Never mix RAM

[Finchy]

Hello, never mix different types of RAM modules, it really causes hell. I have been experiancing crash problems in new games puke: (exept HL2 strangely) and according to realblackstuff, it's because I have two different Ram Modules, 256mb PC2100 (although it says PC2300 in CPU-Z) and 512mb of PC2700. Its not the size that matters, its the type/clock speed of the modules. In old motherboards you could slam in whatever you wanted but thats no longer the case, to avoid problems, all RAM modules must be of the same speed, size doesn't really matter, but a matched pair of modules can have minor performance gains. Keep this in mind when upgrading RAM.

 

[Sab3r]

Yeah I know what you mean, I totally forgot that my older pc could just handle
2 different ram modules since I had no problems with it but with my new pc (thus
a new kind of mobo) it just rebooted with heavy apps (games), though I still have two different
ones in there I had to set the ram speed to 333Mhz and I noticed that it isn't
running very speedy anymore but if I turn it to 400Mhz again it'll reboot.
The system runs waaaaay better on 400Mhz, it really makes a big difference.
I should trade my own in since they are both 400Mhz but the timing is different.

Maybe make this thread a sticky, a good reminder for people having random reboots
cause the ram is 90% of the time the issue.

bye :wave:

EDIT: btw is it better to have 2x512mb or 1x1024mb, OR 2x512 dual channel
or 1x1024mb dual channel since I also have 2 dual channel slots.

 

[zephead]

btw is it better to have 2x512mb or 1x1024mb, OR 2x512 dual channel

dual channel is the best, in terms of performance. it's like a raid 0 setup, but with ram instead of hard drives.

 

[StormBringer]

Hello, never mix different types of RAM modules, it really causes hell. I have been experiancing crash problems in new games puke: (exept HL2 strangely) and according to realblackstuff, it's because I have two different Ram Modules, 256mb PC2100 (although it says PC2300 in CPU-Z) and 512mb of PC2700. Its not the size that matters, its the type/clock speed of the modules. In old motherboards you could slam in whatever you wanted but thats no longer the case, to avoid problems, all RAM modules must be of the same speed, size doesn't really matter, but a matched pair of modules can have minor performance gains. Keep this in mind when upgrading RAM.

This has been widely known for a long time. Mixing even different brands of the same size isn't good because the ratings of the speeds can sometimes have difference that can cause problems.

 

[Rockfan1815]

what would happen if you mixed different types of ram, My brothers computer can take both pc133 and pc266-333. right now he is running on pc166 with 512 but I have and extra 256 pc333 that he can use. can he mix memory and us two different type.

 

[Tedster]

I've been fortunate. I have 2 512MB PC 3200 of kingston and 1 of crucial. For the most part my MB has been stable, but I'm not able to overclock it even a little without crashing. So in the future when I build my next computer, I'm sticking with the same brand for all slots.

 

[Sab3r]

what would happen if you mixed different types of ram, My brothers computer can take both pc133 and pc266-333. right now he is running on pc166 with 512 but I have and extra 256 pc333 that he can use. can he mix memory and us two different type.

If you mixed two types of ram your system becomes unstable and will reboot
randomly, very annoying.

EDIT: though it can't hurt to try, you have to run memtest, I haven't used that
prog before but if you google for it or maybe someone here on the forum you'll
find it.

 

[zephead]

i've got a gig of ram now, split with a micron and kingston stick. ddr400 in dual channel mode runs just fine, but the timings cannot be pushed *sigh*

i just add said kingston and replaced my aged radeon 8500 with an msi nx6600gt-vdt128sp and the jump in performance was pretty sweet!

 

[Finchy]

odd...everyone claims to suffer rebooting with different RAMs, but my PC freezes and won't work until i reboot. I had a notion that it could be a problem with my DVD drive since HL2 worked and that doesn't need a disk. Could anyone who has suffered freezing please confirm whether its my Ram

 

[zephead]

i had a freezing problem once. turned out that the board had gone south, replacing it fixed the problem.

 

[Tedster]

I use different RAM and will get rebooting issues if I overclock.

 

[zephead]

cpc override gave me a very hard time in the past. disabling it helps a lot to narrow down problems...