Some odd mem queries.. on a DELL system

[sawyen]

Okay guys, I currently have 2x512MB sticks in a Dell system that runs i915 chipset..

Unfortunately, one of the sticks duffed up..

I have another 1GB stick (which I will pick up from another guy here)..

Now if anyone is familiar with the Intel NB, can I actually run 1 GB stick on one channel (white DRAM slots) with a 512MB stick on another channel (black DRAM slots)? Or actually run both different density sticks in the same channel? ... dun mind the colour coding and such, just trying to make this a little more graphical..

I know DC wont work, but will I get BSOD or anything like that?

Stuff I do now is pretty mem intensive, so being able to get 1.5GB would be great for the stuff I'll be doing..

[joshwa]

should work fine, they don't need to be matched as far as I'm aware. obviously it wont run as dual channel but should still be quick enough and should work fine.

[pands@scan]

You can run them out of sync BUT you will need to make sure both memory timings are identical when running else you will get endless issues

[sawyen]

So will it be better to leave them on opposite channels?

Okay, now I'm getting worried as the chip that came with the Dell is a DDR2-400 and the new 1GB stick is DDR2-667..

Dell's silly BIOS have near zero control.. so what do u guys recommend?

[joshwa]

The DDR2-667 should run okay at the lower speed. I would just try it, it shouldn't do any harm. Hopefully Dells BIOS will automatically set the chips to the same speeds...
I have a GX280 here at work, but I don't have access to any ram to try it out.