Windows 10: Can you mix ram speeds in the same PC

Ended up with two extra sticks of DDR3 4 gig sticks of memory after two PC upgrades to Win 10. Question is can I mix DDR3 ram sticks on the same board if the speeds are different...?

What do I have to match/look for in order to use 2 ea different ram sticks/speeds in the same box if they are both DDR3 sticks

Thanks...TiminAz

:)

 

memory mixing

Hi MS's it is a very bad idea to mix RAM modules. What happens the faster RAM speed gets throttled and it will defeat the purpose of the faster RAM . .

While you could mix say 1333Mhz and 1600Mhz and this speed loss would be hardly noticeable, mixing 1333Mhz and 533Mhz will cause serious problems in regard to speed

Until you purchase the other dimms I would just leave the 133Mhz modules and pull the 533Mhz . . .

 

RAM problem

Did you make sure your ram is the proper type for your PC and matches the type of ram already in your PC (I think that GB count is not an issue, but mixing DDR3 and DDR4, or other ram types is.

Just want to know so we can figure out if it is a problem with Windows or your RAM sticks.

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From my understanding the voltages and the latency have to match or the PC will be unstable.

 

Sounds right.

It may help to manually configure the RAM's voltage and timings. Your BIOS may not automatically pick values compatible with both sets.

I vaguely recall that I got it to work, but it was years ago (when RAM was more expensive).

 

I never had luck doing this. It's far better to get all of the memory at the same time to make sure it's going to work together.

 

In theory any combination of RAM modules should work. But things don't always work that way in the real world. Any mismatch in RAM size, specifications, or even manufacturer can cause problems. For best results it is best to use matched memory modules.

The effective RAM speed will be that of the slowest module. If it works.