[SOLVED] Memory Config. change from 16GB to 24GB. Is it buggy or safe?

RustyRagdoll

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Sep 6, 2015
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Greetings everyone,
I'm wanting to upgrade from the 16GB i've got right now (4x4GB 1600Mhz) to 2x4GB and 2x8GB.
My main concern is if i'm going to lose any quad-channel performance gains or am i just going to get a more unstable system.

Any help is highly appreciated as i'm not that much of a pro when it comes to memory.

Thanks in advance.

SPECS
i7 4790K (OC'd to 4.7Ghz)
Aforementioned RAM Config
2070 XC ULTRA
Z87 Gryphon Mobo
TX850 850W PSU
 
Solution
Mixing RAM is always a crapshoot.
It might work, it might fail, it might work 'a little'.

If you want to move up, buy a set of 2x16GB.

Why the increase? Are you running past that current 16GB?

(and your current motherboard is dual channel, not quad)

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Mixing RAM is always a crapshoot.
It might work, it might fail, it might work 'a little'.

If you want to move up, buy a set of 2x16GB.

Why the increase? Are you running past that current 16GB?

(and your current motherboard is dual channel, not quad)
 
Solution

RustyRagdoll

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Sep 6, 2015
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Mixing RAM is always a crapshoot.
It might work, it might fail, it might work 'a little'.
If you want to move up, buy a set of 2x16GB.

Roger that. It's not really mixing though. Exact same HyperX Fury modules just different color and Size.

Why the increase? Are you running past that current 16GB?

Sometimes i get unsettingly close to 14GB. With only a Browser, Steam, Discord and a game (even a game that's not very RAM hungry like Wreckfest or DOOM 2016, these are just examples)

(and your current motherboard is dual channel, not quad)

Yeah, i meant dual channel, my bad.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Roger that. It's not really mixing though. Exact same HyperX Fury modules just different color and Size.
Unless sold as a set and it comes in the same box....mixing.
Even the same part number from the same manufacturer.

2x8GB you buy today comes from Factory A.
2x8GB you buy 6 months from now comes from Factory B.

A and B can have slightly different QA tolerances.
 

RustyRagdoll

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Sep 6, 2015
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Unless sold as a set and it comes in the same box....mixing.
Even the same part number from the same manufacturer.

2x8GB you buy today comes from Factory A.
2x8GB you buy 6 months from now comes from Factory B.

A and B can have slightly different QA tolerances.
I'm aware, but didn't know that i'd still be mixing RAM that way.
 
A seasoned PC builder always pays attention to such details, but i know it's not "perfectly fine" because it's not common to mix different size modules. Hence why i asked here.
With DDR3, it's generally a lot easier. 8GB+4GB modules in a two slotted motherboard almost always work (as long as the 8GB module is supported), and the trick you're going to have is 'pairing' or 'banking' the modules the way the system likes it for dual channel operation--either 8+4 in one bank and the same in another or 8+8 in one bank and 4+4 in another. But even if you don't get dual channel, I think you shouldn't have any issues running single channel this way. I even upgraded my cousin's computer from 8GB to 24GB this exact way--by adding 2x 8GB modules alongside his existing 2x 4GB, and this was on an FX-6350, so I was expecting at least some shuffling, but it worked on the first shot. :)