Two 8GB 1600Mghz sticks with one 4GB 1866Mghz stick?

[Keeno99]

Hi all,

One of my 4GB sticks of RAM recently died and I have now purchased two 8GB sticks of the same brand RAM (Corsair Vengeance). The two 8GB sticks are 1600Mghz, but the one 4GB stick is 1866Mghz. They are all DDR3. My motherboard is a MSI Z97 G45 and my CPU is an i5 4690k.

I was wondering whether I would be able to use all three of them together and if so, in what order should I put them in? (I cant use the slot closest to the CPU because my cooler blocks it).

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[Supahos]

Just use the 16gb all the other 4gb can do is cause you headaches.

 

[Keeno99]

Just use the 16gb all the other 4gb can do is cause you headaches.

Hey! Thanks for the reply.

Not that I don't believe you, but could you explain to me why I can't (or shouldn't) put the 4GB stick in. I'm just curious to learn but if it's too complicated, that's fine too.

Thanks again,
-Keeno

 

[USAFRet]

The performance difference between 16GB and 20GB is minimal, if anything at all.
Just leave the 4GB out.

The best outcome is that you see 20GB, with no performance change.
The worst is all sorts of weirdness, to include not even booting up.


But...since you already have these 3 sticks, you could just...ya know...try it. It won't blow anything up.

 

[Keeno99]

The performance difference between 16GB and 20GB is minimal, if anything at all.
Just leave the 4GB out.

The best outcome is that you see 20GB, with no performance change.
The worst is all sorts of weirdness, to include not even booting up.


But...since you already have these 3 sticks, you could just...ya know...try it. It won't blow anything up.

Alrighty then. Leave it out it is.
I wasn't sure if I could possible damage something by mic matching the RAMs so it's good to know I can do that.

Thanks for the help.