[SOLVED] Will Mixing RAM Ranks yield a positive or negative results ?

[Chris David]

A friend of mine owns a ASUS Vivobook 15 X505ZA-EJ509T

It runs on a Ryzen 5-2500U, 8 Gigs of RAM, Vega 8 (iGPU), 1 TB HDD etc. He recently wanted to upgrade to 16 Gigs and finally got the money for it. He opened up the back once again to verify that he has a free slot for the extra 8 GB he's about to buy and put in, when he noticed that one of the RAM sticks were soldered (not a huge problem) but it was a single rank stick, he can't replace the entire set as a 2x8 as one of the DIMMs are soldered.

It would be great if you guys helped us out with this predicament, I have no idea about single/dual rank or the role they play, pls leave a "for noobs" explanation about it down,
whether mixing RAM's with different ranks are bad,
would it be causing a BSOD or any speed issues,
would Dual Channel work as intended, etc.

He said the RAM was listed as CL17 2400MHz DDR4 in CPU-Z, not sure about who the manufacturer is as the SODIMM doesn't have a sticker on it that lists the information.

https://imgur.com/DvxAlSy

View: https://i.imgur.com/DvxAlSy.png

 

[wong93]

A friend of mine owns a ASUS Vivobook 15 X505ZA-EJ509T

It runs on a Ryzen 5-2500U, 8 Gigs of RAM, Vega 8 (iGPU), 1 TB HDD etc. He recently wanted to upgrade to 16 Gigs and finally got the money for it. He opened up the back once again to verify that he has a free slot for the extra 8 GB he's about to buy and put in, when he noticed that one of the RAM sticks were soldered (not a huge problem) but it was a single rank stick, he can't replace the entire set as a 2x8 as one of the DIMMs are soldered.

It would be great if you guys helped us out with this predicament, I have no idea about single/dual rank or the role they play, pls leave a "for noobs" explanation about it down,
whether mixing RAM's with different ranks are bad,
would it be causing a BSOD or any speed issues,
would Dual Channel work as intended, etc.

He said the RAM was listed as CL17 2400MHz DDR4 in CPU-Z, not sure about who the manufacturer is as the SODIMM doesn't have a sticker on it that lists the information.

https://imgur.com/DvxAlSy

View: https://i.imgur.com/DvxAlSy.png

You may mix the RAM, no issues with it, but I suggest you bring the laptop to IT shop and test the RAM on the spot to ensure it is working before purchasing.

 

[cardinomagaling]

You may mix the RAM, no issues with it, but I suggest you bring the laptop to IT shop and test the RAM on the spot to ensure it is working before purchasing.

I have the same issue and same laptop but the soldered ram on mine is only 4gb. is it possible to put a 16gb ram to make it a 20 gb. I saw a few videos on Youtube which they use 20gb ram and still works good on editing and gaming. wish for your answers thankyou

 

[egda23]

I have the same issue and same laptop but the soldered ram on mine is only 4gb. is it possible to put a 16gb ram to make it a 20 gb. I saw a few videos on Youtube which they use 20gb ram and still works good on editing and gaming. wish for your answers thankyou

The go-to manufacturer for OEM systems as yours is probably Crucial.
Here is their choice of memory for your PC:
https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/asus/vivobook-15-x505za
They indicate a choice of 8 or 16 GB RAM sticks, and 20 Gb as max RAM for your PC. And verify the speed of your soldered RAM, in order to make the proper choice (Crucial offers speeds form 2400 to 3200 MHz).
BUT Asus specifications for this PC says 16 GB total RAM
https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ASUS-VivoBook-15-X505ZA/specifications/
It could thus possible that you have to perform a Bios update in order to use 20 Gb.
Check your Bios version and see Bios versions and updates here
https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ASUS-VivoBook-15-X505ZA/HelpDesk_Download/