memory - Will a Crucial DDR3 8GB Ram Chip work with a Ramaxel DDR3 4GB Ram Chip

I am thinking about upgrading the ram in my laptop (currently 6GB, consisting of two, a 4GB and a 2GB, Ramaxel DDR3 SODIMM chips), but I am going to replace the 2GB chip with an 8GB Crucial Chip.

The new Crucial RAM and the Ramaxel RAM are both 1333MHz, so I think thats about everything (in terms of compatibility) checked, so are there any other factors i need to take into account?

Answer

They'll work, but you won't get the best performance from unmatched RAM. However, since you don't have matched RAM anyway, you won't see a performance decrease. You'll still get the performance advantage from having more RAM.

DDR RAM works the fastest in dual channel mode, where you have 2 (or 4, etc) identical sticks. In this case identical means same speed, size, timings, etc. Generally to get dual channel mode you need 2 sticks from the same manufacturer.