DDR2 dual-dual channel confusion

[Beatle34]

I finished building my new system about a week ago and it has run super stable. I am running the Intel DP965LT mobo w/ E6600 Conroe. Initially I used a dual channel kit of A-DATA 1GB (2x512) DDR2 800 ram. This booted perfectly and runs at the full 800mhz in dual channel mode with no problems.

Today I decided 1GB was not enough and ordered a dual channel kit of Mushkin DDR2 800 2GB (2x1GB). My question is does each set run in dual channel mode? Meaning are the two A-DATAs in dual channel AND the two Mushkins? I could have gotten the A-DATA kit of 2GB (2x1GB) to match my other A-DATA 1GB (2x512) kit. However, the A-DATA 2GB kit seems to be different from the 1GB kit as far as compatibility with my intel mobo.

Does it matter that the memory pairs are from differnt memory manufacturers. They are all 1.8V, as per the boards picky requirements and they are all DDR2 800 and they are all 5 CAS latency. So should I see 3GB of total system ram with two dual-channel pairs running in dual-channel at 800mhz each?

Thanks for any help as I feel pretty knowledgeable about all the modern hardware except the memory specifics.

 

[Scorpion2k6]

As for the RAM compatiblity you should be fine. Please note that Microsoft has released a bulletin about running XP Pro/Home/MCE 2005 with 3GB of RAM, you are good running with 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB+ but for some reason unknown to me at the moment, and I have experinced this myself, 3GB of any (regardless of SPEED, MAKE, MODEL, DUAL CHANNEL or NOT) RAM, you WILL run into memory issues.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Beatle34
I finished building my new system about a week ago and it has run super stable. I am running the Intel DP965LT mobo w/ E6600 Conroe. Initially I used a dual channel kit of A-DATA 1GB (2x512) DDR2 800 ram. This booted perfectly and runs at the full 800mhz in dual channel mode with no problems.

Today I decided 1GB was not enough and ordered a dual channel kit of Mushkin DDR2 800 2GB (2x1GB). My question is does each set run in dual channel mode? Meaning are the two A-DATAs in dual channel AND the two Mushkins? I could have gotten the A-DATA kit of 2GB (2x1GB) to match my other A-DATA 1GB (2x512) kit. However, the A-DATA 2GB kit seems to be different from the 1GB kit as far as compatibility with my intel mobo.

Does it matter that the memory pairs are from differnt memory manufacturers. They are all 1.8V, as per the boards picky requirements and they are all DDR2 800 and they are all 5 CAS latency. So should I see 3GB of total system ram with two dual-channel pairs running in dual-channel at 800mhz each?

Thanks for any help as I feel pretty knowledgeable about all the modern hardware except the memory specifics.

Should work fine so long as your total modules is divisible by two.

Technically you don't need to match speeds or manufacturers, it'll just run at the speed of the slowest module.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_Channel

 

[Beatle34]

Originally posted by: Scorpion2k6
As for the RAM compatiblity you should be fine. Please note that Microsoft has released a bulletin about running XP Pro/Home/MCE 2005 with 3GB of RAM, you are good running with 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB+ but for some reason unknown to me at the moment, and I have experinced this myself, 3GB of any (regardless of SPEED, MAKE, MODEL, DUAL CHANNEL or NOT) RAM, you WILL run into memory issues.

I can see no such issue on Microsoft's support pages. If anything it says you CAN extend XP to support UP TO 3GB of memory through the boot.ini file. Normally it only supports up to 2GB. Something about a /3GB switch. Can someone explain or speak up if they have used 3GB with XP fine and how?