Upgrade RAM 8GB to 16GB: Same brand or just same type needed?

[real world]

Hi guys, my build is listed below. I currently have 8 GB's (2x4gb) of RAM in my gaming PC. It's a bit older of a rig with an i5-3570 & GTX 670 FTA 2GB in it. I only play Battlefield series games on it and it performs excellent on BF4, but has to be dialed down to handle BF1. With BF 5 coming out and Black Friday on the horizon, I am debating a new build vs a refresh/update of my current system. An update would include overclocking my CPU & buying a 1070 ti or 1080 GPU. It would also include doubling the RAM to 16GB's. This is where my question comes in.

The current RAM is this:


Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Low Profile Intel Desktop Memory Model BLS2K4G3D1609ES2LX0

If I bump the system to 16 GB's, do I need to buy the exact same RAM, or can I use 8 GB of identically spec'd RAM? Will there be any issue if I use 240-pin Ripjaws DDR3 1600 2x4GB sticks?

I ask because the identical RAM is either not available, or terribly overpriced. All advice is greatly appreciated.


Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Boxed Processor
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Socket LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW 2048MB GDDR5 256bit
Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
CORSAIR HX series HX650 650W

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, this is a pretty common question. I'm going to link you to a discussion which was Ryzen based, but applies to practically ANY system when adding memory. Bottom line is, if you didn't buy the modules TOGETHER, in a matched set, it's always a crapshoot no matter what. The only way to minimize the chances that they won't play nice together is, as you say, to try and find modules that have identical specs but that's still no guarantee because they likely use completely different ICs (Memory chips), may have different number of ranks, may not both be same sided as far as onboard chip design or they might have far different secondary and tertiary timings, even though the primary timings are the same.

All of these things can potentially cause them to either not run together at all, not run together well or not operate together in dual channel. Or they might work perfectly find even when they have vastly different configurations. It's always a gamble. Even using the same different modules in one motherboard, and it works, may not when the exact same different modules are tried in another motherboard. A crapshoot, every time. Unless you buy modules that were tested together at the factory and guaranteed to be compatible. Even then, I've seen a few sets that have not worked together, but worked separately, and had to be sent back.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3610013/amd-ram-compatibility.html#20562100