Can You Use 8GB RAM With 4GB RAM? Need to Know!

Are you willing to use 8GB RAM with 4GB RAM? If yes, then you are at the very right place. Nowadays ram mixing become a very popular thing as sometimes users can’t afford to have the particular sized RAM.

RAM mixing means, using two different-sized RAM together. Using different-sized RAM can be seen very often, and you can use 8GB RAM with 4GB RAM. But there are things that you’ll need to keep in your mind. You will face a bunch of issues, for instance, you will have a performance drop while you’re using your PC after mixing up.

Today, we’re here with some relevant information about using 8GB RAM with 4 GB RAM. GO in-depth into this article and dig out your answers. Let’s hop in.

Is It Possible to Use 8GB RAM With 4GB RAM

Yes, you can use 8 GB RAM and 4 GB RAM together on your PC. There is a myth among tech people that it’s not possible to use two different-sized RAMs. But it’s totally not true.

The motherboards come with at least two RAM slots but now the modern motherboards come with four RAM slots. There you can different sizes of RAMs. But there are some limitations while mixing up the RAMs. You will face many issues while using them including bad performance, instability, etc.

Things You Need to Consider When Using 8GB RAM with 4GB RAM

If you’re keen to use 8GB RAM with 4GB RAM, you’ll need to consider a few important things. If you won’t then you will face issues.

• The very first thing you need to do is, check your motherboard’s RAM compatibility.
• The next one is while buying RAM, you need to buy the same type of them. If you have 8 GB DDR3 RAM, then you’ll have to buy 4GB DDR3 RAM. DDR4 and DDR3 RAM won’t work together.
• The RAMs should have the same pins number.
• The speed and frequency of both RAMs should be the same, otherwise, the system will run on the lowest frequency rate.
• Before using the RAMs, you need to check the capacity of the RAM slot. They differ from each other.
• The RAM voltage rating should be identical.
• After installing the RAM sticks, you need to adjust the voltage of the RAMs, timing, and the CAS latency from the BIOS settings.

What Are the Disadvantages of Using 8GB RAM with 4GB RAM

As we’ve stated before, you can use 8GB RAM with 4GB RAM but you will welcome some major issues and difficulties with it. It’s not a good practice to use different-sized RAM together. You may think that it’ll increase the RAM size and the performance of your PC will be improved. But, that’s totally wrong. Let’s see the disadvantages you will have while using 8 GB RAM with 4GB RAM.

1. Stability Issue

While you are working on high-end software or providing too much workload on your system, then basically the motherboard split the workload between the RAMs (if you are using two RAMs). Suppose you have two 4 GB RAMs and your system is getting a workload of 1000.

Then the motherboard will distribute this workload on the RAMs, and the distribution is usually done equally. This means, one RAM will get 500 and another one will get 500. This thing generally happens to keep your system stable.

While you are using two different-sized RAMs, the motherboard won’t be able to distribute the workload equally and as a result, there will be stability issues.

2. Blue Screen Of Death Error

While using two-different sized RAMs, you will face a BSOD error. This issue occurred for many reasons; heating motherboard components is one of them. Sometimes using two different-sized RAMs can produce heat and that time it will lead your system to a Blue Death of Screen (BSOD) error.

3. Performance Drop

While you are using 8 GB RAM with 4 GB RAM, that time your motherboard will enter into flex mode. Flex mode is described as when you’re using 8 GB RAM and 4 GB RAM together, half of 8 GB, that is 4 GB and the other 4 GB RAM will work in dual channel mode. The rest of the 4 GB of the 8 GB RAM will run in a single channel.

When it happens, the bandwidth reduces to half, and as a result, performance dropped.

For these reasons, it’s suggested to use the same-sized RAM when you’re considering two RAMs on your motherboard. For example, if you use two 4 GB RAMs instead of using 8 GB RAM and 4 GB RAM together, the two 4 GB RAMs will give you better performance. Here we’ve provided a gaming performance comparison between using two 4 GB RAMs in dual mode and 8 GB+ 4GB RAM.

Frame Rate Classifications	8 GB + 4 GB	4 GB + 4GB
0.1% Low	97 FPS	86 FPS
1% Low	113 FPS	106 FPS
Average	139 FPS	132 FPS
Direct3D 11	131 FPS	121 FPS

This performance was gained while playing GTA 5 while having Direct3D. The stats were collected from the Wolfgang YouTube channel. You can see the comparison for the other games from this video.

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Is there any relation between Operating System and RAM?

Yes, the 32-bit OS can have a maximum size of 3.5 GB RAM whereas the 64-bit OS cap is 8 GB.

Can I have 2 different RAM speeds?

Yes, you can. But it is suggested to do not to have this practice. It can lead your system to have issues.

Are 2 sticks of 8GB RAM better than 16GB?

Definitely YES. When you’re using two 8 GB RAM sticks that means your RAMs are using dual channel mode. And when RAM is running on dual channel mode, you’ll get better performance. When you use only a 16 GB RAM stick, that time it runs on a single channel. That’s why 2 sticks of 8GB RAM are better than 16GB.

Conclusion

To wrap up, you can use 8 GB RAM with 4 GB RAM easily but you’ll need to sacrifice the performance of your system and will have stability issues. That’s why it’s advised to not use 4 GB RAM with 8 GB RAM. If you have a financial issue then wait for more few days and get the same-sized RAM.

That’s all for today, if you have any further queries, let us know in the comment box. Gracias!