Need help choosing which RAM to buy

[Shirosaki Luffy]

I have a 4 gb already installed and am thinking of getting an extra 8 gb, i only have 2 ram slots so can i put the 4 gb with the 8 gb one to get 12 gb in total. I am thinking of buying TRANSCEND JETRAM DDR3 8 GB PC RAM (JM1333KLH-8G) and i wanted to know if they will work together without any problems. Also when putting the new ram all i have to do is just plug it in right ? or do i need to do something more ?

64 bit win 7
i5 2400 @3.10 ghz
4gb Transcend DDR3-1333 Ram (JM1333KLN-4G)
Motherboard Model Intel DH61WW

 

[i7Baby]

You can only guarantee success with two sticks of IDENTICAL ram. So just buy one more stick of 4gb Transcend DDR3-1333 Ram (JM1333KLN-4G)

 

[Ra_V_en]

If you dont care about DUAL mode then it should work fine as far as this 8GB stick is double sided:

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/dh61ww/sb/CS-032156.htm#tested

You can only guarantee success with two sticks of IDENTICAL ram. So just buy one more stick of 4gb Transcend DDR3-1333 Ram (JM1333KLN-4G)

No comment on that statement, that ram badge should be taken away as a slap in the face.
30 years in working with PC's and only found that the chance of not working ram is actually chipset/controller fault or incompatibility.

 

[i7Baby]

My advice is based on what I've seen here. Only about 1 out of every fifty cases has had success with using sticks of varying ram in their mobos.

 

[Tradesman1]

There's never any guarantee in mixing sticks from different packages, and chance go down when mixing different brands, more with different size sticks, more with different voltages and even more with different timings - best bet is a stick/set of the full amount you want, than try and add the old, if they won't play use the old in a different computer or sell it/them

 

[Ra_V_en]

My advice is based on what I've seen here. Only about 1 out of every fifty cases has had success with using sticks of varying ram in their mobos.

Note sure what are you are talking about ... look again... guy has 4gb ram already and wants to put 8 gb stick.
If thats the case then there is no such thing as Dual mode in this scenario... and as far as i remember even SIMM modules from 80's could be mixed.
Even it was about Dual mode I've seen totally different models working together like 10 years ago while memory controllers was still on the mobos and then on the CPU chip (athlon XP and athlon 64).

Its true its not guaranteed but 1:50 ratio is some kind of joke numbers taken out of air...
Id say exactly opposite... if 2 modules are not working together then most likely one of it is brutally violating memory controller standards. From decades there was an option to match speed settings of different modules... even if it was not shown i bios setup, memory controller did that itself.

Seriously TH should be more wise giving "badges" for people who lack of basic IT knowledge.

 

[i7Baby]

Dual mode?

You can check the instances where mixed ram sticks cause problems and where they don't. Come back with some figures if you want.

I stick with what I've said - Don't encourage people to use mixed ram.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

I have to agree with avoiding mixed ram if you can. The memory errors might be small, it may work fine, but a random crash here or there can be caused by mixing different brands/types/latency of ram. I have experienced it. Not saying it wont work, but to avoid if possible. If it were my pc, and i were getting the extra 8 gig, i would just ditch the 4gb already installed, just use the 8gb stick (or a 2x 4gb kit as this gives you double the bandwidth with a dual channel capable motherboard), or if you can find an identical 4gb module to the one already installed might be the most cost effective option and allow you to run dual channel with no issue. i doubt you'd notice 12gb vs 8gb for most applications, but you may notice the speed difference of 2 matched ram modules working in dual channel mode vs 2 random modules in single channel mode.

 

[Ra_V_en]

OK then... seems I've put unnecessary confusion.

"i wanted to know if they will work together without any problems"

While I've personally never issued any problems mixing rams while setting common denominator rule and some common sense... there is said rule that modules should be same model and even same batch to be quite sure nothing go wrong.

Btw I7Baby I'm not gonna argue more... you are correct in the fact its advisable... you are wrong with failure ratio.
If the OP wants 100% guaranty then i do agree... if its impossible to find exactly the same module... then should be very careful and try to match as many parameters as possible to avoid situation there is no common denominator for both modules.

 

[junkeymonkey]

i wanted to know if they will work together without any problems"

it may it may not I don't mix ram just for that reason no use causing issues when you don't have to. why not get a matched kit? but ya it may be fine but why take the chance it don't or damage something cause corruption or what ever?? unless I'm putting together a hunk of junk for someone I don't like it just seems like a silly thing to do

 

[Ra_V_en]

i wanted to know if they will work together without any problems"

it may it may not I don't mix ram just for that reason no use causing issues when you don't have to. why not get a matched kit? but ya it may be fine but why take the chance it don't or damage something cause corruption or what ever?? unless I'm putting together a hunk of junk for someone I don't like it just seems like a silly thing to do

Let me just show you what I']m talking about:
Dual Mode
Module1
Module2

It's my laptop modules....while i knew it will be impossible to manually set timings I've chosen second module (kingston) based on the SPD of the first one (Nanya) @ 533 Mhz.
So this proves its not very hard to match modules from different vendor even to work @ dual channel if you know what to do.
Now your case is
1) JM1333KLN-4G : CL9@1333 MHz 256Mx8
2) JM1333KLH-8G : CL9@1333 MHz 512Mx8

http://www.transcend-info.com/files/edm/EN_Product%20Sheet_DesktopNotebook-2.pdf

Also both meet requirements of the motheboard compatibility:

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/dh61ww/sb/CS-032156.htm#tested

The 8GB module is actually successor of the module you have already... i would eat my hairs if both wouldn't work together.
They wont in dual channel since module 1 will be bigger then the other but should be no problem in single channel.
So I say free to go... but what do i know

 

[junkeymonkey]

ok... get them sticks, install them with the ones you got , then fire it up, and see where it goes from there .. it will work or it will not .. its just that easy. then you know

 

[Tradesman1]

If you try and they don't want to play give me a shout

 

[iam2thecrowe]

if it doesnt work, or you get some funny errors/corruption down the track, you could always remove the 4gb and just run the 8gb, which is more than enough for the majority of games and apps out there.