Can i mix these RAM sticks?

Mcbeast · 29 Sep 2012 at 15:52

I'm looking for some more RAM, to hopefully smooth some things out. Im currently running with 4gbs and would like 6gbs however this is made awkward by the fact that my motherboard only supports DDR2 and i have a low budget.

My current motherboard is the XFX Nforce 680I (MB-N680-ILT9)
My current RAM is
http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-ddr2-pc2-6400-vista-performance-gold-4gb-dual-channel.html

and the RAM i'm looking at getting is http://www.********.co.uk/products/components/memory-pc/ddr2-pc2-6400/800mhz/ram-802gb.html

So my question is, will this 2gb stick work in conjunction with the current 2x2gb sticks in my computer at the moment, or does any one have any suggestions?

Edit: Censorship, yaaaaaaaaay. The main things to note from the RAM I'm looking at is 800MHz RAM Speed, CAS 5-5-5-15 Timings, 1.8-1.9v VDIMM

RJC · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:04

Hello and welcome to the forum

As you can see we can't link to competitor sites so be careful

The ram should work along side your current memory, but check the timings in the BIOS.

Mcbeast · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:08

RJC said:
Hello and welcome to the forum

As you can see we can't link to competitor sites so be careful

The ram should work along side your current memory, but check the timings in the BIOS.

I suspected as much, i'll take a look now but I'm fairly new to this bios so i may not find it >.<

I do have one concern however, does it matter if one stick has 5-5-5-15 and the other has 5-5-5-18?

RJC · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:10

Just been thinking, you might be better buying another 2 sticks as your board might not boot or like having only 3.

Mcbeast · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:17

I've just checked my bios, it has the timings set to optimal, 6-6-6-18. Which confuses me to no end. If i were to get 2 sticks instead of 1, would it cause any issues if they were 1gb sticks (2x1gb)?

RJC · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:18

Nope.

Mcbeast · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:25

So if i bought 1gb variants of 800MHz RAM Speed, CAS 5-5-5-15 Timings, 1.8-1.9v VDIMM
and changed the optimal settings on my bios back from 6-6-6-18 to 5-5-5-18, would that work ok? Or would it be worth my time buying some sticks with 6-6-6-18 as standard to match my current setup?

RJC · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:30

If you look on your current ram these should have the timings, speed and voltage stamped on them.

It might be the case the motherboard has defaulted the timings to 6-6-6-18 but generally you would not notice any performance difference.

You can either change the ram timings to the lower set or buy a set with the 5-5-5-15 and run them at 6-6-6-18 and this should not course any issues.

Mcbeast · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:34

Ok, i was just curious because my sticks say 5-5-5 on them, but the bios has them at 6-6-6. Just wanted to be clear if they would work together as i remember from some time back, some one saying mixing ram was a big no no.

Anyway thanks for being awesome.

RJC · 29 Sep 2012 at 16:55

No probs

It has always been preferred to use the same make ect, but a lot of people have run with different makes of memory without issue, belongs the timings, voltage and speed are the same you should not encounter problems.