After years w/ 939 builds, explain this to me

[bob4432]

w/ the skt939 setup you didn't really get much of a hit w/ sc or dc setup, so running 3x1GB was not a big deal. now that i have moved on to a p35 intel c2d setup, i am running out of memory @ 2GB every so often and was wondering if i would even notice the hit if i put in another single 1GB stick? it is just sitting on my desk, so i am not buying it, would just be using it.

is there any issue running 3 sticks w/ the p35 chipset? can you even do it?

thanks,
bob

 

[BlueAcolyte]

No, you'd probably get a bigger boost from 1GB than dual-channel, which would give you 5-10% at most. But you are putting in 50% more RAM.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

if you're actually using up all the ram, then definitely throw in the extra

 

[TC91]

why not go all the way with 4 sticks? ddr2 ram is so cheap nowadays. you get to keep the dual channel and double the ram, altho you may have to increase ram voltages or loosen timings.

 

[bob4432]

had 4GB but never exceeded 2GB until after i took it out and sent it to a friend for his build. had an extra 1GB stick sitting here so put it in. not going to buy more unless there is another hot deal like the last one

even w/ 3sticks, cpu-z is showing dual channel???? when the machine starts up it says something about flex??? it is running ok atm so that is cool and 3GB is fine w/ 32bit xp

 

[Zap]

It's probably fine. My notebook (Centrino platform) reports dual channel in BIOS and CPU-Z with mismatching RAM. When I say "mismatching" I mean a 512MB and 1GB modules for 1.5GB total. I suppose I can run some memory benchmarks to know for certain, but oh well.

That's an idea! Find some memory benchmark and run it with 2GB and then with 3GB.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Zap
It's probably fine. My notebook (Centrino platform) reports dual channel in BIOS and CPU-Z with mismatching RAM. When I say "mismatching" I mean a 512MB and 1GB modules for 1.5GB total. I suppose I can run some memory benchmarks to know for certain, but oh well.

Zap, you really didn't know about Intel's Flex memory? I'm a bit surprised, it's been around since the introduction of the 915i chipset (or was that the 925i?). Both of you are running in dual channel mode, for the matching amounts of RAM you have, and single channel for the rest. It works with both mismatched stick sizes, and three sticks.