Question Can I mix these sticks?

[loxy061]

I have a kingston ddr4 8GB, I currently have only one stick installed. I was wondering can I buy the exact same stick and use it without a problem with the other one? I know most of you would say I should buy a set but I am on budget and can’t really afford it right now, the only reason I am buying this is because its on a insane discount. Thanks in advice.

 

[Lutfij]

If you're absolutely sure you can source the exact same stick of ram, all the way down to it's latency number's being identical, then yes you can work with it. Otherwise, you're going to have to look at a ram kit(with two sticks).

Mind sharing a link or a picture of the stick of ram you have and the stick of ram you're looking at to purchase? Desktop or laptop?

 

[loxy061]

Sure, here is a stick I have installed https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX426C15FB_8.pdf , and here is a stick I want to buy https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX426C16FB2_8.pdf . Now that I look at it there seems to be a lot of difference :/

 

[Satan-IR]

As said above, you're better off getting a kit/pack that works in the form sold, i.e. a pack. Those two have timing differences and different part numbers.

Even with identical RAM sticks (in terms of size, speed, latency, voltage) made a few weeks apart on the same production line, no guarantee will run together. It's a gamble; they might work or might not and only way to make sure is to test them on the board.

Sometimes you can manually tweak the settings and make them work at wider latency or different speeds or with a bit of voltage increase but when they don't work issues can vary from no boot at all to instability and crashes and BSODs and ...

 

[Calvin7]

Wondering about buying the exact same stick and using it without a problem with the other one.

You can make any combinations you want.
Memory manufacturers will not guarantee such combinations to be compatible together. You are free to do you own compatibility testing with no guarantees.