3 Things to Know About Mixing RAM Sticks With Different Speeds

Both sticks will run at the slower speed When you mix a 3200MHz stick with a 2666MHz one, both will run at 2666MHz. The system picks the highest common speed both can handle.

You cannot force the faster stick to run at its rated speed The motherboard and CPU’s memory controller negotiate the lowest common denominator. The 3200MHz stick will downclock to match the slower one, and you can’t override this.

Matching sticks are better for peak performance If you want full speed, replace the slower stick with a matching 3200MHz one. But if you just need more capacity and don’t care about a few percent of latency, mixing works fine.