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I'm thinking of upgrading from --16GB Ram DDR4 2666mhz  -- to 32GB Ram DDR4 2666mhz  in my laptop.  

 

I was just going to put two sticks of 16gb to replace the two sticks of 8gb already in the laptop.

 

Then saw online, a suitable stick of 32gb and I thought, "What if I buy that one stick of 32gb and leave in one of the 8gb sticks already there, making 40gb in my laptop?"  So it would be 32gb on one side and 8gb on the other.

 

I've read that some people say you shouldn't do that and in other places experienced PC people are claiming that it is actually perfectly OK to do that, and that it's an old wives' tail that you shouldn't do it. 

 

What is the general consensus here at DCS about this? 

 

And what about just running it with one stick of 32gb and the other slot empty....any problems?  (In case I want to upgrade further to 64bg)

 

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Although not ideal, I've done it more than once in the past for similar reasons, and with no problems.
With that said, I'd only suggest trying that with RAM sticks of same manufacturer and model, same speed+timings and voltage. Otherwise, it's asking for trouble.
So, to keep things simple and reduce the risk of an unstable system, stick to one brand of memory and one specification.

 


Edited by LucShep
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Definitely NOT recommended.  These RAM are DDR.  "Double Data Rate"  And "Double" part requires a pair.  You may be able to get single stick to work but it'll be slower.

As for different size.  If you have 32GB and 8GB sticks, you may be able to get 40GB to work only in single channel mode.  Once you enable DDR, it'll consider 32GB stick as 8GB.  Giving you total of 16GB.  And many Laptop BIOS doesn't give you a lot of control so it may not even give you option to choose Single or Double.  And may not work at all.

Same with speed.  Your RAM will only run as fast as your slower stick.

 

Stick with pair of same size RAM.


Edited by Taz1004
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What people doesn't know is that RAM manufacturers can use different chips from one batch to another of the same RAM type, so being lucky using two different kits or size is one thing, making it an habit will lead to failure to boot, low performances etc.

 

You'd be far better off purchasing a 32GB kit at once to avoid possible issues, so if your solution works right now, save the money to change the totality of your RAM when you can afford it.

 

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6 hours ago, Taz1004 said:

Definitely NOT recommended.  These RAM are DDR.  "Double Data Rate"  And "Double" part requires a pair.  You may be able to get single stick to work but it'll be slower.

As for different size.  If you have 32GB and 8GB sticks, you may be able to get 40GB to work only in single channel mode.  Once you enable DDR, it'll consider 32GB stick as 8GB.  Giving you total of 16GB.  And many Laptop BIOS doesn't give you a lot of control so it may not even give you option to choose Single or Double.  And may not work at all.

Same with speed.  Your RAM will only run as fast as your slower stick.


No, that's not exactly how it works.
The "Double Data Rate" (DDR) name goes for the interface, which uses double pumping (transferring data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal) to double data bus bandwidth without a corresponding increase in clock frequency. This is done in individual basis (per module), nothing to do with pairing modules or having them single, nor about capacity of one vs the other.


What you may infer to when mentioning paired modules is Dual-Channel. This indeed needs RAM modules in pairs.

Dual-Channel will still work with mixed size RAM. It'll be faster than single module and in real usage no difference to, say, something like 2x8GB or 2x16GB. 
Only in benchmarks the number of that 40GB of mixed RAM (if using 32GB+8GB modules) will be 180% of Single-Channel with one module, instead of 200%, in that specific case. The reason is simple, it'll run Dual-Channel in the bigger capacity module and Single-Channel on the lower capacity one. 

And this is one reason why manufactures sell kits of twin(s) modules of same capacity, speed, timings and voltage.

 

Having one single module (forcing Single-Channel) is a common picture in laptops, and it does work on any system. But the interesting part is that it provoques slower results, seeing that all modern systems of today are Dual/Quad Channel based (needs modules in pair(s) for best RAM performance).

That usually has to do with economy, be it price budgeting or simplicity (one less component sucking power from the battery, in the case of laptops).

 

There used to be also Triple-Channel (Intel X58 platform) which required either 3 or 6 modules of RAM to work at its best - and this is exactly what I had for my previous system, which is still working today with mixed RAM modules of different capacities, for a total of 20GB. 🙂 

There hasn't been any issues, even running with the memory overclocked years and years like that.

