Buying a single stick vs a matched kit of DDR5: Matched kit is safer for stability

DDR5 is picky about mixing sticks—different brands or even same brand different revision can cause instability or slower speeds. If you can find the identical 8GB stick (same part number, timings, voltage), it works; otherwise, a 2x8GB kit guarantees factory-matched sticks and avoids crashes. Sell your old stick for ~$20 to offset the cost.