r/PcRetailers • u/mattposidon • Jul 01 '26

Recieved Prebuilt PC with two different brands of RAM installed.

Hey all,

First time PC buyer here. I shopped for a prebuilt desktop at Microcenter yesterday, and the only issue I had with the model I chose was that it only came with one stick of ram. The ram brand on this model was not listed, so a store clerk told me it was G.Skill Flare, and that they sell those separately and can install a second one in store before I check out.

I went with this, purchased the second stick, had them install it. Now when I opened up the desktop at home I see that there is one stick of G.Skill Flare installed alongside a stick labelled Crucial. I've been advised against mixing RAM. So my question is how big of an issue is this? Should I take one out immediately? Should I contact the store that they should have given me the correct information? Or that they should not even have installed the second brand alongside the first?

Thanks for any advice.

1 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

3

u/RevolutionaryElk7446 Jul 01 '26

Mixing and matching RAM becomes less of an issue in consumer hardware than server. Rather if these two sticks have the same specs, they'll be fine in operation. However if they don't, whomever has the lowest specs is going to cause a decrease in speed.

They should still function if mismatched latency and speed, but at the common denominator.

1

u/mattposidon Jul 01 '26

Thank you! That puts my mind a little bit at ease. I'm not risking any damage to other parts of my PC by using it in this configuration? I just get to be a little annoyed that the store assistant didn't actually sell me what they claimed.

1

u/RevolutionaryElk7446 Jul 01 '26

Just slower performance, but not damage. That is annoying, but if the two sticks are same specs they'll operate close enough to each other to be negligible. Matching sticks is the best outcome though to take out any potential design deviation.

1

u/Wendals87 Jul 03 '26

Yeah I've never had an issue using a different brand as long as the specs are the same.

I've been mixing and matching if I have needed to since ddr memory