# [SOLVED] Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.



## Karabash (Jul 17, 2014)

What is the worst that can happen, and should I use:
2 x 4gb Kingston 1333MHz DDR3 240-pin DIMM CL9 SR STD KVR13N9S8HK2/8 with
2 x 2gb Transcend 1333MHz DDR3 240-pin DIMM CL9 JM1333KLN-2G

Mobo is Gigabyte P55-UD3L, so it supports these sticks, and has dual channel slots which I would use for the matching sticks ofc...

I could post more details if needed.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

if you used those you would not run in dual channel. To run dual channel you need to have the same size and speed of ram and its always best to us a matched pair i.e the same make.

kingtson ram is known for issues anyway so mixing it wouldn't be the best idea.

if you want 8GB RAM it would be best to run 2x4GB sticks.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Mount one DIMM of each set in each channel, such that you have 6GB in each channel. Should run without a hitch in dual channel mode.

However, since you are using a 32 bit operating system only about 3.5 GB will be usable by Windows. Thus, there is no advantage in adding the 2 x 4GB kit of Kingston.

PS: To answer your quesion, the worst that will happen is that the PC will fail to boot.


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## Karabash (Jul 17, 2014)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Yeah, sorry, I will use 64 bit Windows 7, not this that I have now...

gcavan, are you saying that I should put 1 Kingston 4GB stick and 1 Transcend 2GB stick in the same colored slot on the mobo, and the other 2 in the other 2 slots? I thought that I should put the 2x4GB in the same colored slots, and also the 2x2GB sticks in the other, for dual channel to work.
I'm confused, please explain what is the best way...


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## Panther063 (Jul 13, 2009)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Dual Channel is usually marked on the board as A1 & B1.
So a 2Gb & a 4Gb stick go in adjacent slots.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

As gcaven said, just put the same type sticks in the same colored slots.

2 x 4gb Kingston -- put in blue slots
2 x 2gb Transcend -- put in white slots

or vice versa.


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## Karabash (Jul 17, 2014)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Ok, cool,

I assume that, since nobody said that anything really bad could happen, I could use this not-matched RAM, and "should" be fine. Rocking with 12GB RAM..

sorry for my english, 

Thanks guys


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Mixing RAM brands/specs commonly results in problems but the only way to know is try.
12GB will probably not render any more performance than 6GB. Most apps/games don't utilize over 3GB.


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Whoa folks! We need to backup here as there is some misinformation being given. When adding hardware, and when advising others about adding hardware, it is CRITICAL to research the specific motherboard! But I fear that has not been done here. 


> What is the worst that can happen, and should I use:


Nothing. That is, worse case is nothing will happen - the system will not boot. That is, assuming you take necessary ESD precautions, you unplug from the wall before inserting or pulling the RAM sticks, and you don't force the RAM into the slot backwards, no harm will be done. 

Modern motherboards have modern memory controllers that are very capable of making RAM sticks work together. Each pair needs two matched sticks, but the pairs do not need 4 matched sticks. Note dual-channel has been around for 50 plus years! Yes, "fifty"! So they know how to do it. It just took this long for it to be commonplace knowledge because 64-bit operating systems and gobs of RAM have only recently become commonplace. 

Also, regarding the following comment extracts...


> Dual Channel is usually marked on the board as A1 & B1.
> adjacent slots.
> put in blue slots
> put in white slots


Forgive me for blending quotes but there are some significant misconceptions here. 

*There are NO INDUSTRY STANDARDS for color coding, labeling, or slot placement for dual channel (or triple channel) memory architectures.* So looking for A1 or B1 will not get any results - at least not with Gigabyte boards - which I use almost exclusively on all my builds. And while many makers use different colored slots for the pairs, there is no standard for that either. 

On this Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H board, all 4 slots are black, and are labeled as DDR3-4, DDR3-2, DDR3-3, and DDR3-1. 

On my Gigabyte GA-P55-UD4P, the slots are blue and white, but the like colored slots are NOT adjacent to each other. They are labeled as DDR3-2, DDR3-1, DDR3-4, and DDR3-3 (blue, white, blue, white). 

*So, Karabash, what you really need to do is "RTFM"* - read the friggin' manual! If you don't have it, you can download it from here. 

Then note on page 16 of your manual, you can see your board has blue and white slots and they are NOT adjacent to each other!!! As noted on the illustration on page 16, your memory needs to be installed as follows:

Channel 0: DDR3_1, DDR3_2 
Channel 1: DDR3_3, DDR3_4

(Note they use Channel 0 and Channel 1. Not A and B). 

If you look at the installation guide from the same download page, you will see images of many different boards with black RAM slots, blue and white RAM slots, and even yellow and orange RAM slots - some with adjacent pairs, some with split pairs. There is even a board with 4 black slots with one pair on one side of the CPU and the other pair on the other side!


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## Karabash (Jul 17, 2014)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Thank you very much Bill_Bright for thorough explanation, and answer to my main question...

P.S. The guy called MPR who mentioned blue and white slots was right for my board so looks like he did research. :thumb:


much obliged to all!


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

Blue and white slots are popular, but not always used. And on some boards, like colors are adjacent to each other, and on other boards they are not. Yes, your board uses blue and white, but they are not adjacent to each other. 

Plus my goal was not to point fingers at who was right or not. My goal is only to ensure readers have the correct information.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*



Bill_Bright said:


> Yes, your board uses blue and white, but they are not adjacent to each other.


Correct, which is why identical RAM placed in the white (and blue for 4 sticks) slots on the Gigabyte board in questions will ensure it's configured as dual channel. Adjacent slots on this board are a single channel and are colored one blue and one white.




> The four DDR3 memory sockets are divided into two channels and each channel has two memory sockets as following:
> 
> Channel 0: DDR3_1 (white), DDR3_2 (blue)
> Channel 1: DDR3_3 (white), DDR3_4 (blue)
> ...


@OP, yes I did my research -- I too read your motherboard manual.
@ BB, you are right about having to read the manual for the specific motherboard, oftentimes you must read the manual for the specific revision too. Not all motherboards have colored slots and Gigabyte not too long ago changed the positions of its colored slots too.


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## Karabash (Jul 17, 2014)

*Re: Mixing of RAM brands and capacity.*

My main concern and reason for starting this thread was what harm can be done if I mix these 2 similar RAM. You helped me to realize that not much harm can be done, so I will definitely try to use them together.

It will be done in this fashion:

Channel 0: DDR3_1 (white)-4GB, DDR3_2 (blue)-2GB
Channel 1: DDR3_3 (white)-4GB, DDR3_4 (blue)-2GB


Cheers!


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