Dual Channel DDR question

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by sammyandmimi, Jan 23, 2008.

  1. sammyandmimi

    sammyandmimi New Member

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    I have 2x512 sticks of DDR which run as dual channel - speed rating is PC3200. Am thinking of increasing RAM and wonder should I get a stick for the 3rd slot, which means the existing RAM will then only run as single channel, or should I replace both sticks with a 2GB dual channel kit - motherboard will support up to 4GB. Am fairly early on with my A+ so please excuse me if this is a silly question::unsure
     
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  2. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    Depending on your motherboard it could cause instability, or you may have to swap the existing dimms to another channel.

    I recently upgraded my ddr2 RAM which I had 1GB installed I bought 2 1GB ddr dimms with a different latency I put the two new ones in the first two slots and the old one in the 4th slot as my 3rd slot doesn't accept single channels but the othe slots accept both.

    It doesn't matter if you miss out slots they should still be reconised if the dimms are correct for your mobo.

    Hope this helps

    Edit: The original RAM was a 1GB dimm on its own not 2 512s
     
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  3. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Best thing to do is to read the manual for your motherboard...they normally state the best configuration for RAM...however...I dont always follow them but its best to do so...it gives you an idea on what to do...so yeah best option would be to get the same sticks u already have or swap them for 1GB sticks...no scratch that...stick to 512MB sticks...the 1GB these days cost u about £30 a stick...
     
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  4. sammyandmimi

    sammyandmimi New Member

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    Have read the motherboard manual and checked again, and hidden under a layer of dust (oops!) and a ribbon cable was a 4th RAM slot, so I can just add 2 more 512s in the unused slots as noelg24 suggested.
    Thanks guys!:thumbleft
     
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  5. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I would clean out the dust with a good air duster before doing anything so your new RAM has good contact with the slot.
     
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  6. Spilly

    Spilly Kilobyte Poster

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    Matched pairs are always best!
     
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  7. Mathematix

    Mathematix Megabyte Poster

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    I once covered three slots with premium Corsair memory and it still functioned dual-channel. As stated, read the mobo manual.
     
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  8. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    thats how I am doing it at the moment slots 1,2 & 4
     
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  9. Raffaz

    Raffaz Kebab Lover Gold Member

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    Goto www.crucial.com and run a scan on ya mobo, that will tell you all the combinations available.
     
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