# Mixing different ranks in dual channel



## salrc (Aug 11, 2018)

Currently I have 8 gig ddr4 stick running in single channel.
I'm looking to upgrade to dual channel by adding another 8gig stick.
My current memory is crucial 2400mhz cl17 (CT8G4DFS824A) (single rank)
The memory I'm looking to buy is crucial ballistic LT 2400 cl 16 (BLS8G4D240FSB) (dual rank)
The reason I'm buying the ballistic is bc for some reason it has got cheaper than the normal one.
So my question is would running these two in dual channel be wise?
Also I don't know why but the crucial website is showing that the ballistic is not compatible with my gigabyte ab350 gaming 3 but in gigabyte memory qvl it's listed


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## dgianstefani (Aug 11, 2018)

It will work fine, except your new stick will also run at c17 instead of c16.  Two mismatched memory sticks run at the slowest of the two's speeds.


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## NdMk2o1o (Aug 11, 2018)

dgianstefani said:


> It will work fine, except your new stick will also run at c17 instead of c16.  Two mismatched memory sticks run at the slowest of the two's speeds.


Not necessarily with ryzen though worst case scenario would be both sticks running at 2133 instead of their rated 2400. I have 2 mismatched sticks in my ryzen build and after the first few bios and agesa updates they both run their rated 2800 with cl14 down from 17/18 as my sticks are rated for so I'm happy with them,, though your mileage may vary due to different motherboard and ram.


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## salrc (Aug 11, 2018)

dgianstefani said:


> It will work fine, except your new stick will also run at c17 instead of c16.  Two mismatched memory sticks run at the slowest of the two's speeds.


No problems regarding single or double ranks?


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 11, 2018)

What ever you do. Don't set XMP in bios otherwise that would possibly make your pc unstable. Best you set the speeds and timings up manually


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## salrc (Aug 11, 2018)

NdMk2o1o said:


> Not necessarily with ryzen though worst case scenario would be both sticks running at 2133 instead of their rated 2400. I have 2 mismatched sticks in my ryzen build and after the first few bios and agesa updates they both run their rated 2800 with cl14 down from 17/18 as my sticks are rated for so I'm happy with them,, though your mileage may vary due to different motherboard and ram.


 Well if yours are running fine then proably mine should too, I don't know if it makes any difference but Im currently running @3000mhz



FreedomEclipse said:


> What ever you do. Don't set XMP in bios otherwise that would possibly make your pc unstable. Best you set the speeds and timings up manually


My current ram doesn't support xmp so I don't think I can ‍
Also I'm only overclock the speeds as of now, Timings are a tad complex for me rn


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## NdMk2o1o (Aug 11, 2018)

FreedomEclipse said:


> What ever you do. Don't set XMP in bios otherwise that would possibly make your pc unstable. Best you set the speeds and timings up manually


Again mileage will vary depending on hardware, I can run xmp and tweak some timings further for instance though this might be the better option. There's also that ryzen memory calculator I keep meaning to have a play with when I get the chance as that's meant to take a lot of the guesswork out of setting it all manually.



salrc said:


> Well if yours are running fine then proably mine should too, I don't know if it makes any difference but Im currently running @3000mhz
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I would say go for it, memory support is a lot better with mature bios versions, not sure you'll hit 3000 on both sticks though I'm sure if you're not happy, what with the cost of ram you can still recoup the cost if you decide to sell them and maybe get a matched set.


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## salrc (Aug 11, 2018)

NdMk2o1o said:


> Again mileage will vary depending on hardware, I can run xmp and tweak some timings further for instance though this might be the better option. There's also that ryzen memory calculator I keep meaning to have a play with when I get the chance as that's meant to take a lot of the guesswork out of setting it all manually.
> 
> 
> I would say go for it, memory support is a lot better with mature bios versions, not sure you'll hit 3000 on both sticks though I'm sure if you're not happy, what with the cost of ram you can still recoup the cost if you decide to sell them and maybe get a matched set.


 Im really tempted to go for it because since I built my system ram prices have only gone up(which I initially thought would go down,that's why I bought 1 stick) and it's  only now that they have come down a bit


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 11, 2018)

NdMk2o1o said:


> Again mileage will vary depending on hardware, I can run xmp and tweak some timings further for instance though this might be the better option. There's also that ryzen memory calculator I keep meaning to have a play with when I get the chance as that's meant to take a lot of the guesswork out of setting it all manually.



Never load XMP with mismatched ram. I did and had a negative experience till i matched it with the correct kit.


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## John Naylor (Aug 11, 2018)

1.  I would recommend selling the existing stick and buying a matched pair as you have no recourse if they don't work unless both came in the same package.  Getting two sticks of the same make and model to work together is a hard enough task.

2.  You may be able to get them to work but setting timings manually will be required.  You can try overclocking the slower set to match the faster set but the likelihood is that it will go the other way if at all.

3.  Resolve never to do the 1 now + 1 later route again


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 11, 2018)

All I can say is read your motherboard manual on this situation


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