3 gigabytes of RAM a problem?

[kopema]

Has anyone here ever run into trouble using matching RAM chips, except that one pair is a different size from the other? And if so what was the result?

I currently have 2x512MB chips of 3200PC RAM on my 865PE motherboard (Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000- G Rev 4.0.)

I'm awaiting delivery of two more chips of 1024MB 3200PC RAM. It's from the same manufacturer, and it should be identical in every way except for the size.

The tech guy for the RAM manufacturer (Centon) said I would have no problem adding the 1meg chips as long as I put them in the first bank, and moved the current half-meg chips into the second RAM bank of my motherboard.

After I had ordered, I looked in the online manual for the motherboard and it said you "should" always use equal-sized chips in all four slots. (I couldn't reach a human tech at Gigabyte, so I tried the online response system, and I got a barely coherent pidgeon English response that was even less precise than what the manual said.)

I'm not too worried about defaulting to single-channel, or even a lower speed, as the 2.5GHz Pentium system is already running at 533MHz instead of 800. I'll keep track of the chips so I can to replace them with no problem if the system simply won't boot. The main concern is if there is a possibility of causing damage or other problems I might not notice until later.

 

[ch33zw1z]

You should be safe. Just remember to match them up. With dual channel setups, always install the DIMMs in matched slots. As long as they sticks run at the same timings and voltage then you should be good to go..

 

[Qbah]

On my old rig I had 2x1GB and 2x512MB, both Kingstone Value 533MHz, both running in Dual Channel. Everything was working flawelessly and still is Vista running fast, no crashes or whatever. And since Vista is pretty sensitive to hardware, I would say you're good to go

Was a Pentium-D 820 at stock on an ASUS P5LD2 Deluxe mobo (i945 chipset) btw.

 

[kopema]

Just installed and it did work fine. Said "RAM operating in dual channel" when I rebooted; Windows System says it recognizes all 3 gig. Re-ran 3DMark06, and numbers same as before.

Programs are working much better now. It's kinda weird; the computer doesn't really feel any faster, but a lot of the little annoyances are gone - loading times; tabbing, etc. I think I'll get used to it in no time and I won't appreciate it anymore. But I'm darned sure I'd notice if I went BACK to one gig!