[SOLVED] Trying To Double Up My RAM - Compatibility Concerns

[Kirbyarm]

Hello experts! I'm far from one myself when it comes to hardware, but I try to get my research in before resorting to asking about it on here from professionals. Would be grateful if anyone could help me with this.

Okay, so my machine currently has 32 GB of RAM and I'm looking into upgrading to 64 GB instead. The option of throwing down $375-$570 canadian dollars on a straight up new 64 GB kit is a bit of a daunting thought at the moment, but the option of trying to buy another of the same 2x 16 GB sticks that I already have at $140-$150 seems far more approachable, especially considering DDR4 may not even be compatible in my next system for all I know when the time comes that I build it. I had to buy all new DDR4 RAM when I got this system 2 or 3 years back since my DDR3 from the machine prior was completely incompatible with the new motherboard and such.

As shown in the hyperlinked image in the above paragraph, my two stick's PNs are: CMK32GX4M2B3200C16. The white colored version, so a W is tacked on the end of the SKU. When trying to track down an exact part duplicate over on pcpartpicker.com, the closest I was able to hunt down on my own was this model, which is practically identical as far as I can tell aside from the color, however the PNs are ever so slightly different as well: CMK32GX4M2E3200C16.

Would buying these sticks most likely be just fine for an upgrade? Are there any hidden specs I'm not seeing between the two that would be of significiant concern in compatibility? Are there any other concerns a hardware rookie like myself should be made aware of? Any other advice for me about this topic?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Hellfire13]

Mixing RAM outside of a kit is always a 50-50 chance, no matter how close you are to your existing kit or how far you are from it. Sometimes even the closest do not work when put together with existing kit and sometimes vice versa. You will never know unless you try and nobody can tell you for certain.

 

[Kirbyarm]

Wow, is it really a 50-50 even when they're almost indistinguishable? Was hoping for better odds than that in this case! If I did find the exact PN and color, would two 32 gig 'kits' have just as unlikely of a chance to function together?

Is that the only significant thing of concern, just that it works or not? Or is there also some kinds of bad, unstable or glitchy phenomenon that can occur when (let's assume) it does work during normal computer operation?

Sorry about all the questions, I'm just hoping to make an informed decision on what to purchase here, so it would be really nice to have a clearer picture from those experienced about this on what to expect on both sides of the 50-50 coin.

 

[Hellfire13]

Wow, is it really a 50-50 even when they're almost indistinguishable? Was hoping for better odds than that in this case! If I did find the exact PN and color, would two 32 gig 'kits' have just as unlikely of a chance to function together?

Is that the only significant thing of concern, just that it works or not? Or is there also some kinds of bad, unstable or glitchy phenomenon that can occur when (let's assume) it does work during normal computer operation?

Sorry about all the questions, I'm just hoping to make an informed decision on what to purchase here, so it would be really nice to have a clearer picture from those experienced about this on what to expect on both sides of the 50-50 coin.

Sometimes you just put them together and bam, it works. Sometimes you might have to fiddle with timings and adjust voltages to find a stable operating specification. Sometimes it just won't work no matter what you do. The possibilities are numerous and speculation doesn't help. New kits usually have a Return Window, so you can try and figure out yourself.

 

[USAFRet]

The best way to go from 32GB to 64GB is to sell the existing 32GB, and buy a 64GB kit.

 

[Kirbyarm]

So far I've seen that it will work or not work and a recommended method to sell the current kit then purchase the upgraded kit (which I appreciate, please don't get me wrong - in fact I might just do this).

However, no one has really taken the time to answer the compatibility concerns I asked about in the case that it did work. I understand there are 'numerous' possibilities, but specifically what types of unwanted behaviour can generally happen on a mix and match that "works" that myself as an average computer user would notice in their day to day life?

I disagree that speculation doesn't help, as it will indeed help educate me and inform me. Source materials and citations are acceptable if you don't want to write an answer yourself, but I'm trying to educate myself before jumping through the ring of fire first and Google hasn't been helping when I've tried searching for specifics about this.

