I'm planning to upgrade my RAM and I'm wondering if I can mix a 2400 MHz 4GB DDR4 stick with a 2666 MHz 8GB DDR4 stick. I've heard from some technicians that it's best to stick with RAM that matches in clock speed to avoid potential issues like blue screens or system instability. However, I've noticed that the 2400 MHz options are actually more expensive than the 2666 MHz ones in my area. Is there any real risk of problems if I go ahead and mix these RAM sticks, or could they work fine together? My setup includes an H310 motherboard and an i3-9100F CPU, with the current RAM being 2400 MHz.
3 Answers
All DDR4 RAM technically operates at a base speed of 2133 MHz. If you mix these sticks, your motherboard probably will default to the speed of the slower one (2400 MHz in your case). So, to answer your concern, yeah it can work, but you might not get the full benefit of the 2666 MHz stick.
You can technically mix those RAM speeds, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Mixing different speeds can lead to instability and crashes, especially if the RAM doesn’t match in timings. Personally, I faced issues with different sticks even though they were supposed to be the same. It's safer to match them up to avoid orange flags later on.
The best practice is to use RAM sticks that have the same timings. While they might work fine together most of the time, there's also a decent chance you'll run into blue screens or crashes. Just a heads up, it might not happen right away, but it could be an ongoing issue down the line. So keep that in mind when making your decision!
What kind of problems did you experience? I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth the risk here.