# Mixing RAM types?



## Brian G Turner (Feb 27, 2020)

So I've had to order a new PC, and it'll come with 8GB DDR4 RAM. 

My first thought was that I could remove the RAM from my old PC and add it to the new one to make it faster.

However, my old PC has 8GB DDR3 RAM, and now I'm wondering if mixing up different types of RAM will cause problems rather than improve performance.

Is it fine to add different types of RAM together, or is it best to ensure you only expand your RAM with the same RAM type?


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## Venusian Broon (Feb 27, 2020)

Found these:


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		https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/abms8d

And this one has piccies! 









						Can you combine DDR3 and DDR4?
					

I have a computer with two sticks of DDR4 RAM, and someone just gave me some old RAM that's DDR3. Can I use both in the same computer?




					superuser.com
				




Apparently not. Unless your new computer has slots for DDR3 as well as DDR4. Do not try and force a DDR3 into a DDR4 slot as the second one states, you might damage your motherboard.


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## Foxbat (Feb 28, 2020)

The golden rule is to never mix types. You used to have to install in pairs way back when I used to build my own machines.

However, I think it would work if the different RAM types were on different components. I say this because I've just installed a new graphics card on an old machine and I'm pretty sure the old machine has a different type of RAM from the card.


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## J Riff (Feb 28, 2020)

It won't fit. There's little notches on the chip, they change them every time. DDR2 won't fit DDR3 etc.


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## .matthew. (Feb 28, 2020)

You probably shouldn't even install another 8GB of DDR4 either. RAM still has stability issues if they aren't matched exactly. Ideally you'd want 2 from the same manufacturing batch but then again you might get lucky and find one that doesn't give you any problems.


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## tinkerdan (Feb 28, 2020)

The best bet is to always look for something of the same ilk. Often best to get that from same supplier(of the main system) if possible.
Most cases the slots are deliberately made incompatible so you can't do this by accident.
However in the past even compatible slot memory could have other issues the most important being access speed.
Sometimes there are paired slots that require two identical memory boards--or in some cases a memory board in one and a dummy in the other.
The other thought might be--how many slots you have for memory boards. It could be that the slots are all taken up with the memory boards the system comes with. Even when a system spec indicates it can take more memory, it depends on what size each memory board is and if they have used all the slots.

Unless you already know all of this, you might want to wait till the system shows up and take a look at what's available in open spaces.

For work recently; I always order systems with 12GB or more because by the time I figure out that I do need more memory it's not  cost efficient to upgrade the PC.


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## .matthew. (Feb 28, 2020)

tinkerdan said:


> For work recently; I always order systems with 12GB or more because by the time I figure out that I do need more memory it's not  cost efficient to upgrade the PC.



8 will probably be enough for most things he wants to do for now though (unless he's gaming or doing serious editing). 

My desktop has 32, but the cruddy writing laptop only has 4 (which basically forced me into a Linux install).


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