Mixing new RAM with old RAM?

Amraam

Amraam

Amraam

Soldato
Joined
5 Jan 2009
Posts
4,765
Hey all,

I currently have 2GB (2x1GB) OCZ PC2-6400 (4-4-4-15) DDR2 RAM. I have just purchased OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC6400 Titanium Memory CL4(4-4-4-15) from "another shop" ( <-- is that allowed? :D). It is the exact same speed and timings as what I have, except that it is 2GB sticks.

Will my 680i motherboard run all 4 sticks together at full speed OK? Which ones should I put in the blue command DIMM slots?

Thanks!
 
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No links to or mention of competitors on this forum! Read the rules and edit your post :p

As for the RAM, if it's got the same specs, it'll work. Shouldn't be a problem that it's 2x2GB + 2x1GB, just occasionally it can be, but it's never happened to me. But since you've already bought the 4GB it's irrelevant, you may as well just stick them all in and try it out. I wouldn't bother which set goes in which colour, just make sure you put the 2GB set in one colour and the 4GB set in the other colour.
 
miniyazz said:
No links to or mention of competitors on this forum! Read the rules and edit your post :p

As for the RAM, if it's got the same specs, it'll work. Shouldn't be a problem that it's 2x2GB + 2x1GB, just occasionally it can be, but it's never happened to me. But since you've already bought the 4GB it's irrelevant, you may as well just stick them all in and try it out. I wouldn't bother which set goes in which colour, just make sure you put the 2GB set in one colour and the 4GB set in the other colour.
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Edited, apologies.

Thanks for the tips, I'll get back to you when I get them installed tomorrow :D
 
I have used the same in the past your board will configure it instead of 2x2 duel channel its will be running 2x3 duel channel mode,cant see a problem myself even though my ram had different voltage settings it worked ok
 
Davy644 said:
I have used the same in the past your board will configure it instead of 2x2 duel channel its will be running 2x3 duel channel mode,cant see a problem myself even though my ram had different voltage settings it worked ok
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Different voltage settings? Are you sure? Seems very unusual!
 
Sorry to hijack this thread, but I have exactly the same question! I currently have Crucial 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Anni running on Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3. I'm wanting to upgrade to 4GB and keep my Crucial Anni. What set of 2 x 1GB sticks should I get and will they be compatible?
 
NP at all, its what the forum is here for :)

For the price of RAM, it would be pointless to do that mate.

Get a similar 4GB set to what I've bought, or get the "this week only" OCZ stuff thats £34 and take out your old RAM and replace it with the new, OR just do what I did and add it to your RAM for 6GB.

Even if your dead set on only having 4GB instead of 6GB, I'd still recommend going for the 2x2GB sticks. I still think its better to have 2 large capacity sticks, than 4 smaller capacity sticks (even though that's what I'm doing hehe), mainly for OCing and there is an old bug which is still present in some mobos that means if all 4 DIMMs are occupied, the mobo slows down the RAM for some reason. If I get that problem, I'll just take out my 2x1GB sticks and sell em. Luckily the RAM I just bought is the exact same speed and timings, so I shouldn't have a problem, but things with PCs never go simply!

Either way mate, I'd reccomend going for the 2x2GB. Someone with more knowledge will chime in soon hopefully :)

EDIT: I see you live in Newcastle also!! Where abouts? I'm in Heaton.
 
Amraam said:
NP at all, its what the forum is here for :)

For the price of RAM, it would be pointless to do that mate.

Get a similar 4GB set to what I've bought, or get the "this week only" OCZ stuff thats £34 and take out your old RAM and replace it with the new, OR just do what I did and add it to your RAM for 6GB.

Even if your dead set on only having 4GB instead of 6GB, I'd still recommend going for the 2x2GB sticks. I still think its better to have 2 large capacity sticks, than 4 smaller capacity sticks (even though that's what I'm doing hehe), mainly for OCing and there is an old bug which is still present in some mobos that means if all 4 DIMMs are occupied, the mobo slows down the RAM for some reason. If I get that problem, I'll just take out my 2x1GB sticks and sell em. Luckily the RAM I just bought is the exact same speed and timings, so I shouldn't have a problem, but things with PCs never go simply!

Either way mate, I'd reccomend going for the 2x2GB. Someone with more knowledge will chime in soon hopefully :)

EDIT: I see you live in Newcastle also!! Where abouts? I'm in Heaton.
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Cheers for the help! I wanted to keep hold of the Crucial Anni as it cost a small fortune! I may well chuck it in my media Pc and throw the RAM in that onto the bay of e.

I'm in Heaton as well....First Ave not far from the Chilli. Tis a wonderous place
 
TheDean said:
Cheers for the help! I wanted to keep hold of the Crucial Anni as it cost a small fortune! I may well chuck it in my media Pc and throw the RAM in that onto the bay of e.

I'm in Heaton as well....First Ave not far from the Chilli. Tis a wonderous place
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Haha, Cochrane Park for, me, near the lochside.

not such a wonderous place lol.

Np, hope it helped.
 
Any other opinions on RAM to suit my board? Liking the look of the OCZ stuff....OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) for £35.

Good bang for buck? Any other recommendations?
 
That RAM should be good mate :)


OK, I just got my extra RAM installed this morning. It wouldnt boot with the timings at 4-4-4-15-1T however, and so it's defaulted to 5-5-5-18-2T.

Should I leave it as is? I've got the voltage at 2.1 atm, 2.2 is needed to get the new RAM to 4-4-4-15. However, I'm not sure the old RAM can handle 2.2V.

Can anyone tell me if this OCZ-2GB-DDR2-PC2-6400-800MHz-SLi-Ready-Edition will take 2.2?

According to OCZ I can go to 2.2 without voiding warranty:

**OCZ EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) is a feature that allows performance enthusiasts to use a VDIMM of 2.2V without invalidating their OCZ Lifetime Warranty.
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If not, what timings should I try instead?

Thanks!
 
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OK, regarding the RAM I just bought.

At 2.1V I got it to boot at 4-4-4-15-2T. It seems it needs 2.2V to boot at 1T. However, I can't justify the extra .1V and associated heat just to up the timings slightly, which won't make any noticeable difference.

Going from 2GB to 6GB RAM hasn't made any real improvements in games, which I'm a bit gutted about. Perhaps STALKER is slightly less stuttery, but that's about it.

Does that seem odd to you lot?

Thanks!
 
Slightly perhaps, but then the main benefits are really multitasking - for example, if you wanted to quickly check your email or something, you could alt-tab out of stalker instead of maybe having to close it? and at the very least have a substantial reduction in waiting for firefox to load when alt-tabbing out of something like that.
 
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