Colourful motherboards.

[Scullypuss]

Hello.

This may seem a stupid question, but we're not all geniuses:

Why do the new motherboards that I have seen have the pairs of RAM slots in different colours? I've only ever seen them all black before.

Does this signify anything?

Thanks.

[StormPC]

Usually it's to help the motherboard manufacturer to be able to explain which slots to put the memory in for the motherboard to operate in dual channel or single channel modes. This is mainly due to the huge third party parts boom, and the fact that everyone seems to believe they possess the necessary skill to build working and reliable computer systems. Since the reality of the situation is that the skill level of people building systems is getting lower and lower they realize that asking the builder to read is asking too much. So with different colored slots they need only look at the pictures to be able to determine which slots to put the RAM in. Of course this is not always fool-proof either, but it makes it easier. Color-blind people will still need to read though.

[trashcanmonkey]

Yo, Scullypuss,
It's to identify the slots used for DDR operation, eg 4 slots, 2blue, 2red, stick two identical ram sticks into slots of the same colour for the Ram to work in DDR, thats (Duel Data Rate)

hope this helps,
TRASHCANMONKEY

[nvening]

and to look pretty lol

[StormPC]

Yo, Scullypuss,
It's to identify the slots used for DDR operation, eg 4 slots, 2blue, 2red, stick two identical ram sticks into slots of the same colour for the Ram to work in DDR, thats (Duel Data Rate)

hope this helps,
TRASHCANMONKEY

It doesn't.

I think you mean for it to run dual channel. Unfortunately not all motherboard manufacturers use the same method. Some put the same colored slots next to each other (like ABIT AN8) and some stagger them (like ASUS A8V).

Some boards have you put the modules right next to each other to run DC and some have you stagger them. So there is no standard. They just use the colors to reference them in the manual.