JeremyS

Currently, I have 1 stick of Kingston 512MB PC3200 RAM in my PC. I'm about to purchase another PC3200 512MB stick. I was wondering if it's really important to have the exact same brand, or would mixing brands be okay? as long as it's still PC3200 DDR400. Thanks for any help.

cyrnel

Generally, mixing brands is okay. (assuming both are compatible with your motherboard)

If you're overclocking and tuning memory access to the limit then yes, it's better to have a matched pair, but in most other cases it won't make a difference.

If your motherboard can use dual-channel access then it will need the same size DIMMs to activate that feature. The brand won't be important.

Even if you buy the same brand there's no guarantee the DRAM itself will be the same. Different batches can use different components, and this is almost guaranteed if you buy them at different times.

JeremyS

Thanks. I think I'm going to save some money and buy some Kingmax, which is about 30 dollars cheaper, than Kingston.