Is combining 8GB of RAM and 16GB a good idea?

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John_Mat8882@reddit

You are going to have 2x8 in dual channel mode, but the extra 8gb are operating in flex mode.

Generally it's kinda bad for performance, especially in gaming, but in general it will introduce latency issues, as long as anything stays in the 16gb it's fine but as soon it spills over to the flex side of things, it will be bad.

If you can just sell the 8gb stick and get 2x16gb equal sticks.

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Alternative-Try-3456@reddit

would 16+8 dual be better than 16 single channel (laptop ddr4)?

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John_Mat8882@reddit

I suppose the laptop has a soldered ram stick and you can add another? If you can keep them equal it's better, but as long as it won't tap in the single channel 8gb portion it should be fine.

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Alternative-Try-3456@reddit

both are removeable sticks, or whatever u call them. 2 slots, 8GB was stock, i asked my dad i wanted 16 so he got another 16 stick and put it in the other slot to get 24GBs. Worked for quite a nice long time but eventually windows is getting bloaty, up to 10GBs being used when idle and system functions start to crash. it might be because i rarely restart or properly shut down my laptop, but im just trying the RAM issue too.

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John_Mat8882@reddit

Probably that isn't any ram issue, you may want to make a fresh windows install to clear it up. Nowadays the ram prices are crazy, the ideal was 16+16 or 8+8, but given you are probably going to give away an organ to get another equal 16gb stick, stay as you are.

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Alternative-Try-3456@reddit

so 16+8 it is then? dual channel also helps the integrated graphics run faster, according to my knowledge

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phildogtheman@reddit

While it’s possible, you do open yourself up for instability and you will definitely loose dual channel capability meaning they will collectively be slower. So its not considered close to the optimal configuration.

I would just get another 8gb matching or a new 2x16. But up to you.

What games you trying to play with it?

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Noobmunch95@reddit

You do retain dual channel. Asymmetric dual channel ram has supported for many years now.

A more typical application is when laptops have 8gb soldered and a 16gb dimm is added, the first 8 on the 16 operates in dual channel with the 8.

Intel market it as "Flex mode" whereas AMD don't have a specific term but it is supported.

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Alternative-Try-3456@reddit

my laptop has 16GB and 8GB sticks i installed. definitely causes instability, and rarely if you dont restart occasionally system functions crash. But I've found that switching from 24GBs dual to single channel 16GBs is not worth it, as that was my option.

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phildogtheman@reddit

Huh. hadn’t heard of Intel’s flex mode, interesting. But for OP I guess it still stands as they are on AMD

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Cognoscope@reddit

While true, this neglects the important point that both DIMMs will run at the slower of the 2 DIMM speeds - based on both frequency (e.g., 3000) and CAS timings (e.g., 16). It may in fact run even slower as the memory controller tries to find a common ground. The rule of them is: 1 pair of identical DIMMs for speed or as much RAM of any kind for rendering, sims, etc. (even then, you’d prefer 4x identical DIMMs for both performance and capacity).

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laffer1@reddit

Cheap brands sell random stuff even with the same model. I bought two kits at the same time to do 64gb last build and one was micron and the other Samsung modules.

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WorkingLeek4851@reddit

I have combined 8gb and 16 gb sticks 2666mhz ddr4-after combining it became 2400 and 23.8gb

So it's possible but won't provide maximum eff.

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Chubbysocks8@reddit

Get 2x16GB and sell the 8GB stick.

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a_certain_someon@reddit

Why are you assuming its single channel? What if i had 8gb+16gb in one channel and 8gb+16gb in another?

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StalfosVH@reddit

I've been running 2 16gb and 2 8gb corsair vengeance 3200mhz (3600 OC) and it runs fine. As long as they're the same speed it literally shouldn't matter.

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Nika299p@reddit

yeah, im doing that right now lol, started with 8gb stick and got a 16gb one, i have 24gb of ram now

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D-R003@reddit

Have you faced any issues?

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Nika299p@reddit

no

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D-R003@reddit

how's it performing in titles which require more than 16gigs? is xmp working? can you elaborate your experience

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External_Ship1338@reddit

I’m seeing a lot of mini pc having strange 24 GB (8 gb + 16) or 40 GB (8+32) or 48 GB (16 +32) RAM installed. They are known not to perform optimally in everyday tasks and they are waste of resources. I would stick any mini PC purchases to either 16 GB Ram (bare minimum) or optimal 32 GB RAM for better performance and maintain dual channel RaM performance. You will thank me. I have two mini PCs with 32 GB Ram and they are plenty fast and won’t bog me down.

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Headingtodisaster@reddit

Ran 3x16GB for a while, no issues.

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skyfishgoo@reddit

that will likely cause problems and instability.

lowering the memory speed may help make it stable

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Flaky_Ad_3590@reddit

Generally better to have matched pair. But I suppose in this case more RAM would actually help, since the machine is more than 5 years old.

If you have the 16GB stick laying around, use it. But If you need to buy, then get same size, latency and speed 8GB, or buy a pair.

In desktop use there is no difference. In games and other heavier apps there may be.

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Much_Anything_3468@reddit

No, stick with the 16 because you’ll get dual channel support and better overall performance. Toss the old ram or keep it somewhere safe

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TactualTransAm@reddit

I'm gonna be honest. I don't notice anything slower with speeds since I've mismatched ram. I found a good deal on some ram, completely different brand and capacity as what I already had in the PC. Plugged them in anyway. I notice nothing different in how it runs and what I do. Sure it's not optimal, and the system says it's running at slow speeds, but if it's what you gotta do then it's what you got, enjoy the PC 🤷

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atadrisque@reddit

all of it will only go the max speed of your slowest one. if you must do this then I would only make it a temporary thing until you can buy all RAM at the same speed.

also just popping it in there and going on about your day isn't going to help any, you still need to set it up in bios otherwise this will end up doing more harm than good.

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SoupyRiver@reddit

I heard that mixing ram sticks of different frequencies was a big nono.

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netscorer1@reddit

It would be more optimal to buy a 32Gb kit (2x16) and have a future proof solution. Installing RAM sticks that do not match in capacity, speed & latency leads to slow access times. You’re trading capacity for speed. With 32Gb kit you would get both.

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Apprehensive-Ice9809@reddit

no, can look up why

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Nika299p@reddit

yes it is possible, you can run mismatched sticks, maybe if they're not the same speed they'll just adjust to run the slower speed

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awp_india@reddit

Which is usually not a good idea, you don’t want slower speed.

You’d have “more memory” but less performance.

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