Can I add 2x8GB 3200MHz RAM to my existing 2x8GB 3000MHz Corsair RAM? (MSI B450 Tomahawk)

Posted by Careful-Will6294@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 6 comments

Hey everyone,

I currently have 2x8GB Corsair DDR4 3000MHz RAM installed on my MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard. I want to upgrade to 32GB total by adding another 2x8GB kit, but I can’t seem to find the same 3000MHz kit anywhere anymore.

I’m seeing plenty of 3200MHz Corsair RAM available instead, so I wanted to ask:

Will 2x8GB 3200MHz RAM work alongside my existing 3000MHz sticks?
Will it just downclock to 3000MHz, or could there be compatibility issues?
Is mixing these speeds generally safe on the B450 Tomahawk, or would it be better to replace all sticks with a matched 32GB kit?

Any advice or personal experience would be appreciated. Thanks!

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aminy23@reddit

3000 MT/s = 1500 MHz

And you would need to calculate compatible primary timings for both or use the ones from the worse kit.

If you give the models, I can help with the timings.

Careful-Will6294@reddit (OP)

Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB DDR4 3000

SweetBacon923@reddit

In theory yes but go into bios and set custom speed at 3000.

MonkeySkulls@reddit

I did the same for a bit. when people talk about mismatched ram, mostly this is just the specs, speeds and such.

if they are not the same, everything runs at the slowest speeds.

there is a slight chance you will have issues. there is also a chance that there will be a small performance drop using 4 sticks vs 2. but this will be pretty much unnoticeable.

but in today's ram situation, the savings of adding 2 additional sticks can be pretty significant.

I think there's more issues with ddr5 issues when running 4 sticks. but you should be ddr4.

the_Athereon@reddit

Sure. It'll just run at 3000.

Unless you have a demon motherboard that refuses to work with mismatched ram.

I've encountered several of these.

Ozi-reddit@reddit

yes but all will be at 3000