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Mixing RAM brands

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8 replies

by estvb

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I have two sticks of 256MB PC2700 DDR ram from Crucial and Kingston. I was running my computer with just the Crucial stick, but is it ok to put them both in for a total of 512MB or might that cause problems?

Thanks for any info!

8 replies

by thechas

From my experiance, you can experiance subtle problems with mixed brand memory.

Most of the time, things work fine.
Since this is fairly new memory, I would expect no problems.

What I do in this type of situation, is compare ALL the specifications for both RAM modules.
Make sure that the clock and refresh rates are the same.
If they are different, install the slower memory (higher number) in slot 0/1.
This way, the BIOS will set memory properties based on the slower RAM, and the faster RAM will work fine.

As I said, I suspect that you will have no problems with this particular combination of brands.

Chas

by thechas

A side note:

If you are running Windows 95, 98 or Me, I recommend against 512MB or more RAM.

There is a bug in the 9X code that can cause some strange problems with 512MB or more RAM.

This is VERY configuration dependant, and can be triggered by a software update, or new device being added.

I run no more than 384 MB on my 9X boxes.

Chas

by estvb

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure they're the same in all specs but I'll make sure.

by rboggio1

Mixing brands should not matter as long as they are the same speed i.e 100 or 133 etc. Unfortunatly you can run two of the same brand sticks and they won't work together sometimes. That is inherant to quality of the chip design not so much who the manufacturer is. It should not be a problem. Just be aware if there is its not because of who made them.

by estvb

Hmm. TheChas you added a comment between me reading your answer and accepting it. Luckily I'm running WinXP and there shouldn't be a problem with that.

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