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What will happen if i use DDR3 and DDR2 RAM simultaneously on a single motherboard that suports both? Will the motherboard and Ram get damaged? Also, what will be the result of using DDR2 Ram in DDR3 slot and vice versa. Won't try such things though. Asking out of curiosity

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Your computer loses its mind. – Josh K Jun 2 '10 at 12:24
I do not believe this can be done. If someone thinks it can work then please post that MB's make & model. I looked at two boards from two different manufacturers and both contained warnings similiar to this: "You can only install either DDR2 module(s) or DDR3 module(s) on the motherboard; otherwise, the system will not boot up." – irrational John Jun 2 '10 at 13:25
@JoshK is that a real picture of the aftermath of installed mis-matched memory? – CodeBlend Mar 9 at 16:41
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migrated from serverfault.com Jun 2 '10 at 12:02

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4 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

Its Simple - You cant.

The motherboard will refuse to power on at best, or fry the ram at worst.

What mobo supports both anyway ?

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Not true. While they are rare, I have seen µATX boards that support mixed mode memory pairing. – JohnyD Jun 2 '10 at 11:42
Frankly, I agree with c10k you can't do this. If you think you know of board which will use DDR2 & DDR3 simultaneously then please post the make and model number so this can be verified. – irrational John Jun 2 '10 at 12:54
@irrationalJohn Asus P5KC and MSI P35 Platinum Combo among others. Both're P35 boards which had support for both ram types in the chipset. They were never common since only a handful of upgraders would have any use for them. – Dan Neely Oct 10 '11 at 3:30
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up vote 0 down vote

I wouldn't recommend it, even if you have an uber special motherboard that will support mixed ram.

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These MBs aren't all that rare, but most people will want to just stick with one type anyway. – Chris S Jun 2 '10 at 12:29
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up vote 0 down vote

The slots are incompatible, so you can't put DDR2 Memory in a DDR3 Slot, or vice versa. If your MB support both, as some do, then you'll have to consult the MB Documentation to know if you can use both at the same time (most do, not all).

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up vote -1 down vote

Please post your motherboard make/model. It totally depends on whether it supports mixed mode, populating DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules simultaneously.

I doubt it would fry your ram as I would hope the mobo manufacturer would implement safeguards against this.

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