Mixing Ram

[IceRaptor]

My original System has the following 2GB patriot xtreme performance ram with the following specs:-
Capacity 2GB (2x1GB)
Cas 4
Cas latency CL 4-4-4-12
Memory speed PC2-6400
Clock speed 800MHz
Special features Patriot Aluminum Bladed Heat Shield Technology
Technology DDR2 240-Pin

I've recently received my new 4GB Kingston pair with the following spec:-
Input voltage 1.8V
Internal memory 4096MB
Internal memory type DDR2-SDRAM
Form factor DIMM 240-pin
Bus clock rate 800MHz
ECC N
CAS latency CL6
Module configuration 256M X 64

For Gaming Would it be more advisable to install Kingston pair alone or mixed with the patriot to give 6GB? (I have vista 64 )

[raphael2040]

Originally Posted by IceRaptor

My original System has the following 2GB patriot xtreme performance ram with the following specs:-
Capacity 2GB (2x1GB)
Cas 4
Cas latency CL 4-4-4-12
Memory speed PC2-6400
Clock speed 800MHz
Special features Patriot Aluminum Bladed Heat Shield Technology
Technology DDR2 240-Pin

I've recently received my new 4GB Kingston pair with the following spec:-
Input voltage 1.8V
Internal memory 4096MB
Internal memory type DDR2-SDRAM
Form factor DIMM 240-pin
Bus clock rate 800MHz
ECC N
CAS latency CL6
Module configuration 256M X 64

For Gaming Would it be more advisable to install Kingston pair alone or mixed with the patriot to give 6GB? (I have a vista 64 )

As far as I'm aware (anyone is free to correct me if I'm wrong), it should work if the speeds of the RAM is the same. I've never mixed brands of RAM, personally, just because there's always a possibility of all sorts of problems if you do.

That being said, make sure the voltages for them are the same too, else you may come across all sorts of weird and wonderful errors. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

Just a quick question, though, why would you need 6GB RAM for gaming? 4GB for Vista gaming is more than suffice, even for Crysis.

[IceRaptor]

i just dont like the idea of wasting 2 perfectly good sticks of 1gb ram.

[IceRaptor]

how bad will the impact be going from cl6 to cl4?

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by IceRaptor

i just dont like the idea of wasting 2 perfectly good sticks of 1gb ram.

Not a good reason for inviting all kinds of problems that can be avoided by not mixing "Matched" pairs of RAM.
Not a good idea because it will Hurt your gaming performance, not help it.

[IceRaptor]

k i'll stick with 4gb

I will be benchmarking the kingston against the patriot with SiSandra to see if there is is a loss in performance when switching to the 4gb setup and also testing it ingame to see the difference.