Looking for motherboard with 3x DDR slots...

[Slapster]

...at a reasonable price!

Right now, I'm thinking of buying a computer with the ASUS A7M266 motherboard, however, the fact that it has only 2x DDR slots still haunts me... I've had some bad experiences with computers which memory you can't really upgrade without buying a much more expensive memory and throwing away your "old" memory (say you have only two slots, both have 128mb comes, but you want to upgrade to 512mb).

Can anyone recommend a motherboard which 1) has 3x (or more?) DDR slots, 2) won't empty my bank-acccount and 3) is already available (or will be in the next two weeks)?

Thanks

 

[chainbolt]

7DXR and KG7 will both have more than 2 DIMM sockets, it's questionable however, whether you can use un-registered memory for all 3.

 

[bevo]

Nope, its not questionable. Registered ddr only for 3+ dimms on both the kg-7 and dxr...

 

[jinglingxl]

KG7 Raid will have 4 Dimm DDR Slots KG7 Raid

 

[chainbolt]

The MSI had initially also 4 DIMMs and then they recalled the board, remember? The specifications of the AMD 761 Northbridge call for 2 DIMMs, don't they? The A7M266 never got 4, althtough the solder conatacts for 4 are in. On the other hand, 2 DIMMs like the A7M266 and the Epox are definitely a bit short of regular needs.

 

[HansXP]

The AMD 760 can handle 2 or 4 DIMMs. However, when you get over 2, it requires registered RAM. nForce will allow you to use 4 of any kind of DDR DIMM, but it won't be out for a while

BTW-I don't think you'll have too much trouble having only 2 DIMMs. You can get 1/2 GB sticks of DDR now, with 1 GB sticks soon. Who needs that much?

 

[chainbolt]

<< Nope, its not questionable. Registered ddr only for 3+ dimms on both the kg-7 and dxr... >>




I think you misunderstand the 7DXR specs, Gigabyte says: up to 2 Giga unbuffered/un-registered, and up to 3 GB buffered/registered. That means that you can use all 3 DIMMs sockets with 3x 256 MB RAM UN-REGISTERED or even more.


Gigabyte 7DXR specs

You can also check it out at amdmb.com Gigabyte forum.

 

[cHodAX]

Registered DDR is so cheap now that it is not a problem to get it instead if you are buying your first DDR system. For the guys moving across from another DDR board this is a real pain if you want to use all 3 slots

 

[bevo]

chainbolt..,I beg your pardon, but I don't buy your interpretation, and neither do many others. Perhaps one of your personalities that has good industry connections can get a ruling from Gigabyte or Abit on this matter. Hell, I hope you are right, but as of now, I think not.

Re-examining the specs leads me to believe that something got lost in the translation..

 

[Gandu]

bevo, I guess you should read chainbolt's posts on other board and another guy. They been using 3x256 Unbuffered sticks on their GA-DXR so far I only seen one person with the trouble. You also want to read his 3 DDR Board shootout on www.overclockers.com.au maybe that will help ya.

 

[bevo]

Thanks Gandu, but I have read it, and have also read about many more than one person having this problem.

 

[WildeBeast]

does crucial sell buffered dimms? Where can I get buffered dimms? I want to get max stability and have the option of using 3 + dimms, so I guess that I should use registered huh. Also, what about ECC, I don't mind paying another 3 dollars for it, as long as it does do something.... What does error correcting code do? If I get 256MB ECC registered PC2100 (unless corsair's PC2400 can be gotten registered) Do all other Dimms ahve to be ECC too?

 

[bevo]

WildeBeast...buffered ram is ECC, but registered is different ram in that it uses a register. You will need registered ram, and yes, Crucial sells it...

 

[WildeBeast]

oh, I htought that registered = buffered, is that true? Is registered always ECC?

 

[pbehrens]

What is the difference between registered and unregistered RAM then? Could someone please explain, or throw me a link to a FAQ somewhere...

