Ram

[Seekermeister]

I bought another stick of ram yesterday, because it had a rebate. But, I had a problem installing it, because when I seated it in it's slot and powered on the machine, I got nothing but a black screen. I then installed another stick that I had, in the fourth slot, and it was the same. I then removed the new stick and left my old stick in, leaving 3 slots used and it went ahead and booted up. I went to CPU-Z and checked, and it showed an appropriate total for the threestick, but only in single channel mode.

When I bought the ram, I asked one of the store personnel, if there was any chance that having mismatched sticks in the second pair of slots, might interfere with the dual channel function of the first pair, and he said with certainty, that it would not.

I double checked the manual for my Asus A8V, and all that it said was that ALL of the sticks had to be identical. I started with a pair of double sided 512s, and the new stick is a single sided 512 and my old stick that I added is a double sided 512.

I'm going to return the ram to the store, but am I going to have to match both pairs exactly for things to work properly?

 

[stogez]

Having matching ram would be the best but not required for dual channel. You want to make sure that atleast the timings for all your ram are the same. Dual Channel only works when Slot 1+2 = Slot 3+4. They should be color coded. So there is no way that it will be dual channel when you have 3 sticks of 512mb in there. Put all 4 in and try again.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: Seekermeister
I started with a pair of double sided 512s, and the new stick is a single sided 512 and my old stick that I added is a double sided 512.

Sounds dodgy. For dual channel you want not only the same configuration, but the same speed and timings, and preferably even the same chips.

 

[Seekermeister]

I never expected the second pair to dual channel, but I didn't want to effect the first pair.

stogez,

As I said, if I install the new stick, the machine won't boot. So, I'm faced with 3 choices, only use the orginal pair in dual channel, use 3 sticks with only single channel,or buy 2 new sticks identical to the first. The problem with the last option is that my budget doesn't allow for buying two sticks now, and since what I did buy is all that I saw, I don't know if I can get double sided ram like the first pair. If I were rich, I would buy a couple of matching kits of some premium ram, but I'm not.

 

[pkme2]

I have the same mobo and at the moment I have 2GB OCZ Gold RAM installed in DIMM_A1 & DIMM_B1, as instructed.

The Asus A8V mobo requires for dual configuration, identical DIMMS in all 4 sockets.

The mobo also has a list of qualified vendors RAM that will work with this mobo.
Visit www.asus.com for latest qualified vendor's list.
Samsung Micron Hynix Infineon Nanya Elpida OCZ Corsair

 

[Seekermeister]

Then, you would apparently agree that the guy at the store was wrong...at least in this case, about the fact that the first bank's dual operation, not being effected by the second banks configuration? I'm just trying to prepare myself for the discussion when I return the ram. Apparently, this motherboard is even more sensitive than just in dual operation, because it would not accept the single sided ram at all.

 

[pkme2]

Yup, you do that. Most salespeople don't know what's best for customers. In this case, obviously not.
Did he check whether the RAM was compatible, with his instore computer, or just assumed you knew what you were getting and left it with that?
You shouldn't need to explain anything.

I have for my clients, researched RAM sites to find compatible memory for their computers. Many have gone to Costco/Office Max with info in-hand so there's no question as to what and compatibility questions from arising. Also listing the price of the item has gotten better pricing for that particular item from Office Max, for sure.

I buy off eBay when time is not important and I can afford to wait. Wait for that deal, which ain't happening nowadays. Maybe after Dec. 25th.

 

[zagood]

Normally you don't have to have 4 matching sticks, but you have to have 2 sets of matching sticks for your ram to run in dual channel. I don't have that particular motherboard but it sounds odd that all 4 sticks would need to be identical...I've never failed in running something like 2x512 + 2x256 modules in dual channel.

The guy at the store was wrong...you can't have one set running in dual channel and the other in single.

Have you tested slot 4 by itself? I re-read your post a couple of times and couldn't tell if you had or not.

-z

 

[Seekermeister]

pkme2,

No, this guy didn't ask any questions or check any references. He was dressed a bit better than most of the other salesmen, so I assumed that he was a store manager, but then I shouldn't have assumed that, and even if he was, I shouldn't have trusted him.

 

[Seekermeister]

zagood,

Have you tested slot 4 by itself? I re-read your post a couple of times and couldn't tell if you had or not.

No, what would that accomplish?

 

[Seekermeister]

Since I think that the question of returning the new stick is settled, one question remains. Which is better...1GB of dual channel or 1.5GB of single channel?

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Seekermeister
Which is better...1GB of dual channel or 1.5GB of single channel?

All depends on whether your apps use up more than 1GB or not. Check in Task Manager.

If you never exceed 1GB usage, obviously the high bandwidth of the 1GB dual-channel set-up wins. If your apps use >1GB and <1.5GB, the extra RAM will be useful to prevent caching to the harddrive. If your apps use >1.5GB, then it's worth considering whether purchasing more RAM (to fit your ideal memory configuation) is cost-effective.

 

[pkme2]

It depends what you use your computer for. If you keep your memory demands under 1GB, the dual channel is better, but if not and you need more, definitely the single channel is preferred.

If you're gaming, then more RAM is ideal. If business apps and the like, 1GB is sufficient.
Asus recommends for dual channel operation to install identical DIMMS in all 4 sockets, directly from the User's guide., but since we try to fudge to make things work, one could possibly use PC2700 or PC2100 for RAM in pairs. I do believe that would work, but mixing unlike DIMMS, AFAIK, no.

 

[Seekermeister]

I'm probably going to uninstall the extra stick, but I wanted input on this first. It appears that the amount of memory reserved for the system, uses up so much of the space, that it doesn't leave too much for anything else. With 2/3 of it being for the system, it might cause the system to perform better, at the cost of everything else.