[SOLVED] can i mix voltages?

[theevmeister]

i have a p6t se mobo with 24 gb max ram. before i knew you had to equally split the maximum memory among all the slots, i bought 3x8gb memory sticks. i have six slots though, and i failed to see that meant i had to use them all.
so now obviously i understand i need to divvy out six slots that have four gb apiece if i want to run with max memory.

what i'm curious about now is, though, if i can use my initial three sticks of memory with the three i just bought.
the three initial sticks are ddr3 1600 MHz, 1.65V, 2gb. the three new ones are ddr3 1600 , 1.5v, 8 gb.

further, i heard on this website somewhere that you're not even supposed to mix identical ram sticks that aren't sold in a batch together. my new ram were sold as a pair of two and a singlet. if i continue just using the new three, is that going to be a problem?

 

[tennis2]

You had right from the get-go. You don't need to fill all 6 slots. Your CPU has a triple channel memory controller. 3 DIMMs would achieve the triple channel RAM configuration. Consult your owner's manual. I think (verify this) you can only use 4GB DIMMs if you're using ECC memory on that board?

Your mobo will apply a single voltage and timings to all installed sticks. This will match the worst stick.

 

[theevmeister]

this is safe to do though?

 

[SamirD]

You'll have no problems. DDR3 was much, much more forgiving than DDR4, so you should have no problems mixing and matching.

 

[theevmeister]

wow, cool.