Can GDDR3 and DDR3 be used together?

[Matthew Wai]

My motherboard is ASUS H81M-A, which supports 2 x DIMMs, max. 16GB DDR3. The single RAM now in use is GDDR3-1333 2GB 1.5V EP.
Can GDDR3 and DDR3 be used together?

 

[Sakkura]

GDDR3 is only available on graphics cards, it's DDR3 you have installed.

Memory on graphics cards is separate from system memory, so compatibility there is never an issue.

 

[Matthew Wai]

There is no graphic card on my motherboard, which uses Intel HD Graphics.
The label on my RAM reads 'GDDR3-1333 2GB 1.5V EP GU512303EP0202 UNIFOSA', which is the same as the one below.
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/gfkAAOSwEK9T4cjq/s-l1600/r.jpg

 

[giantbucket]

if you install and run CPU-Z on your machine, what does it say about the memory? screenshots of the "memory" and "spd" tabs if possible (on spd, select a slot that has info, you'll know when you see it)

 

[Sakkura]

It is DDR3, but it looks like the G may refer to it being registered memory.

 

[giantbucket]

CPU-Z's SPD tab should indicate it, then. if it's either ECC or Reg, it should flag it as such. otherwise, it's just a marketing trick to fleece people into thinking they have GDDR memory when all they have is plain DDR stuff.

 

[Matthew Wai]

See below.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8686/16750425799_3417063c20_o.jpg

 

[giantbucket]

can you expand the SPD "Slot #1" section at the bottom and post a pic of that as well?

 

[Matthew Wai]

See https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7635/16900161230_0a47fd7754_o.jpg

 

[giantbucket]

looks like standard DDR3-1333 CL9 stuff to me. you could very likely buy whichever DDR3-1333 CL9 is on sale at the cheapest price in either 4G or 8G capacity, insert it, and not worry about it. as long as you're not trying to overclock it or do something unusual, it should work just fine and the motherboard should auto-set the most compatible settings.

in a friend's laptop, I mixed a 2G DDR3-1333 with a 4G DDR3-1600 and it automatically combined them to 6G and works fine (presumably both are set to 1333 as the common speed)

in my own laptop, I mixed a 4G 1333 Kingston (4yrs old) with a 4G 1333 Mushkin (new, with "Apple" sticker) and my Dell works perfectly, showing 8G total

 

[Matthew Wai]

looks like standard DDR3-1333 CL9 stuff to me.

In my screenshot, there is no '1333 CL9'. Why does it look like standard DDR3-1333 CL9 stuff to you?

 

[giantbucket]

a line near the top says "PC3-10700 (667MHz)" which means DDR3-1333. why? because DDR means Double Data Rate, so 667 times 2 is 1333
the JEDEC line that matches the 667MHz has the 9/9/9/24 timings indicated

so THAT particular memory stick works as a DDR3-1333 with CL9 timings.

if you were to try to use it at a SLOWER speed like DDR3-1066 (because let's assume you have a stick of DDR3-1066 kicking around), then 1066/2=533, so JEDEC says it would behave like a DDR3-1066 CL7.

on the flip side, it won't work as a DDR3-1600 because the line near the top says "Max Bandwidth is PC3-10700 (667MHz)", and DDR3-1600 is 800MHz and 800 is more than the 667 your stick is spec'd for

 

[Sakkura]

on the flip side, it won't work as a DDR3-1600 because the line near the top says "Max Bandwidth is PC3-10700 (667MHz)", and DDR3-1600 is 800MHz and 800 is more than the 667 your stick is spec'd for

Well, it might work, but you'd be overclocking then.