Mix and matching memory

[litaidd]

I would like to add more memory to my old system/workstation. It's an x99 board with an i7 5960x. I use it mostly for virtual machines, and no gaming. My virtual machines are setup to take snapshots of themselves every hour or so, and I haven't really ran into any issues yet. But I would like to upgrade from 32GB to 64GB. I was looking around and to get an exact matching pair it would be super expensive now since my memory isn't being made it looks like anymore. So I could go to ebay or amzon, but they both want way to much for the exact speed and everything. So I'm trying to figure out if it would work if I got another kit with the same latency any everything but a different model and brand. Again I'm not sure worried about it potentially crashing someday, but I just would like to know if it will work. The memory performance also doesn't matter to me quite so much as for me it's mostly about just being able to keep up with all my virtual machines.

 

[geofelt]

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.

If you do buy more disparate sticks, they must be the same speed, voltage and cas numbers.
Even then your chances of working are less than 100%

What is your plan "B" if the new stick/s do not work?

Sometimes increasing the ram voltage in the bios will make things work.

If you want 64gb, my suggestion is to buy a 4 x 16gb kit that matches your current specs as to speed, voltage and timings.
Then, try adding in your old 32gb,
If it works, good; you now have 96gb.
If not, sell the old ram or keep it as a spare.