Which memory slots for dual channel?

[silentphoenix]

Heya all,

I've been out of PC game for about 5 years now and am getting back in with a cheapo AM3 system.

My question is simple: my motherboard has 4 memory slots - 2 adjacent ones in black, and 2 adjacent ones in grey - to run my 2 sticks of 4GB in dual channel mode do I put both sticks in adjacent slots , or in alternating slots?

Does running dual channel memory have as much advantages as it did back in the day?

Thanks!

[ik9000]

Heya all,

I've been out of PC game for about 5 years now and am getting back in with a cheapo AM3 system.

My question is simple: my motherboard has 4 memory slots - 2 adjacent ones in black, and 2 adjacent ones in grey - to run my 2 sticks of 4GB in dual channel mode do I put both sticks in adjacent slots , or in alternating slots?

Does running dual channel memory have as much advantages as it did back in the day?

Thanks!

Guessing this isn't for the system spec listed in your sig then - the AN7 only has 3 RAM slots. It varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Asus colour code the slots to use, but they are staggered on the two sides to make it clear. What mobo is it- have you tried downloading the manual?

[pooley]

You had better consult the manual as ik9000 says it does vary between mobo's.

Also dual-channel works twice as fast as single-channel since it divides read/write operations evenly between memory sticks.

[Ginger-Menace]

usually you would put them in the same colour slots, but i would read the motherboard manual to be safe, it also tell you with 2 slots to use if you are only using 2 sticks of ram

[silentphoenix]

Thanks for the replies guys. I can't find the official MB stats, but it is an OEM HP one. The best info I could get is from HP: https://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...t=3970023#N140

I think I'll just test and see

[Hoonigan]

To help the guy out a little, does anyone know of any programs that would tell you if your RAM is running in dual channel or single channel? Would aid with the "I'll just test and see".

[ik9000]

to help the guy out a little, does anyone know of any programs that would tell you if your ram is running in dual channel or single channel? Would aid with the "i'll just test and see".

Yes. CPU-Z. Infact, I'm fairly sure the BIOS will tell you if it's running dual channel or not.

[ik9000]

Thanks for the replies guys. I can't find the official MB stats, but it is an OEM HP one. The best info I could get is from HP: https://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...t=3970023#N140

I think I'll just test and see

Have a look on manual shark, I found info on my old HP machine on there. HP ditched their old tech support archives about 18 months ago. Until then i could find everything on their server, but not anymore. Try the CPU-Z/BIOS suggestion.

[silentphoenix]

To help the guy out a little, does anyone know of any programs that would tell you if your RAM is running in dual channel or single channel? Would aid with the "I'll just test and see".

I was planning to use sis sandra (does it still exist?) to test my memory speeds in different configurations. If there is anything that lets me know if I'm running dual channel or not would be great!

EDIT - just checked and seems that CPU-Z reports if memory is running in dual channel mode...

[dilson]

Might be worth checking the manual, but most new boards use the same coloured slots for dual channel.