Dual/Tri/Quad Channel Memory

[Beraid]

I wasn't sure where to ask this so I settled on 'Motherboards'

If a motherboard (or CPU?) supports quad channel memory does that mean that it ONLY supports quad and not tri/dual? Why not have it support multiple channels?

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

On Intel® processors and Intel chipset based boards that have been released, the answer is that you can put in 1, 2 or some odd combo of sticks of memory on a triple channel boards and it will drop you down to a single channel mode. So it will hurt your performance but it won’t stop you from running your system. So on an X58 board if you put memory in like this it would try you down to a single channel mode.
Slot 0 |Slot 1 |Slot 2| Slot 3|Slot 4| Slot 5|
X X

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[nenforcer]

I guess that means on an Intel X58 board which supports triple channel memory you can't run a dual channel with 2 sticks.

It's either the full 3 channels or it drops you down to a single channel.

 

[Bartman39]

Correct... Also there are no quad channel boards as of yet but with the socket 2011 it should be a reality... (atleast that I know of...? server stuff doesnt count )

Just a note the tri-channel memory of the X58 boards is in theory faster than dual channel memory but with SB this is not true...

Case and point... Give this a read...

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2166596

 

[Beraid]

Also there are no quad channel boards as of yet but with the socket 2011 it should be a reality... (atleast that I know of...? server stuff doesnt count )

Server stuff most certianly does count. Magny-Cours Opterons support it.

 

[Bartman39]

Server stuff most certianly does count. Magny-Cours Opterons support it.

Not for everyday gaming PC`s... But I guess if you have the bucks...? Still wont take avantage of desktop parts and cases...