Will This Memory Work Together

sideshow4069 · 22 Apr 2008 at 09:06

Will this memory -

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC)

Work with -

Corsair 1GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-12)

Don't really know to much about memory, but looks like a good deal.

Cheers

dazz25 · 22 Apr 2008 at 09:47

Should be fine toghether. The corsair will slow the timings of the Geil down though due to it being C5 and not C4. This shouldn't really make much difference though.

sideshow4069 · 22 Apr 2008 at 12:28

dazz25 said:
Should be fine toghether. The corsair will slow the timings of the Geil down though due to it being C5 and not C4. This shouldn't really make much difference though.

Cheers for the reply.

The increase in RAM from 1gb to 3gb should be quite noticable eventhough the types of ram are different, is this correct ?

Cheers

Devil_Spawn · 22 Apr 2008 at 15:45

sideshow4069 said:
Cheers for the reply.

The increase in RAM from 1gb to 3gb should be quite noticable eventhough the types of ram are different, is this correct ?

Cheers

barely less noticeable than an identical one making it 3gb

but only noticeable if you actually need the third gb of ram

Yellowbeard · 22 Apr 2008 at 19:11

In general, there are no guarantees when mixing memory. Some combinations simply won't work together and the only way to know for sure is to install and test. Ideally, you are better off if you can exactly match your original kit or get a 2 x 2gb kit.

sideshow4069 · 29 Apr 2008 at 06:53

Yellowbeard said:
In general, there are no guarantees when mixing memory. Some combinations simply won't work together and the only way to know for sure is to install and test. Ideally, you are better off if you can exactly match your original kit or get a 2 x 2gb kit.

Cheers for the advise, just noticed your sig, are you sure this is not a sales pitch

mrthingyx · 29 Apr 2008 at 12:03

No - Yellowbeard does have a point, although it is somewhat coloured by every single memory marketing pitch since the NForce 2 cropped up.

To guarantee that two/three/four sticks will work together, they should be identical (and that's assuming they all work properly). However, there is nothing to stop two/three/four similarly specified sticks working perfectly, or even different speeds and whatnot doing the business.

As stated in the second post, faster sticks will default to the settings of the slower ones (if this is not possible, the system just won't work).

Do not be afraid to try different brand sticks together: the mass-marketing of dual-channel memory interfaces gave companies like Corsair, OCZ, Geil, etc. a golden opportunity to charge more for 'kits' of two modules, rather than buying two separately. We as the consumers received added 'comfort' that the modules would work together as a result. But considering single and 'kit' modules come off the same production lines, there is also a pretty good guarantee that singlies will work together.

Cob · 29 Apr 2008 at 12:57

mrthingyx said:
Do not be afraid to try different brand sticks together: the mass-marketing of dual-channel memory interfaces gave companies like Corsair, OCZ, Geil, etc. a golden opportunity to charge more for 'kits' of two modules, rather than buying two separately. We as the consumers received added 'comfort' that the modules would work together as a result. But considering single and 'kit' modules come off the same production lines, there is also a pretty good guarantee that singlies will work together.

There's no guarantee that two seperate sticks from the same production line will work together. If they don't then you're stuck with them. Whereas you're entitled to RMA a dual-channel kit that won't work together. That's the advantage of dual-channel kits. And they usually work out cheaper than two seperate sticks.

Mixing memory of different brands is a lottery, especially if you don't know if they use the same ICs. Even then the default sub-timings (and I don't mean the main four) may be different and may cause problems.

If you already have the different sticks then it's certainly worth testing them together. But if you're thinking of buying new memory to go along-side your current sticks, then it's always sensible to buy the same brand.

Yellowbeard · 29 Apr 2008 at 15:25

Cob said:
There's no guarantee that two seperate sticks from the same production line will work together. If they don't then you're stuck with them. Whereas you're entitled to RMA a dual-channel kit that won't work together. That's the advantage of dual-channel kits. And they usually work out cheaper than two seperate sticks.

Mixing memory of different brands is a lottery, especially if you don't know if they use the same ICs. Even then the default sub-timings (and I don't mean the main four) may be different and may cause problems.

If you already have the different sticks then it's certainly worth testing them together. But if you're thinking of buying new memory to go along-side your current sticks, then it's always sensible to buy the same brand.

Very well put. I may even cut n paste this answer in the future. :cool:

Not to be a scare monger but I have seen 2 cases in the last week or so where users had memory that would not mix. It is becoming less frequent with DDR2 but, I have to recommend against it for the reasons Cob listed.

Cheers for the advise, just noticed your sig, are you sure this is not a sales pitch

LOL>....nah, I don't get commissions so I don't do sales. And, I actually assumed you probably already had the Geil.

mrthingyx · 29 Apr 2008 at 15:27

Cob said:
There's no guarantee that two seperate sticks from the same production line will work together. If they don't then you're stuck with them. Whereas you're entitled to RMA a dual-channel kit that won't work together. That's the advantage of dual-channel kits. And they usually work out cheaper than two seperate sticks.

Mixing memory of different brands is a lottery, especially if you don't know if they use the same ICs. Even then the default sub-timings (and I don't mean the main four) may be different and may cause problems.

If you already have the different sticks then it's certainly worth testing them together. But if you're thinking of buying new memory to go along-side your current sticks, then it's always sensible to buy the same brand.

Hmmm... they worked together when tested in NF2 motherboards before the dual channel kits arrived?

Sure, chipsets have changed, but I wouldn't have thought the underlying tolerances for RAM would have increased so dramatically.

However, I certainly agree with the idea that buying kits would be the way forward as I don't think performance DIMMs are available in singlies anymore?