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Question: Dual-Channel on NF7-S

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imported_nocturne

Senior member
I read in a NF7 guide (Madshrimps guide, I believe) that you can get dual channel by using 2x256 + 1x512 (512+512, of course). This seems logical enough, but supposedly the NF7-S can only support using two slots for ddr400. Can anybody help clarify this a little for me?

In case it matters, I currently have a Mushkin 512mb PC3500 running at 433@2-3-3-6 at 2.9v, and am looking to get 2x256 of PC4000.
 
I don't know about the DDR400 part, but my NF7-S v2 ran just fine in dual channel DDR333 mode with 2x256MB and 1x512MB.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I seem to remember having it running at DDR400 for a little while when playing around with the overclocking (I had a Barton 2800).
 
I just bought another 512*2 pack of Patriot XBL 3200 and decided to add another 512 stick to my NF-7s v2 before I upgraded it tomorrow.

This RAM is rated 3200 but when I added the third DIMM I kept getting BSOD. I ended up checking the manual and found that when all 3 DIMMS are filled you can only run the memory at a max of DDR333. The only way to run DDR400 is to use only 2 DIMM slots.
 
Originally posted by: nocturne
I read in a NF7 guide (Madshrimps guide, I believe) that you can get dual channel by using 2x256 + 1x512 (512+512, of course). This seems logical enough, but supposedly the NF7-S can only support using two slots for ddr400. Can anybody help clarify this a little for me?

In case it matters, I currently have a Mushkin 512mb PC3500 running at 433@2-3-3-6 at 2.9v, and am looking to get 2x256 of PC4000.
Click to expand...

While the manual does state that only 333mhz is supported with 3 sticks, other peeps have reported using 3 and reaching 400mhz or better. You can confirm by searching old posts over at nForcersHQ.com. I posed this question over there last year and heard from several members confirming that they did get 400mhz or better. My user name over there is Razor.

I have heard of problems on this mobo with PC4000, might wanna check into that too.

Still, YMMV

Fern

BTW: You'll get a little bit better mem performance by switching the last value in the ram's timings from "6" to "10" or "11"
 
I think I read somewhere that theres a editted bios that lets you run 3x400mhz, but I'm not too sure. I'd imagine the chipset wouldn't take the extra load well.

I don't know if this is worth pursuing further, anyways. I might as well just try to get an equivalent 512mb module. I was just thinking in the future I could pull the pc4000 dual channel kit and put it in a newer system.
 
Originally posted by: Fern
I have heard of problems on this mobo with PC4000, might wanna check into that too.
Click to expand...

I'd just be running it at PC3500 speeds. I doubt I could get much higher than 230mhz FSB without heatsinking every chip on the mobo anyways.

And thanks for the link...
 
Never had any trouble running 3x512MB of HyperX in dual channel on my NF2 motherboard. Bandwidth was benchmarked at about 2900MB/s using AIDA32 so i think that confirms the system was running dual channel mode. Motherboard was a DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity but I think all NF2 boards are capable of that given that you have good quality ram.
 
I'm thinking that rather than trying to run (2x256) + 512 you would need to run three matched DIMMs for the best chance of getting this to work (e.g., 3x256 or 3x512), but I've never seen a definitive exploration of this.

By the way, I was running 2X512 of Mushkin's PC3500 memory on my Epox Nforce2 board, but this memory was too expensive to try and pick up a 3rd module, when I decided that I needed more memory. I opted to pick up a 1GB Patriot DIMM for the same price that a found a 512mb Mushkin PC3500 going for. I'm running one of my Mushkin DIMMS with the Patriot in single channel mode for 512+1000=1.5GB of memory.

You really don't lose that much performance going from dual channel down to single channel with these boards and Athlon XPs. At somepoint, I might pick up another Patriot module and run 2x1GB, but I'm in no hurry on this.

Space
 
I'm thinking that rather than trying to run (2x256) + 512 you would need to run three matched DIMMs for the best chance of getting this to work (e.g., 3x256 or 3x512), but I've never seen a definitive exploration of this.
Click to expand...

No, the "best" is 2 x 256MB & 1 x 512MB. Put the 256MB sticks in dimm slots 1 & 2 and they will work together (composing 512MB together) to work in a "balanced" DC config with 512MB stick in dimm slot #3.

However, I have seen many peeps with 3 x 512MB and it seems to work fine also. It's just that it's an unbalanced DC config in which 512MB out of the 1.5gigs will not be in DC config.

Fern
 
I think that the problem with trying to get a balanced amount of RAM on both sides of the dual channel is that you aren't using identical DIMMs anymore. Given that the original poster is using 512MB of Mushkins PC3500, I think that he will have a nearly impossible time finding something comparable in a 256mb package (I don't recall Mushkin offering a 256MB PC3500 Level 1 module). Granted, it won't be much easier finding a 512MB module of PC3500 Level 1, but at least it exists.

