RAM Question

[utdmleach]

Howdy,

having got Battlefield 2, it seems now apparent that I need new RAM. I'm currently running a socket 478 board so I'll be needing the oldish pc3200 (ddr400) RAM. At present, I am using a single stick of 512MB of samsung RAM. My question is, can I buy another stick (which will probably have a different latency) and run it along side my Samsung RAM. Or would it be better to sell my cuurent RAM and buy some fancy dual channel RAM with decent latencies (which one should I get if so).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

utdmleach

[Chemical_Ali]

someone told me in order to run dual channles sucsessfully, u need to have the same memories with the exact same latencies, timings etc or else ur gonna get errors problems and stuff,

if ur not overclocking get some corsair 2x512mb value ram. thats what i did, or if ur rich buy the corsair 1024XL PRO 2-2-2-5

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=300700&cks=PRL

[Rave]

The RAM all has to run at the same latency (so you might have to manually set them both to the timings of the slower stick in the bios), but AFAIK it doesn't need to be identical. If the stick you have now is a double sided DIMM you'd need to get another double sided 512 to run dual channel- at least that's how I unserstand it.

[mike_w]

It'll be fine just to get another stick of 512. The sticks will have to run at the speed at the slowest speed to ensure stability, but that's not a problem so long as you pick a stick with roughly the same timings.

As for needing to buy two identical sticks for dual channel, I think that's all just marketing - I'm running dual channel with two different sticks, no problems or errors for the past six months.

[utdmleach]

Good to hear then, will just get 2 Corsair cheap 512MB RAM, have 1.5GB, should work then

[Rave]

Hmmm....not sure about that. Pretty sure you at least need to have the same amount of RAM on each channel with 865/875 chipsets?

[utdmleach]

How can I tell what latencies my current RAM is at and what CAS it is?

[mike_w]

How can I tell what latencies my current RAM is at and what CAS it is?

You can look in the BIOS, or use CPU-Z.

[utdmleach]

K, what does this tell me?

I was planning on buying some value corsair ram at CAS 2.5, I take it I can't run it with this...

[mike_w]

Assuming the information is correct, your RAM is running at far looser latencies than it needs to be. According to the SPD, it can run at 200MHz, with timings of 2.5-3-3-8, yet you're running it at 147MHz, with timings of 3-4-4-8.

So long as that SPD information is correct, you can run the current RAM at the speed of the Corsair Value Select. Even if you can't, the Corsair Value Select will work anyway, just a slower speed.

[utdmleach]

But how to adjust the timings, I see no mention of it in the bios

Edit: Is its the right one to get http://www.cdiscount.com/mag/fich_pr...st=0&numpage=1

[utdmleach]

K, got the ram, running it dual channel ( slots A1 B2 ) and running in performance mode. One last question though, can I have 1.5GB of RAM? The other stick is pc3200 and it is indeed CAS 2.5. Can I use it or do I sell it?

Cheers

utdmleach

[skuzgib]

AFAIK you can use it, but not in dual channel.

[utdmleach]

But isn't it impossible not to have dual channel when 3 out of 4 slots are being used.

2 512 Mbs are running in Dual

I just want to know if I can stick this in slot A 2 or slot B 2 and have 1.5gb of ram

(battlefield 2 is a b*tch)

[SilentDeath]

Stick it in and see. Wont damage anything.

AFAIk theres several different way dual channel can be implemented, some needing the same quanitys per channel and some not.

It would be best to put the stick in and test it....

Also download memtest. Use this to find out if your ram is stable. If it is, then try faster speed and timings.


The most usefull test is no. 5 which detects all errors for me. Press C, 1, 3, 5, <enter>, 0 to loop test 5 and do atleast 3 passes before booting windows after changing any settings.

Most ram including the very cheap stuff is usually capable of 200mhz @ 2.5-3-3-7, so try that.

[utdmleach]

K, dunno if I'll do it. With this ASUS board last time I installed RAM, 'FAILED CPU TEST' took me ages to sort it. Will just leave it for now, OC' this RAM some more.