Will using memory sticks of different frequency (or different latency even) damage my PC in any way??

[Sushrut_Thakur]

I purchased all parts and built my very own PC.This is my first custom build and I am very happy it turned out to be a success. Just a teeny-tiny question though.I bought a Kingston HyperX Fury 1 * 8gb RAM DDR4 2133MHz for my build.I know I should've bought 2 sticks together for the best use of Dual-Memory Architecture but I was low on budget and thought I'd add an extra DIMM later when I'd upgrade some more stuff.Though I'm not planning to upgrade in at least a couple of years from now, I'd like to know what kind of frequency should my new Ram stick have in order to suit my already existing ram stick.I'm concerned because the new generation motherboards are more into supporting the 2400MHz DDR4 Ram rather than the 2133MHz.So if i were to buy a 2400MHz Ram, Would the motherboard automatically scale down the 2400 to 2133 (though this depends from mobo to mobo, I'd like a general answer) or Would I have to buy 2 all new Ram sticks and can't reuse the old one?? I sincerely thank everyone who decides to answer this question even though there are tons of other threads on this website alone and I also apologize for my English.

P.S.Links to threads/forums/blogs regarding this question are also welcome rather than writing a whole answer for me

 

[1LiquidPC]

You are on the right path You are correct, if you add a 2400 stick at some point, the system will default to slowest settings of the two. However, playing mix n' match with RAM can be tricky. If you add a second stick at some point, I'd try to get a matching stick, or a new faster dual-channel kit, as by that point costs should be lower. Less likely to have issues this way. Sometimes mixed sticks can cause POST failure at boot, ect. That said, this is likely worst case, as I've added RAM to old Dell PCs that weren't matched and the system worked, just not ideal. Also, even mixed sets won't cause damage just by installing. If you mess with voltages and timings, it's possible without knowing what you're doing.

 

[DRagor]

Mixing sticks not bought as kit is not advised, as results are unpredictable. No, you can't damage anything that way, but there is always chance such setup will refuse to boot, or will not work stable, causing BSODs. However, if you get the sticks to work together, they will both run at the speed of slower module, so in your case no mater how 2nd stick would be rated, they would both run at 2133 Mhz. Unless you can overclock the slower one, but that requires proper motherboard, and increases chance that sticks will cause problems together.