Can i combine brands/type of memory?

[GDUB Mx]

Hey guys,

Basically i currently have 4x4gb of corsair vengeance ram. My brother has donated me 2x8gb of kingston ktl-tc316/8g ram.

Kingston spec :

Memory Speed - 1600 MHz ( PC3-12800 )
Technology - DDR3 SDRAM
Form Factor - DIMM 240-pin
Storage Capacity - 8 GB
Data Integrity Check - Non-ECC
Features - Unbuffered

Corsair spec:

Memory Speed - 1600 MHz ( PC3-12800 )
Technology - DDR3 SDRAM
Form Factor - DIMM 240-pin
Storage Capacity - 8 GB
Data Integrity Check - Non-ECC
Features - Intel Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP 1.3), Vengeance low profile heatspreader , unbuffered

Will these work together fine if i have 2x4gb corsair in the appropriate slots and 2x8gb kingston in the appropriate slots? Thus making 24gb ram.

Thanks for your help

Gary

 

[kaptainkuftic]

You're kind of rolling the dice with this. They might work, but they might not. Doesn't hurt to try. Just remember how the ram is currently configured so you can go back to it if adding the new sticks doesnt work

 

[DRagor]

^^ and if that won't work straight from start, you may try to reset CMOS and try again.

 

[geofelt]

Your odds of success are less than 100%.

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
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 4 sticks are involved.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.

Since you have the means, go ahead and try it.
Divide up the ram so you have 12gb in each channel.

If you have a problem, try increasing the ram voltage in the bios a bit.

Test with memtest86+, you should get NO errors for a full pass.

 

[GDUB Mx]

Before I had 16gb of corsair vengeance I had 8gb of corsair vengeance and some random 8gb generic ram which was 1600mhz, the pc seemed to work OK and I didn't have issues with memory tests and stuff. I can't say I've noticed anything different since having all slots filled with corsair. Trial and error I guess

 

[shrapnel_indie]

Experience has shown me this will probably work. However there is always a chance it will not, thus why many don't recommend doing it. Only way to know for 100% certain is to try it. As already stated, you may need to reset the BIOS, and/or tweak timings to the higher value of the sets, (CL, etc.)

 

[GDUB Mx]

So geo you reckon put corsair in say 2 and 4 and Kingston in 1 and 3 you so they dual channel. Also, I don't know how to increase he ram volts, I usually just hit xmp

 

[shrapnel_indie]

So geo you reckon put corsair in say 2 and 4 and Kingston in 1 and 3 you so they dual channel. Also, I don't know how to increase he ram volts, I usually just hit xmp

You have two slots loaded right now with the 2 GB sticks right? Just install the others in the empty slots. If concerned about a smaller size in front of larger, just put the 4GB sticks in where your RAM is right now after moving your current RAM to the empty slots.... either way, with the power off and disconnected.

As to the other parts, you probably won't be able to use the XMP settings, unless the timings and voltage are the same. You may need to manually adjust in the BIOS. I don't know your motherboard, so you may wish to consult your motherboard manual on the location in the BIOS where these will be found and what needs to be done to manually set them.

 

[geofelt]

So geo you reckon put corsair in say 2 and 4 and Kingston in 1 and 3 you so they dual channel. Also, I don't know how to increase he ram volts, I usually just hit xmp

I assume slots 1 and 2 are on one channel and slots 3 and 4 are on the other channel.
Numbering/coloring etc are not standard across motherboards.
The objective is equal capacity in each channel. Your motherboard manual should specify this.

XMP selects voltages, speed and timings according to a profile in the ram.
If you can select xmp, they I would be surprised if your motherboard does not have an option to directly specify ram voltages and timings. It might be under advanced options or such.

You could also experiment with lower speeds which are less challenging.
Usually more ram will trump faster ram.

 

[GDUB Mx]

nearly Shrapnel..

I have 4 slots all taken up with 4x4gb Corsair.
I have the Asus Sabertooth mk2 mobo.

So are you saying put like so 1x4gb slot 1 1x4gb slot 2 1x8gb slot 3 1x8gb slot 4?

 

[shrapnel_indie]

nearly Shrapnel..

I have 4 slots all taken up with 4x4gb Corsair.
I have the Asus Sabertooth mk2 mobo.

So are you saying put like so 1x4gb slot 1 1x4gb slot 2 1x8gb slot 3 1x8gb slot 4?

Okay, I see now. No empty slots. All are full. Usually when you put just two sticks in, you are putting in 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 (that puts one stick per channel, and the empty slots just expand on the amount. You might want to check with your motherboard manual (you should be able to download it if you can't find it)... So choose even (2, 4 or 0, 2) or odd(1, 3), and pull the corresponding sticks and place the new ones in the opened slots. As geofelt said, the channels have to be balanced. Both in amount of RAM per channel, and slot load per. This is usually explained in the manual on how they are divided up with primary and secondary slots per channel.)


[edit]

It would be more like: slot 1, 8GB; slot 2, 4GB; slot 3, 8GB; slot 4, 4GB.
or... slot 1, 4GB; slot 2, 8GB; slot 3, 4GB; slot 4, 8GB.

 

[GDUB Mx]

thanks guys ill see how i get on. would of picked all of you as solution if i could. cheers again!

 

[GDUB Mx]

ok guys, installed and heres what it says on speccy. see anything wrong?

 

[DRagor]

Looks good. If Windows also reports 24 Gb, you got it well done.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

ok guys, installed and heres what it says on speccy. see anything wrong?

If it remains stable and Windows sees 24GB of RAM, that is super. If it proves to be unstable set the timing for CL, tRCD, tRAS, tRC, and CR to the higher numbers given with slots 2 and 4 in your images, for ALL your RAM..