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Asrock P4i65G memory issues

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6 replies

by lw_davis2788

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I bought this board, installed my intel celeron 2.93ghz processor and 768mb of ddr400 ram, which is what the board requires. my problem is that the memory is only running in single channel mode, when it should be running dual channel. ive looked at the bios, actually flashed it and got the latest version, enabled a memory tolerance option, but nothing seems to be working. anyone got ideas of what my problem is?

6 replies

by thechas

I might be wrong, but I thought that in order to run in dual channel mode, you had to populate the memory with matched pairs of DIMMs.

Since you must have a 512MB and a 256MB DIMM in order to have 768MB, you need to replace the 256MB with a 512MB DIMM that matches your existing 512MB.

Even then, you might actually have better performance if you run in single channel mode as the system will have more functional RAM available.

Chas

by thechas

I got your message.

Did a little searching, and I did verify that for Dual Channel mode you DO need to install your RAM in identical pairs. When installing multiple pairs, it is best if all memory modules are identical.

Check out page 7 of this Kingston white paper for details on enabling Dual Channel mode:

http://www.kingston.com/newtech/MKF_520DDRwhitepaper.pdf

Keep in mind, that when you are running in Dual Channel mode that you effectively cut your system RAM in half.

Chas

by nentech

Dual channel does not cut the ram in half

If you have two modules of 512 they have always shown 1 Gigabyte
Same with other sizes

But I am interested to know if you have seen some that cut it in half

I just sounds strange

Most processors are now 64 bit and use 64 bit ram
But still have all the memory available in the 32 bit versions of windows

Col

by thechas

Yes, BIOS, Windows, and most applications will still report the full amount of RAM.

However, when you are actually using the RAM in Dual Channel mode, your "functional" RAM is actually 1/2 of your installed RAM.

In a system with the minimal amount of RAM installed for your applications, you may see low performance and even out of memory errors when an application is making full use of Dual Channel mode.

Chas

by seanelston

to use duel channel on any motherboard , you need a matching set of equal value and chip set memory modules.
e.g two 256 same make and amount of chips on it,
you have a 512 and a256 you cant get duel channel as not the same type of chips. ok mate buy a pair of chips from the same suppler making sure its a matched pair.
all duel channel means is that the band width is doudled when there are two matching chips.
instead of using one chip until its full then moving on to the other, in duel it can use both at the same time. hence doubling the data rate and performance. ok

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