Can I do this ??? (dual channel ram related)

[nothingman]

OK, so I have an MSI 865PE mobo, and two dimms of kingston ddr400, each one of 128MB, one on the "green channel" and one on the "orange channel", so it is 256MB set up as dual channel.

Problem is, I want to add 256MB more of RAM (only 256MB, no money for anything more), but i want to do it with just one dimm, so : can I have 256MB + 128MB on one channel and 128Mb on the other ???, or do I have to buy 2 x 128MB (which i don't want to do, so in the future I can add more memory) ???

Another question, I only use my computer (PIV 2.6@3.25 / 256MB / Radeon 9000) for internet browsing, video editing / encoding, audio editing / encoding and the ussual office applications, so is it 512MB OK or should I aim for more (that is way I don't want to do the 2 x 128 mb thing) ???

Thanks

 

[RussianSensation]

I was under the impression you needed to run on the same colour slots for dual channel so both green or both organge in your case? you might want to check the manual but for my motherboard it's same colour = dual channel

yes you need to buy in pairs for i865 chipset or you will not have dual channel

See if you can sell your 2x128, if you can't unless you are certain your won't play games or anything like that extra 2x128 would be OK i guess. If I was you i'd get 2x256 for 768mb as a compromise for price and some future proof. however it seems everyone recommends at least 1 gig starting with far cry, battlefield and i am sure doom 3 and half-life 2, among many others. So if you ever decide to play games 512 might be tight.

next time buy bigger size sticks to start with

 

[Viper96720]

Need to be in pairs

 

[nothingman]

Thanks man ...

However, I really don't mind if I don't have dual channel (for a while, until I can get another 256MB dimm), I just want to know if it is possible to have 2 dimms in one channel and 1 in the other, and have no problems at all ... I certainly prefer to have the 512MB single channel (not that dual channel makes a huge difference anyway, correct me if I'm wrong) than remain with 256MB dual channel or wait for a while (until I get some extra money) and go 784MB dual channel. I'm really not a gamer so all those things about far cry, doom3, etc. really don't matter ... unless you (someone) can convince me that 784MB willl be a lot better than 512MB for what i do (mainly the video thing) ... everywhere I read that it makes quite a difference going from 256MB to 512MB, but I can not find evidence that the 256MB extra (if I were to get 784MB) will give me even more boost (unless you are a gamer of course, not my case ...) ...

 

[nothingman]

Originally posted by: Viper96720
Need to be in pairs

Damn with the pairs !!!!

So, let's change the question, I am not going to change this computer for quite a while (well, maybe the sound card, but it really doesn't matter), and when the time comes, I want AMD 128 / nforce 550 / DDR4 (whatever it is at the time), etc. ... so should I get 2 x 128MB (so I will have 512MB) or 2 x 256MB (so I will have 784MB) ???

 

[RussianSensation]

you CAN run 2 in pairs and 1 by itself. It will still work fine, just the computer will lose about 10% in speed due to not being in dual channel.

how much is the price difference between 2x128 vs 2x256?

 

[Viper96720]

512MB now and 512MB later and try selling your other ram

 

[jjyiz28]

i *think* you guys are all wrong. channel one will have 128+256, channel two will have 128. therefore, 256MB will be running in dual channel (128 in channel1 and 128 in channel 2), and 256 leftover will be runnign in single channel (256 from channel 1). at least that is how amd systems work it out to be with 3 dimm slots.