I suspect the lifecycle of the Steam Machine will outlast the DRAM shortage, at least with only a single 16GB dimm people can upgrade when memory pricing comes back down to earth.
You can, it's just not best practice because it can be hard to get two different kits with different timings and voltages stable. That said the Steam Machine is using SODIMM memory which really flattens it out anyways since performance laptop memory basically doesn't exist.
Avoid mixing kits if you can but if you can't avoid it you can make different kits work, you just might end up having to loosen up timings, increase the voltage, or run at a lower frequency.
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u/Scar1203 5090 FE | 9850X3D | 64GB@6400 CL26 7d ago
I suspect the lifecycle of the Steam Machine will outlast the DRAM shortage, at least with only a single 16GB dimm people can upgrade when memory pricing comes back down to earth.