Question Can i add further kit later on?

[TobinUK]

I currently have CMK8GX4M1D3000C16 RAM (4x8gb) and will be upgrading to CMW16GX4M2C3600C18 (2x8gb)as it seems to be only kit of 16gb RGB i can buy at 3600mhz for my mobo on QVL list, i was hoping for C16 but doesnt seem to be any. What my question(s) is as i have currently 32gb, i can only afford the 16gb right now of the new kit i want, can i add addition kit with same serial number at a later date to get back to my 32gb i once had? With my current RAM i have 2x8 to start, then i added 1x more from one store as they had only one left and then also 1x more from another source and they all work fine. I read somewhere that you should buy kits? Did i get lucky with what i did? Any help with other corsair rgb ram for my mobo that i may have missed would be appreciated.

 

[jay32267]

" I read somewhere that you should buy kits? "

The best chance you have for all 4 to work together is by buying them in a kit.

" Did i get lucky with what i did? "

Maybe a little.

As I said...the best chance for them to work together is buying them as a kit.

Although...if you match the specs as best you can...there still can be a good chance they will work together.

Which is what happened when you added the two sticks you added.

You somewhat got lucky. They may not have worked.

So to answer your question...I think if you add two sticks down the road they definitely have a chance of working...and probably and even better chance of working than usual if you match serial numbers.

 

[TobinUK]

Ok thanks for the reply, will stores accept returns on installed RAM and it didnt work out for what ever reason?

 

[jay32267]

Ok thanks for the reply, will stores accept returns on installed RAM and it didnt work out for what ever reason?

I think that might depend on a lot of things....kind of hard to predict.

Although...when I have matched the specs on RAM....and I've done this quite a bit...the majority of the time it works....probably like 80%-90%.

 

[USAFRet]

Ok thanks for the reply, will stores accept returns on installed RAM and it didnt work out for what ever reason?

Depends on the store policy.

 

[Karadjgne]

I read somewhere that you should buy kits?

Picture a little old man sitting at a bench with a motherboard. Surrounded by bins. He plugs 2 sticks into the board. If they work, he ships them off to packaging. If they don't, he reaches behind him into a bin containing thousands of identical batch ram. He can do that all day long, having that amount of access to compatible pairings.

You buy an upgrade kit to add ram, you have access to exactly 1 kit. Chances of compatibility might be Good, but Good is a long way from Perfect or Guaranteed.

QVL isn't Gospel. It's not perfect, nor complete. It's often a duplicate. There's only a handful of actual OEMs for ram, like Micron, Samsung, SkHynix, Nanya etc. They make the ram for every vendor. So in the QVL, if you see a list of 3600MHz ram with 6 models, a couple might be SkHynix, a couple Samsung or even All Samsung. So if the vendor tested Patriot Elite 3600 which uses Samsung B-die, it's also a given that g-skill Trident-Z with Samsung B-die is the same thing. The difference between the 2 being the shape of the heatsink and the name on the label. The insides are the same pcb, the same chips from the same OEM.

Also, models:
CMW32GX4M2Z3600C18
CMK32GX4M2D3600C18
CMH32GX4M2D3600C18W

Exactly the same thing. The first kit has RGB and is black, the second kit is just black, the third kit is RGB and White. All 3 the exact same SkHynix chips, pcb etc, only difference is the color of the heatsink. These are 2x16Gb kits at 3600/CL18. Even a 4x8Gb kit is almost identical, except it has only half the same chips on it on one side vs 2 sided, but has a seriously different model number.

QVL is qualified Vendor list, not Qualified Ram list, the motherboard tested the vendors ram, but in reality has quantified the testing of all the vendors who use the same guts. If I saw CMH32GX4M2D3600C18W tested, I'd know that any 2x16Gb SkHynix ram at 3600MHz/Cas 18 will be the same thing, whether it's Corsair LPX or Adata XPG or Patriot Viper or Kingston HyperX or Gskill RipJaws V.

And have the same chances of working as an identical kit when mixed.

Using the QVL as a tool is definitely a good thing, but you can use a hammer for more things than just hammering nails into wood. If you cannot find the exact model number, find what really is the same thing, it's in there, somewhere, under a different model number or even vendor name.

 

[TobinUK]

Thanks @Karadjgne, im just finding it tough to get my head it all, as mentioned i have the CMK8GX4M1D3000C16 RAM. Im giving this all to my wifes build and wanted to upgrade mine but to RGB Corsair as i really like the iCue software and go with my other hardware, i really wanted to upgrade over my RAM i have to another CL16 as i was told to get 3600mhz with tight timings for my 5600X pairing. Im sure ive seen a post about that 3200mhz cl16 and 3600mhz cl18 is basically the same as you divide the mhz by CL? Any help there would be great!