortage of ram may not impact your performance.

 

[GGOD]

As i suspected averix ram supports CL 17 TO CL13 where adata supports cl19 (not mentioning other).
Now adata is 512MBX16bit ram chip configuration but averix is 512mbx8bit.
Now i dont know will it work with each other.
But you can ask seller if it doesnt work could you return it.

Well i could run 2 different rams in ddr2 system (2+1) and in my current 24gb configuration (2x8Gb hyperx 1866 and 2x2gb some elpida which were original 1333mhz but managed to run at 1600mhz all of them).

i'll try to see with the Vendor ,otherwise i think ill just wait a bit and buy a third stick simillar to the one i currently have
anyway thanks for answering ,ill update the thread if i do try that 3rd Stick

 

[GGOD]

Putting in a mismatched stick will drop your system memory down to single channel mode, slow speeds, and horrible timings (if it works at all). Your system will be slower with the 3rd stick of mismatched RAM.

Also, if you are trying to throw another stick of RAM in to play Cyberpunk 2077 then you'll probably need a lot more than just another 8GBs of RAM. 😉

yes im trying to add more RAM to play CP2077
it'll still probably work with just the 8gb i currently have (seeing how it runs even on last gen consoles) ,also i have quite a good GPU and a decent CPU ,just wanted to add those 4gb of RAM to be a bit more on the safe side

 

[GGOD]

You take your chances.
Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.

If you add a 4gb stick, and it works, you will indeed have 12gb, 8 of which will be running in dual channel mode(flex mode) and the odd 4gb will run in single channel mode. All in all, a functional boost.
If the new stick is faster, it will only run at the speed of your original kit as well as the timings.

The problem is that it may not even run at all if the motherboard is unable to find a common set of speed, voltage and timings.
I put your odds of success at 80% mainly because of the native timing differences.
Brand is less important than the specs. Is there a 4gb stick of a different brand with the same specs as you currently have?

What is your plan B if the new stick does not work?
Could you return it?

Why not buy the game and see how it does with 8gb?
If you have a ssd, an increase in page faults due to a shortage of ram may not impact your performance.

thanks for taking the time to answer ,after reading some answers in this thread i think ill do as you said ,try the game first ,see how it fares and then buy the RAM if needed (ill need to check and see if the vendor accepts returns) ,otherwise ill wait a bit and see if i can find a stick similar to the ones already installed

 

[alceryes]

yes im trying to add more RAM to play CP2077
it'll still probably work with just the 8gb i currently have (seeing how it runs even on last gen consoles) ,also i have quite a good GPU and a decent CPU ,just wanted to add those 4gb of RAM to be a bit more on the safe side

The game's designers have said that CP2077 relies heavily on the CPU as well as the GPU. Your i5 may have some issues keeping up.
I don't doubt that it will at least play. I'm more referring to the 'quality of play'.

 

[GGOD]

The game's designers have said that CP2077 relies heavily on the CPU as well as the GPU. Your i5 may have some issues keeping up.
I don't doubt that it will at least play. I'm more referring to the 'quality of play'.

just hoping that it'll keep it ,otherwise i'm doomed x)