I found a great deal on a Kingston 16GB DDR5 RAM stick with a speed of 6000 CL36, and I'm looking to buy two of them at once. I know there's a lot of info about the risks of mixing different brands, capacities, speeds, and CAS latencies, but I'm curious about this specific situation. Since I plan to get two identical sticks from the same brand and bought at the same time, what are the chances they have different chips? I understand that variations in the chip manufacturers like Hynix, Micron, or Samsung could be an issue. If everything else matches, how complicated could it be to tweak settings if necessary?
6 Answers
Using software like CPU-Z can help identify the RAM types. Aim for the same type, and check the labels for Kingston MM/MS/MH codes. If they're secondhand, that’s a whole other story!
If the price is reasonable, why not just go for it? You can always sell them later if they don't work out.
If you're tempted and the cost is right, then just buy them and see how it goes! Just make sure you don't get scammed.
It's true that just matching the specs doesn't guarantee they'll work perfectly together, even if they're from the same brand with sequential serial numbers. You'll have a better shot at success compared to using random sticks, but there's still no guarantee for stable speeds at their rated speeds due to potential limitations in the CPU's memory controller. Just keep in mind that even kits can have issues if your system's not up to the task.
Thanks for the insight! I totally agree – it sounds like the odds are better this way than mixing random sticks.
I just added a second 32GB kit of the same brand to my setup, and the version numbers were different. It took some tweaking to get them to run at the right settings, especially since my PC wouldn't boot with the higher profiles at first. I had to reset the BIOS to defaults, boot twice, and then switch to the XMP setting after that. Just a heads up—it can take some trial and error!
Honestly, I think you might be overthinking it a bit. Most likely, they'll work just fine like a matched kit.
Haha, maybe! I was about to buy them right away then thought 'Hold up, better do some research first!'
They’re priced at 90€ each, so 180€ total plus shipping. Seems fair to me!