Mismatched ram in dual channel?

['oUtL@w']

atm i have 2x512mb stix of kingston value ram in dual channel. Ram timmings r 3-3-3-8. I want to get 2x1gb stix of performance ram, like kingston Hyper X with 2-2-2-5 timings, and run the mismatched ram in dual channel. Is this possible??? I do have an AMD venice core CPU which has the improved memory controller and my mobo is the Gigabyte GA K8N Ultra Sli. Anyone???:)

[Barone]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

I think it is possible, however, I believe your mobo will "underclock" the faster RAM to match the slower.

['oUtL@w']

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

thanks for da advice

[Stormy{CAN}]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

it wont run in dual channel. you need the sticks of the same RAM. if you have two slots of the 2x1GB and two slots of the 512, it wont be in DC. you need four of the same ram. and if you put them all in there, it will all downclock to the lowest ram (3-3-3-8).

if you get 2x1gb, by itself and DONT use the 512's then it WILL run in dual channel at 2-2-2-5 (which is really good). plus, 2GB of RAM is plenty of enough.

I don't see why it wouldn't still run in dual channel, as long as the sticks are instlled properly. And as for having mis-matched sticks and not running in dual channel, can you explain this,



I realize that this is on an old NF2 chipset, but even then everyone still swore that you had to run matched sticks to get duall channel.

And I do agree with you that 3 gigs would be a waste.

[SMeeD]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

Im not sure if this is an NF4 issue or an AMD memory controler issue but the RAM might clock to 2T timings when using 4 sticks making it even slower. Your going to get better performance with the 2x1gb sticks than you would with all four together.

Use the hyper X and toss the other stuff! :)

[WildLegba]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

I may be wrong but I believe that so long as you have the same spec ram on the same CHANNEL that they will run DDR. Doesn't have to be a matched pair but that certainly helps.

But yes the whole ram set will run at the speed of the lowest pair.

I would sell your 2x512 sticks and just go with 2x1gig sticks. Plenty of RAM--BF2 will run entirely in memory.

[lil_jimmy_norton]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

it wont run in dual channel. you need the sticks of the same RAM. if you have two slots of the 2x1GB and two slots of the 512, it wont be in DC. you need four of the same ram. and if you put them all in there, it will all downclock to the lowest ram (3-3-3-8).

if you get 2x1gb, by itself and DONT use the 512's then it WILL run in dual channel at 2-2-2-5 (which is really good). plus, 2GB of RAM is plenty of enough.

Yes it will run dual channel. Just have the 1GB sticks in channel, and the 512s on the other channel. It should work no problem.

However I would not advise it, you don't (at this time) need anything over 2GB, it will just go unused, and it will change your command rate to 2T and most likely downclock your ram speed to 333Mhz.

Overall the extra RAM will not help and you will take a hit from the reduced command rate and speed. (albeit not a huge hit).

I may be wrong but I believe that so long as you have the same spec ram on the same CHANNEL that they will run DDR. Doesn't have to be a matched pair but that certainly helps.

But yes the whole ram set will run at the speed of the lowest pair.

I would sell your 2x512 sticks and just go with 2x1gig sticks. Plenty of RAM--BF2 will run entirely in memory.

Your right, but you mean Dual Channel, not DDR. DDR is Double Data Rate, and is independant of Dual Channel.

[Heavy552 AWG]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

I think you can sell the old ram and use the seed money towards the new ram.

I use Kingston Hyper-x exclusively (4x512 mb) on my ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe Motherboard. I run pure Dual Channel.

When buying ram, try to get them from the same factory run at the same time of the year. They should have a marking ID'ing the Year and the two digit number for the week of that year made.

[Flakman]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

atm i have 2x512mb stix of kingston value ram in dual channel. Ram timmings r 3-3-3-8. I want to get 2x1gb stix of performance ram, like kingston Hyper X with 2-2-2-5 timings, and run the mismatched ram in dual channel. Is this possible??? I do have an AMD venice core CPU which has the improved memory controller and my mobo is the Gigabyte GA K8N Ultra Sli. Anyone???:)

The simple answer to your question is yes 4 sticks will work and in dual channel. The Venice CPU's have a limitation though, They can use 4 double sidded DIMM's and will work "Which is what Kingston ram is". "BUT" it will down clock the memory to 333 Mhz 2T timings. This is because of the Venice's socket 939 on die memory controller has a limitation, It can eather run 2 double sidded memory modules at 400 Mhzs or 4 "Single" sidded memory modules at 400 Mhz or 4 "Double" sidded memory modules at 333 Mhz. See the link below for further information.

I would recommend matched memory when running dual channel mode to prevent problems. So that would be eather two 1 Gb double sidded memory modules or 4 single sidded memory modules to prevent problems with the Venice CPU.

http://forums.amd.com/index.php?showtopic=75005&pid=1363941747&st=0&#entry1363941747

[LoD]

Re: Mismatched ram in dual channel?

Put the 2x 1GB on one channel and the 2x 512Mb on the other channel. They will both operate at CAS3 2T timings.

Personally i think its a waste to go with CAS2 ram if you plan on matching it with CAS3 ram.