Actually for the 1GB total that he is wanting to run in dual channel, just getting another DIMM identical to the one he has would be the best solution. But, I can understand his reluctance, because of the price and very low availability of this DIMM, now.

I'm afraid that what he is going to find, when he picks up the 2 sticks of PC4000 memory, is that they will work fine together in any configurtion, but there will be no way to run both of them and his PC3500 module. The best that he'll be able to do is increase his memory to 768 MB, single channel (512mb+256mb).

Perhaps Mushkin could inform him of whether they ever sold any 256 MB modules using the same kind of chips as was used on the 512 MB module that he has and with the same timing configuration.

I know that there was no way that the two 512mb PC3500 modules that I have could be used with the 1 GB module that I added to my system; so, 1.5GB single channel was the best that I could do.

Space
 
To me, it just seems like the suggestions mean it's simply "pick & choose," ie. 3x512, 2x256+1x512, and so on. From my experience, it never seems to be that easy (i still remember when SIMMs had to be installed in pairs). I understand that dual-channel isn't supposed to be much faster, but it seems like it would theoretically optimize cross-board communications in ways that a benchmark couldn't pick up one. And besides, I just UPGRADED to the AXP, so I'm hoping to squeeze as much performance as I can out of it (while hoping to save some of it for my nexgen pc). Thanks for the advice. I think I might just find another good 512mb module to pair with the Mushkin PC3500, since 1.5gb of memory would be overboard for me (never thought I'd say that...).
 
Originally posted by: Spacecomber
Perhaps Mushkin could inform him of whether they ever sold any 256 MB modules using the same kind of chips as was used on the 512 MB module that he has and with the same timing configuration.
Click to expand...


They sold the same series in 1x512mb, 2x512mb, & 2x256 I believe. It's expensive as hell, considering it's now slightly outdated.

I think it was CH-5 rated chips. If I got another module that could at least match the same timings, wouldn't it work in DC?

 
Originally posted by: Spacecomber
...I was running 2X512 of Mushkin's PC3500. . .I'm running one of my Mushkin DIMMS with the Patriot in single channel mode for 512+1000=1.5GB of memory.
Click to expand...

Well... If you don't have a use for the extra Musking module, I can certainly take it off your hands... 😉


Edit: sorry if I'm threadcrapping... I'm not sure if the post limit applies just to the FS forum or not...
 
Battlefield 2 seems to be the first game that requires more than 1GB of memory; at least, this seems to be true if you are running a 256mb video card. I supect that it is only the first game, and by no means the last, that is this resource hungry. BF2 is what prompted me to move beyond 1GB for my system.

I think that in theory you could try to find a similar module to what you have now from another manufacturer and it might work fine in dual channel mode, but I really don't have any experience with this. Obviously, the memory makers have made much of the modules needing to be matched, as they sell their memory in kits of matched pairs, and I can't say as I've heard much of people describing how they successfully got DIMMs from different manufacturers to work well together in dual channel mode.

So, it would come down to trial and error on your part, which probably isn't very practical.

Again, the difference between dual channel and single channel in these systems is not that much. I'll list some results comparing my two mushkin modules in dual channel versus one of these plus a 1GB Patriot module running in single channel mode. This is with an Athlon XP running at 2.3GHz on a 210MHz FSB and a memory bus also at 210MHz. Video card is a 6800GT. Timings are 2,3,2,8 for both memory setups. (Actually, 2,3,2,11 would be better for this system, but I used tRAS=8 for some reason, perhaps because it was closer to the SPD timing.) I'll list the 2x512 results, then the 512+1GB results, so you can easily compare them (2x512mb / 512mb+1GB).

Sandra Memory Integer: 3226/3155
Sandra Memory Floating: 3040/2884
Sandra Memory&Cahce, Combined Index: 4678/4092
ScienceMark Memory: 3070/2991
Prime95 2048K FFT Benchmark (lower time is better): 134.86ms/141.693
Aquamark Overall: 56,330/55,467
Aquamark CPU: 8345/8028
Aquamark Graphics Card: 8502/8472

While their is a consistent advantage to running in dual channel mode on the benchmarks that I tested this with, the difference is only a few percentage points. This is why I'm content to have increased my memory beyond 1GB, which smoothed out BF2 game play, even if it meant going to single channel. I'm in no hurry to regain the the performance that running two matched 1GB modules would offer, since I really don't think I'll notice the 1fps increase in my average frame rate as I play. 🙂

Space
 
Well... I think I'll stop worrying about this for now. Even with my outdated system, I can still play every game I have (except HL2) with max quality settings anyways. Besides, I don't know why I'm worried that my memory could be 3% slower than it could be when I'm still chugging along on dialup.

Thanks again for the advice.
 
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