Does RAM need to be bought in pairs

[iangdesign]

A couple years ago I bought an Asus K53e laptop...it's finally starting to lag so I picked up some new ram for it. I figured since it already had a 4 gig stick in it I could buy another and it would be ok and max out at 8 gigs between both sticks.

I ordered Crucial 4GB Single DDR3 1333 MT/s (PC3-10600) CL9 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V stick off amazon as that is what is spec'd in my laptop already. I installed the stick and the computer wouldn't even power up.

Did I do something wrong here? Will the memory need to be bought in pairs instead of just tryign to upgrade with a single stick? Thanks any help would be great Thanks!

Ian G.

 

[swegname]

You can mix ram sticks. But its not advisable

 

[rgd1101]

yup, when you mix ram sometime it work, sometime it doesn't.

 

[eazy899]

You can buy stick individually if you just buy the same ones. I did.

I bought one 8gb crucial ballistix sport last month and 1 this month.

Same ram chip, different purchase times and not bought in pairs.

 

[Legohouse]

A couple years ago I bought an Asus K53e laptop...it's finally starting to lag so I picked up some new ram for it. I figured since it already had a 4 gig stick in it I could buy another and it would be ok and max out at 8 gigs between both sticks.

I ordered Crucial 4GB Single DDR3 1333 MT/s (PC3-10600) CL9 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V stick off amazon as that is what is spec'd in my laptop already. I installed the stick and the computer wouldn't even power up.

Did I do something wrong here? Will the memory need to be bought in pairs instead of just tryign to upgrade with a single stick? Thanks any help would be great Thanks!

Ian G.

Well, in my experience going with pair memory is vital only for servers and some desktops, not all. So adding a single compatible memory should work if the specifications are correct. Try installing just the crucial 4GB module and see if it boots up. If not try updating the BIOS and see if it works. If it doesn't then the memory might not be compatible.. may be due to the memory rank or the memory organization etc. Btw, could you let me know the specifications of the existing memory (working module)?