Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Technical Support => Topic started by: FBplmmr on May 05, 2007, 08:25:08 PM
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apparently i have some bad memory sticks.(constant errors with either stick in)
(reads strange numbers in post and sometimes doesnt finish booting)
runs no errors with different sticks
so my question about "scrounged up/ found in the back of the drawer memory"
which would be better 2 gig of ddr mem running at 333 (1 stick is 333 the other 400)
or 1 gig running at 400?
2 gig 333 vs 1 gig 400 ?
thanks for your advice
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so nobody knows? weird
my question is about "scrounged up/ found in the back of the drawer memory"
which would be better.. 2 gig of ddr mem running at 333 (1 stick is 333 the other 400)
or 1 gig running at 400?
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Anything I'd say would only be a guess.
If you want to use skins, especially on other planes, I'd think the more memory the better.
I'd also assume anytime it has to get something from the disk opposed to memory you have that slight delay and possibly a stutter.
If you want best performance and not a few more bells and whistles probably the faster memory.
Another thing to think of, can you enable dual-channel memory usage if you use the two sticks? That 'might' help but again I'm a nanothought thinker opposed to the gigathought gurus who would know the specifics.
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Your option are either 2 sticks of 1gb each at 333 or 1 stick running at 400?
based on that, I'd go with the 2 1GB sticks at 333 and run them in dual channel mode. Effectively, you have 2GB of memory at an effective speed of 667MHz. This is the better choice. For more information on dual channel mode, pm me your email address and tell me you what more information on dual channel mode. I can send you a pdf from Intel that explains this very nicely and easily with lots of pictures. :)
Or just google, "intel dual channel mode pdf"
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cool, thanks .. I will google up the dual channel mode thing;)
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it depends on how old your motherboard is and more importantly if it supports dual channel - if you know the motherboard model # this is really important.
Anyways, if it does support dual channel you can see about a 15% increase on memory performance if it runs in dual channel - the 2x512mb at 333mhz over the 1gb at 400mhz.
As for the RAM mhz speed - I would again need more information on what motherboard and processor you are using in your computer.
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From what I thought, dual channel wouldn't work unless the timings and speeds were the same on both sticks of ram. Seeing that they're different speeds and different types, I wouldn't be too upset if it only runs in single channel mode.
Regardless, 2 GB is 2 GB! I'd say use it, at least until some point in the future where you might want to get a different stick to replace the slow one. The mobo will run all sticks at the slowest speed as a common denominator.
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If the 2 sticks are different speeds, they will both run at the slower of the two speeds.
<---replying to krusty's last statement.
:)
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^-- he said it better :D
(* but I said it first :t *)
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I recently added another stick of the same memory type, brand, speed, timings(i think), etc, hoping I could run it in dual channel. There's nothing in my documentation I can find regarding how to set it up.
It's an older Asus board, claims to support up to DDR3200 in dual channel, but it only runs in single channel, and I'm curious to find out if I can infact run in dual channel, or if I would need a matched pair to do so.
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If you can run CPU-Z check your memory tab. I think I used to have a mobo and different ram that would list the exact timings in CPU-Z. My current one doesn't do this.
Not all PC3200 has the same timings, and I think they are what is required for dual channel (not just MHz).
Also, if you have 3 or 4 memory slots, make sure the sticks are in the proper slots for dual channel.
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Hmmm, running PC2700 (couldn't get the memory speed set to 400, gave up and went with the 333 we had when the box was put together.). Both Crucial sticks of 512, (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145485), in fact I've hunted for the same particular mem stick for some time now, finally found it on newegg last month.
CPUZ lists all info aside from part number/serial number/date of manufacture as being identical. 2.5-3-3-7 timings.
It's an Asus A7N8X-X rev 2 mobo, and has 3 slots for RAM. 2 are next to each other(which is where I put the 2 sticks), with the third slightly removed. In the manual, there is no mention of any settings for dual channel that I can find, nor do I see any labelling or jumpers on the mobo. What am I missing here?
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Originally posted by hubsonfire
It's an Asus A7N8X-X rev 2 mobo, and has 3 slots for RAM. 2 are next to each other(which is where I put the 2 sticks), with the third slightly removed. In the manual, there is no mention of any settings for dual channel that I can find, nor do I see any labelling or jumpers on the mobo. What am I missing here?
My manual shows 1 and 3 or 2 and 3 populated for dual channel. 3 being the one slightly removed
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Ahah, I'll give this a shot. Thanks for the tip. :aok
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That'd be the fix right there. Move the second stick to the "removed" slot.
EDIT: Put one in the slot closest to the CPU, and one in the slot furthest. I looked up an image of it online.
