I have a PC that originally had a Samsung 16GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM stick, but I couldn't find an identical replacement. Instead, I installed a new 16GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM from Patriot, which has SK Hynix chips. The computer powers on fine, and the BIOS shows that they're working in Dual Channel mode. I also ran a Windows memory diagnostics tool, and everything looks good with no errors. I'm a bit concerned—could this mixed RAM setup cause issues or even damage my PC in the future? Everything seems to be running smoothly right now!
2 Answers
You've got nothing to worry about with DDR4. Just for future reference, mixing brands could be riskier with DDR5. It won't brick your system, but you might have to adjust the speed and timings a bit. The best practice is to stick with memory pairs. Luckily, DDR4 tends to be pretty forgiving!
No worries, it should work just fine! At the worst, it won't perform as well as a matched pair of RAM. But honestly, that difference is usually not noticeable in everyday use.
Thanks for the insight! Just to clarify, since my motherboard supports DDR4 and I'm using both slots with these RAM sticks, should I consider running a memtest86 to double-check everything?