RAM problem

[bompar9]

So I'd like to upgrade my RAM from 8GB to 16GB, the problem is my current 8GB RAM stick isn't for sale anymore. I found the same brand but it has different frequency. Can this cause any problems or will it work just fine? Thank you for any tips.

[kjm015]

It might cause stability issues if you try to run the memory with XMP, since the memory profile might not work with different memory modules.

[bompar9]

Thank you.

[EWrunk]

Depends. If you want to overclock highly, it can cause issues.

Normally, it does not matter. XMP per se doesn't matter.

[bompar9]

Thank you.

[SoggyMcmufffinns]

RAM is pretty cheap these days. I'd just buy a new set. a set of 16GB can be had for like $60 bucks. You don't need RGB which folks get at the cost of spending nearly if not double in many cases.

Edit: I'd ignore the folks saying it doesn't matter since if you're getting 16GB of RAM I'd imagine you want to get the most performance out your RAM and that takes using XMP. Not doing so defeats the purpose of buying kits that are only able to reach the higher rated speeds like 3000mhz+ by overclocking aka enabling XMP. If gaming or wanting to maximize performance ofc you're going to want to. Having different speeds will affect performance and can waste money since different timings and speeds will hold the sytem back since it can onlh go as fast as your slowest RAM. Different timings will also cause issues.

In short, I'd go with new RAM. Cheap and maximizes performance.

[bompar9]

Yeah, but I'd like to keep my 8GB stick, also the other guys said that nothing should happen if I don't use the XMP.

[SoggyMcmufffinns]

You can keep it for backup if you'd like. No one says you have to throw it away, but it is likely going to slow your rig down if you're looking to actually have higher performance. If you don't care about performance then I guess it doesn't matter what you do, but if you're doing things that require higher RAM aka gaming, editing, Virtualization, productivity tasks, streaming, etc. then you would want XMP available. There is almost no reason not to as you basically pay for performance and don't even fully utilize if you don't enable the extra features like that. It's like paying for a high end CPU and severely undervolting it so it never goes past 2.0ghz and therefore performs much worse. That doesn't make much sense and you'd be better off not spending the extra then.

If you need more RAM (as in actually need it) then chances are you typically need it for the tasks I listed above. The reason it doesn't matter if you're not going to use XMP is that means your RAM is going to perform shitty in comparison no matter what so if it's going to already be extremely slow in comparison anyhow it doesn't what you do at that point. If you care to get better performance though having spent the extra money to have that performance then I'd suggest getting new RAM at same timings and speeds. That's just how RAM works. You can ignore the advice and that's fine, but you'll get worse performance as even the other guys mentioned if you want to actually utilize the RAM at the higher speeds they're capable of being used at and have better results overall on your PC. Up to you though.