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Hmmm. I had the sticks in 1 and 2. Single channel according to bios. Tried 1 and 3, and 2 and 3, same thing. CPUZ reports the mem as running in Dual with them in 2 and 3, however.
Krusty, where'd you find that? I've just been suckered into doing some work, so I may have to tinker with this later this evening.
edit Put them back in 1 and 3, bios still reports as single channel, 1 gig, CPUZ says dual.
Is there any sort of setting for single or dual channel operation, or does the box just sort that out of its own accord?
This calls for beer.
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Hubs: I just found a top-down image of the mobo and took an educated guess.
If CPU-Z says dual channel, it might be.
Does the POST screen say specifically "running in virtual single channel mode" or "single channel DDR" or anything explicit? Or does it omit this detail entirely?
Try going inside the BIOS and see if there is an option "dual/single/auto." Depends on your BIOS but you can never be sure what settings you might have.
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I have an ASUS A7N8X and in bois you may need to adjust a setting for 'performance memory timing' or something like that.
I'm nost exactly sure what it is because I'm in the boat you just left with a single 512Mb stick.
EDIT- I found this on a newegg site for PC3200, not sure if it applies to PC2700.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146532
Pros: Assuming you receive CT6464Z40B.16T (double-sided) model, I would say it is good for non-overclockers who want their system as stable as possible. I ran a stick of this for over 3years and it has worked flawlessly for office work to heavy 3D gaming.
Cons: !6T model is not prodcued by Crucial Tech any longer. !6T also is said to cause troubles with older 754 board because some 754s prefer single-sided DDR when multiple DDR sticks being put together. Go for 8T if you own older 754.
Other Thoughts: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT 8T AND 16T do not work tegether for dual-channel. 8T also has a higher voltage (2.6v) than 16T (2.5v) so they are not a good combo for whatever you want to do with them. Do not call Newegg bcause they do not know of this subtle but important difference nor want to inform you (I do not know why, you guess).
Edit2- I just used Crucials online help gizmo and it seems they wont guarentee dual channel operation unless you order a pair of sticks. By that I assume the sticks almost have to be an exact match.
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It's an Asus A7N8X-X rev 2 mobo...
What version of the bios? From what I've read, you need BIOS 1004 or higher for dual channel support.
And the memory has to be in slot 3, and either 1 or 2.
http://www.digital-daily.com/motherboard/asus-a7n8x/index02.htm
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1.009 is the BIOS. POST lists bytes, then freq, then Single Channel Mode.
No options I've seen in BIOS for which channel mode, just the choice of optimal, aggressive, and user defined settings for the RAM.
Not killing me to be in single channel mode (the improvement in simply doubling memory was obvious immediately in AH), but I was curious about the memory setup.
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Well, if the BIOS isn't behaving, so be it. I say just use them in single channel. I once had single channel 1.5 GB and it was better than 1 GB. Dual channel is just icing on the cake.
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The A7N8X-X is NOT capable of running memory in dual channel . I used the same board in my grandparents machine a few years ago , it was one of the features they cut out to keep the cost of the Motherboard down . Single channel in the athlon xp's wasn't a very big increase anyways IIRC , but some intel chips really benifited from DC .
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Hub, PC2700 will not run at 400MHz, it will run at 333MHz or slower.
PC3200 is 400MHz while PC2700 is 333MHz.
DDR stands for double data rate.
Example: PC3200 AKA DDR400
What that means is it transfers 3.2g/s at an effective speed of 400MHz. Since it's a double data rate memory module, both sides of the memory operate at the same time at a frequency of 200MHz.
PC2700 aka DDR333 would be 2.7g/s transfer rate and a true speed of ~166MHz for each side combining to give you an effective speed of 333MHz.
Keep in mind your FSB speed and your memory speed ratio. Sometimes, going to dual channel will not actually double your transfer speeds for real-life applications. It's best to achieve a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio.
BTW, I overclocked my FSB to 1600MHz and run DDR2-800 in dual channel mode and can really see a difference when running multimedia applications.
For more information, click me! (http://www.kingston.com/newtech/MKF_520DDRwhitepaper.pdf )
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I know the memory won't run at the higher speed, but the ddr/dual channel thing isn't something I've had much experience with. I'm a bit surprised to learn that it won't actually do the dual channel operation, but it's not the end of the world. There's a couple of features the documentation claims the board possesses, and reviews show the board having, but that either aren't on my board, or don't work. SATA and firewire, Q-fan, and a few other addon headers that were never available come to mind immediately.
Not a big deal, PC's been serving me well for 4 years or so, total upgrade costs so far are still next to nothing. Always good to learn a little more, and I would likely have wasted some cash on matched sticks otherwise, so I can file this one under "cheap learning experiences".
Thanks for the input.