 

[bevo]

From the Crucial website



<< DDR and SDRAM can be unbuffered or registered. EDO and FPM can be buffered or unbuffered. Buffered modules contain a buffer to help the chipset cope with the large electrical load required when the system has a lot of memory. Registered modules do not have a buffer but do contain a register that delays all information transferred to the module by one clock cycle. Buffered and registered modules are typically used only in servers and other mission-critical systems where it is extremely important that the data is properly handled. >>





<< ECC (Error Checking and Correcting) performs &quot;double bit detection and single bit correction.&quot; This means that if you have a single bit memory error, the chipset and memory will find and repair the error on the fly without you knowing that it happened. If you have a double bit memory error, it will detect and report it. Using ECC decreases your PC's performance by about 2%. Current technology DRAM is very stable and memory errors are rare, so unless you have a need for ECC, you are better served with non-parity SDRAM. >>



Also, from FastEddie on amdzone.com:

<< The 7DXR takes two unbuffered ECC or Non-ECC, or three Registered ECC >>

 

[Bingo13]

I cannot run my Gigabyte 7DXR in a stable manner with all three dimm slots full with non-registered memory. After phone calls to Gigabyte and Crucial, they all agree that the board requires Registered memory if all three slots are full. The board will run without it but it is a bit flaky at times. The AMD 760 spec agrees with this due to the timing issues involved. I have registered memory arriving on Monday I hope, the only problem is the overclocking capability will be reduced but looking at the results of the &quot;AY&quot; cores it really will not matter. However, the Gigabyte board is an excellent board although my A7M266 still has a better &quot;feel&quot; to it. I consider it to be a toss up anyway between all of the boards (Epox, Gigabyte,Asus)as it stands now.

 

[chainbolt]

Bevo: I have to make this very clear (and I have posted this before in the other thread):

Unfortunately, I was not aware of this point, when I checked out my 7DXR. I only populated all 3 DIMM sockets in order to check whether they were working (as we know sometimes DIMM sockets simply dead)

128 Samsung PC2100 CL 2.0
128 Samsung PC2100 CL 2.5
256 Nanya PC2100 CL 2.5

They were in for a short time, and it booted into both W2K and ME. I cannot say more. That gave me the impression that there are no problems with unregistered memory, also because there is nothing else said in the manual and on Giabytes webside with the 7DXR specs. In order to overclock the board for the review I took the slower CL 2.5 memory out and all benchmarks are with 1 stick 256 Nanya CL 2.0. After the review I sold the 2 sticks Samsung to AUS, so I cannot check it anymore. I emailed Gigabyte, but as usual with these Taiwanese companies: no answer

I think we have to wait until somebody really checks it out

 

[bevo]

Chainbolt...having quoted FastEddie and now Bingo 13

<< After phone calls to Gigabyte and Crucial, they all agree that the board requires Registered memory if all three slots are full. >>

Need more evidence? Looks to me like this is how it is with the 760 chipset...

 

[chainbolt]

<< Chainbolt...having quoted FastEddie and now Bingo 13

<< After phone calls to Gigabyte and Crucial, they all agree that the board requires Registered memory if all three slots are full. >>

Need more evidence? Looks to me like this is how it is with the 760 chipset... >>



BINGO! thanx

 

[Bingo13]

The registered memory issue really does not change my opinion of the board, it is excellent. In fact, I bought another one this weekend.


later.....

 

[salman327]

How big is the difference when using registered memory. I know it pushes it back one cycle, but is the performance difference extremely noticeable?

 

[bevo]

<< I think you misunderstand the 7DXR specs >>

What a joke!

 

[WildeBeast]

So then if Ram is buffered, it is registered, but not the other way? I should just visit crucial. So to get the AMD761 to support more than 2 Dimms, you must have ECC buffered ram or ECC registered ram? Same thing?

 

[bevo]

WildeBeast....NO, you must have registered ddr, not ecc, and not no-parity(the regular type).