Is it ok to mix RAM?

[boodah]

Just a general question from a rook:

How bad is it to mix different brands of RAM?

My current system:

shuttle ak31a
athlon 1800+
30 gb 7200 hd pri. master
16x cd-rw sec. master
24x cd-rom sec. slave
256 mb ddr cl2 (generic from newegg)

I'd like to add another stick (either 256 or 512 mb), especially with prices dropping, but unsure whether I'm limited to the brand I already have. Is there performance issues? stability issues?

Any help/explanations would be much appreciated.

boodha

 

[Pederv]

Different manufacturers is ok, just as long as it's the same type (ie SDRAM, RDRAM, DDRRAM). Different speeds is ok, as long as you plan on running at the slowest. Check your board on speeds though, some suggest not using the faster speed RAM when running the bus at a slower speed.

 

[beansbaxter]

Different manufactures is ok, generally speaking. There are some instances where different brands of memory cause problems, exspecially brands that vary in quality. I've mixed high-quality brands, such as Micron and Crucial, without any problems. There is some generic memory out there that conflicts with high-quality name brand memory.

On another note, if I install matching low-quality memory in a machine, there isnt usually any problem. If Windows can install without seeing a BSOD, then your probably fine also. Windows 2000 and XP are notorious for BSOD during installation when memory doesnt match up....and by changing the memory out fixes the problem.

Good memory brands, in my opinion, would definitely be Crucial, Micron, Infeon Technologies, and Corsair.

And Samsung for RDIMM memory modules.

Hope that helps.