These are the RAM modules that X58 system (Intel Xeon W3690 OC'ed @ 4.5Ghz on an Asus P6X58D-E mobo) is running:

 

2x modules of 2GB DDR3 1600, 7-7-7-24 (Gskil Ripjaws F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH)
2x modules of 4GB DDR3 1600, 8-8-8-24 (Gskil RipjawsX F3-12800CL8D-8GBRM)
2x modules of 4GB DDR3 1600, 9-9-9-24 (Gskil RipjawsX F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL)

TOTAL = 20 GB on six RAM modules (running OC'ed DDR3 1804Mhz, 10-10-10-30 timings)

 

Pairing mixed modules requires making sure (manually, in BIOS) that the speed, timings and voltage are same and fully stable on all modules (always dependant on the slowest module), and that can be pretty fiddly, requiring lots of stability testing, it's not always guaranteed to work.

This is the other reason why manufactures sell kits of twin(s) modules of same capacity, speed, timings and voltage - to ensure full compability/stability.

I ensured mine were, after hours upon hours (*sigh*) with MemTest. 😕 Not something I'd recommend for the layman or impatient (even less if on a laptop), and why I said:
"I'd only suggest trying that with RAM sticks of same manufacturer and model, same speed+timings and voltage. Otherwise, it's asking for trouble. 

So, to keep things simple and reduce the risk of an unstable system, stick to one brand of memory and one specification."

 

Nonetheless, I agree with others here recommending to get the 32GB kit (two modules of 16GB), because "it just works".


Edited by LucShep
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CGTC Caucasus retexture mod  |  A-10A cockpit retexture mod  |  Shadows reduced impact mod  |  DCS 2.5.6  (the best version for performance, VR or 2D)

DCS terrain modules_July23_27pc_ns.pngDCS aircraft modules_July23_27pc_ns.png  aka Luke Marqs; call sign "Ducko" =

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1 hour ago, LucShep said:

Nonetheless, I'd agree with others here recommending to get the 32GB kit (two modules of 16GB), because "it just works".

 

 

Because they were tested and guaranteed to work together, even more relevant with X 4 8GB kits instead of 2 X 16 GB kits according to G Skill support, who pointed out that 2 X 16GB kits might not always work together as well as a single 4 X 8 kit for this reason, according to them, chips can be different from a batch to another...

 

Quote
Euro Tech Fri, 18 Dec at 09:53

Dear Customer,

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Even the same models of memory kit in different production period, there might have IC difference as we will be using different memory chips.

In general we do not recommend mixing two or more memory kits together, even if the same model number, may result in compatibility issue, such as unable to boot or unable to perform at rated speeds. Each of our memory kit is thoroughly tested for compatibility between modules within the memory kit before retail, so we guarantee each memory kit will operate to its rated specs on its own.

Thank you.

 


Edited by Thinder

Win 11Pro. Corsair RM1000X PSU. ASUS TUF Gaming X570-PLUS [WI-FI], AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3D, Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Nitro+ Vapor-X 24GB GDDR6. 32 GB G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series (4 x 8GB) RAM Cl14 DDR4 3600. Thrustmaster HOTAS WARTHOG Thrustmaster. TWCS Throttle. PICO 4 256GB.

WARNING: Message from AMD: Windows Automatic Update may have replaced their driver by one of their own. Check your drivers.

M-2000C. Mirage F1. F/A-18C Hornet. F-15C. F-5E Tiger II. MiG-29 "Fulcrum".  Avatar: Escadron de Chasse 3/3 Ardennes. Fly like a Maineyak.

 

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2 hours ago, LucShep said:

Nonetheless, I agree with others here recommending to get the 32GB kit (two modules of 16GB), because "it just works".

 

 

I feel everyone's debating about same conclusion.


Edited by Taz1004
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Indeed, we are - all got to same conclusion.
Sorry for previously posting such a long reply.

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CGTC Caucasus retexture mod  |  A-10A cockpit retexture mod  |  Shadows reduced impact mod  |  DCS 2.5.6  (the best version for performance, VR or 2D)

DCS terrain modules_July23_27pc_ns.pngDCS aircraft modules_July23_27pc_ns.png  aka Luke Marqs; call sign "Ducko" =

Spoiler

Win10 Pro x64 | Intel i7 12700K (@5.1/5.0p + 3.9e) | 64GB DDR4 @3466 CL16 (Crucial Ballistix) | RTX 3090 24GB EVGA FTW3 Ultra | 2TB NVMe (MP600 Pro XT) + 500GB SSD (WD Blue) + 3TB HDD (Toshiba P300) + 1TB HDD (WD Blue) | Corsair RMX 850W | Asus Z690 TUF+ D4 | TR PA120SE | Fractal Meshify C | M-Audio USB + Sennheiser HD-599SE | 7x USB 3.0 Hub | 50'' 4K Philips 7608/12 UHD TV (+Head Tracking) | HP Reverb G1 Pro (VR) | TM Warthog + Logitech X56 

 

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