 

[cryoburner]

Okay, so my machine currently has 32 GB of RAM and I'm looking into upgrading to 64 GB instead. The option of throwing down $375-$570 canadian dollars on a straight up new 64 GB kit is a bit of a daunting thought at the moment, but the option of trying to buy another of the same 2x 16 GB sticks that I already have at $140-$150 seems far more approachable, especially considering DDR4 may not even be compatible in my next system for all I know when the time comes that I build it. I had to buy all new DDR4 RAM when I got this system 2 or 3 years back since my DDR3 from the machine prior was completely incompatible with the new motherboard and such.

Perhaps worth asking, do you know for a fact that you would immediately benefit from having more RAM? Are you currently running any specific software that manages to max out your 32GB and run into performance issues? I ask because for the vast majority of use-cases, 32GB is likely to be plenty for years to come. The exceptions might be for something like certain video editing workloads, or maybe running multiple virtual machines. As far as games and most desktop software goes, most people will still get along fine on 16GB, with 32GB generally being more than enough for the majority of power-users. Since you described yourself as an "average computer user", I'm not sure more RAM would actually be beneficial to you.

And yes, your next system will likely use DDR5, unless you plan on building it within the next year or so. Currently, Intel's latest CPUs have both DDR4 and DDR5 motherboards available, and AMD's are still on DDR4, but their new CPUs launching toward the end of the year will apparently require DDR5, and Intel's chips launching next year will likely do the same. So buying a bunch of extra DDR4 now might be a waste unless you have some immediate need for it. Otherwise, unused RAM will just be sitting around not doing anything in your system, and you might end up moving on to another system with different RAM before you see any actual need for more than 32GB.

As for potential problems of mixing RAM kits, the most likely one might be that you could encounter system stability issues, like crashes. There is the possibility it might work fine, but that's not guaranteed. I'm not sure of the exact ratio of success for mixing DDR4 RAM kits, though I suspect it's probably better than 50-50, as that sounds like a made up number. : P Though keep in mind that even kits from the same brand with the same model number might potentially use different RAM chips or other components a few years later, and could run into compatibility issues.

And again, I wouldn't bother with the upgrade unless you know for a fact that more RAM would be of benefit to you.

 

[Kirbyarm]

Oh, of course! Absolutely. I've been completely fine with 32 GB of RAM for many years now and I never would've thought for a moment I'd ever need 64 GB. There have been a few applications recently however that, while having everything else I normally have open, have been pushing my RAM to a regular usage of 75% or higher. A particular app when run in a high-quality and polygon count mode when loading particular sets of assets has had me reach 99%, and that tells me it just might be time to look into the next tier. I might be an average user as far as operation goes but I do tend to dip into a few applications where it's apparently quite memory hungry despite that.

Thank you for answering a forecast of the DDR4vDDR5 situation, I really needed that. If that is the case, it might be better to just suck up the 32 GB for now and wait for the DDR5 system to get a new 64 GB kit. One of my friends claims he's mixed and matched several times and "never had an issue" so I am with you in that the 50-50 is probably an inaccurate assessment.. but that's a really small sample pool so who knows. Thanks again for letting me know some details of what to expect.

In the end, I might just try a mix and match for now since nearly identical sticks are available on amazon for a good price and if they don't work I can return them without a fuss. This would at least carry me with the RAM capacity until the next system in best case scenario, otherwise I'll make due with 32 GB in the worst case. Thanks so much, cryoburner! You've earned yourself a best answer!

 

[Hellfire13]

I'm not sure of the exact ratio of success for mixing DDR4 RAM kits, though I suspect it's probably better than 50-50, as that sounds like a made up number.

The exact ratio of success for mixing DDR4 RAM kits has never been researched yet, so it cannot be made up. What that 50-50 means is that there is a 50% probability of it working and 50% not.