Mixing RAM brands is a gamble.

It might work, but I wouldn’t count on it.

RAM sticks from different brands can run at different speeds, timings, and voltages even if they’re both 8GB DDR4 (or whichever generation you have). Your motherboard will try to match them, but it usually just picks the slowest common denominator—or fails to boot entirely.

If both sticks have the same speed (e.g., 3200MHz), same CAS latency (e.g., CL16), and same voltage (1.35V), you’re more likely to get away with it. But they still might not play nice in dual-channel mode, which means you’ll lose some performance. And if one stick is single-rank and the other is dual-rank, you can get weird instability that’s a pain to troubleshoot.

Best case: they work, but you leave performance on the table. Worst case: random crashes, blue screens, or the PC refusing to post.

If you already own the second stick, give it a try—just benchmark and stress-test before calling it done. If you’re buying new, spend the extra few bucks for a matched pair. Future you deserves a headache-free setup.