Question How does DDR work with different RAM sizes

[Maxinity]

I've recently bought an Asus Vivobook M1603QA, it comes with 8GB of RAM soldered onto the motherboard, the RAM is running at 3200mhz and no information on the CAS. The laptop also has a slot to add one more stick of RAM, I'm sure 99% of 3200mhz 8GB RAM sticks I would buy would work but what about buying a 16GB stick running 3200mhz, from what I know only 8GB of that 16 would run at 3200mhz and the other 8GB would run at 1600mhz? Would this overall negatively affect my performance, i.e. the memory controller allocates a program to run on the slower part of my RAM, I use the laptop for light gaming, photo and video editing etc.

 

[Lutfij]

The maximum supported officially by your laptop, per Asus's support page;

Vivobook 16X (M1603, AMD Ryzen 5000 series) - Tech Specs｜Laptops For Home｜ASUS Global

Make your world shine with ASUS Vivobook 16X, the feature-packed laptop with a brilliant display. Vivobook 16X makes it easy to get things done, anywhere.

www.asus.com

is 16GB. You can pick up any brand of 8GB DDR4-3200MHz ram and add it to your laptop's sole ram slot but make sure you're on the latest BIOS version prior to your ram upgrade.

I'm sure 99% of 3200mhz 8GB RAM sticks I would buy would work but what about buying a 16GB stick running 3200mhz, from what I know only 8GB of that 16 would run at 3200mhz and the other 8GB would run at 1600mhz?
Where did you read that? The only thing might be downclocked would be the latency, per your soldered on ram, regardless of how tight of a timing ram stick you add to the laptop.

 

[Maxinity]

The maximum supported officially by your laptop, per Asus's support page;

Vivobook 16X (M1603, AMD Ryzen 5000 series) - Tech Specs｜Laptops For Home｜ASUS Global

Make your world shine with ASUS Vivobook 16X, the feature-packed laptop with a brilliant display. Vivobook 16X makes it easy to get things done, anywhere.

www.asus.com

is 16GB. You can pick up any brand of 8GB DDR4-3200MHz ram and add it to your laptop's sole ram slot but make sure you're on the latest BIOS version prior to your ram upgrade.

I'm sure 99% of 3200mhz 8GB RAM sticks I would buy would work but what about buying a 16GB stick running 3200mhz, from what I know only 8GB of that 16 would run at 3200mhz and the other 8GB would run at 1600mhz?
Where did you read that? The only thing might be downclocked would be the latency, per your soldered on ram, regardless of how tight of a timing ram stick you add to the laptop.

Oh didn't notice the 16 GB limit, I'm assuming motherboard limitations. Thanks for the help 👍

 

[Bob.B]

I've recently bought an Asus Vivobook M1603QA, it comes with 8GB of RAM soldered onto the motherboard, the RAM is running at 3200mhz and no information on the CAS. The laptop also has a slot to add one more stick of RAM, I'm sure 99% of 3200mhz 8GB RAM sticks I would buy would work but what about buying a 16GB stick running 3200mhz, from what I know only 8GB of that 16 would run at 3200mhz and the other 8GB would run at 1600mhz? Would this overall negatively affect my performance, i.e. the memory controller allocates a program to run on the slower part of my RAM, I use the laptop for light gaming, photo and video editing etc.

Some reading.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ram...CCBAAGIAEGKIEmAMAkgcCMTOgB65z&sclient=gws-wiz