Bought a new computer with 3GB of RAM (crazy I know, but I do have a question about the RAM)

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Capitalizt

Banned
Nov 28, 2004
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I really doubt I will need this much RAM but I decided to go all out with this machine. It's a 2.8ghz dual core pentium system.

It shipped with a gigabyte of ram (two 512MB sticks, PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM at 533mhz). I then purchased another 2 GB from newegg (2 X 1GB sticks). My question is...Is it bad to have both 512MB and 1GB sticks in the same machine? I have four Ram slots total...but I'm afraid the system wont be optimized if I use all four sticks at once (with different sizes). Will it take longer to access the two 512MB sticks PLUS the two 1GB sticks? Should I just take out the 512MB memory and use the two 1GB memory sticks exclusively?

Is more always better?...or can using all of the slots and different RAM sizes slow your system down?

I'm looking to optimize performance. Any thoughts greatly appreciated!
 
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SlitheryDee

AFAIK most intel chipsets don't have any issues with populating all four slots with pairs of different sizes. Since you have matched pairs you should also still be in dual-channel. If this were an AMD system I would recommend against using all four slots though.

You should note that if one pair is slower/has looser timings then the other pair will be forced to use the same settings. That is to say, all your RAM will run at the speed of the slowest stick(s).
 
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Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
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If the 2x512 sticks are slower than the 2x1GB sticks then it could slow your machine down by a tiny bit. Note the use of the word tiny there ;)

I'd think about selling on the 2x512 sticks, odds are you won't ever need more than 2GB so you can get a few of your hard earnt $s back. Or you can keep them in and have even more comfort blanket.
 
bamacre

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
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Yeah, I'd sell the two 512MB sticks, but if you keep all 3GB set it up like this...

Slot 1 - 1GB
Slot 2 - 512MB
Slot 3 - 1GB
Slot 4 - 512MB

That will keep you in dual channel mode, which you really need to do in order to get the full benefit of the Pentium cpu.
 
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Capitalizt

Banned
Nov 28, 2004
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Originally posted by: bamacre
Yeah, I'd sell the two 512MB sticks, but if you keep all 3GB set it up like this...

Slot 1 - 1GB
Slot 2 - 512MB
Slot 3 - 1GB
Slot 4 - 512MB

That will keep you in dual channel mode, which you really need to do in order to get the full benefit of the Pentium cpu.
Click to expand...

I'd like to learn more about this. Are you sure about setting it up that way? :)


Thanks for the replies all.
 
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aniruddha23

Senior member
Feb 22, 2006
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Usually the matched slots on a mobo will have teh same color. So if u look carefully u may notice that two Ram Slots may be browsn and the others may be black. Use the same memory in the matched slots and u should be fine.

Just outta curiosity what processor did u get?
 
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