memory question

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jimbi

I have the P4P800 and am a little confused by looking at the manual where to
install my 2 sticks of RAM. I have a 512MB and a 256MB ram sticks.... Do I
install them in each Blue DIMM or in one bank (first Blk and Blu slots)?

Even though Asus says Dual Channel Memory won't work because the memory
capacities I have are different, I read somewhere that this is not a factor
and should still work, as long as the memory are the same type, which they
are, albeit only PC2700 and slightly different timings, but none the less
the same brand etc... Any help appreciated.
 
To have dual channel work, you need to put them in the same color banks.
Either in both blue, or both black.
 
No,
you might get away with relaxed timings on the faster stick, working with
slower
but they *DO* have to be the same size.
 
"jimbi" said:
I have the P4P800 and am a little confused by looking at the manual where to
install my 2 sticks of RAM. I have a 512MB and a 256MB ram sticks.... Do I
install them in each Blue DIMM or in one bank (first Blk and Blu slots)?

Even though Asus says Dual Channel Memory won't work because the memory
capacities I have are different, I read somewhere that this is not a factor
and should still work, as long as the memory are the same type, which they
are, albeit only PC2700 and slightly different timings, but none the less
the same brand etc... Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...

Intel has a memory guide for the 875/865 chipset. You can plug those
mixed size DIMMs in any slots you want. They will end up running in
Single Channel or Virtual Single Channel mode.

ftp://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/applnots/25273001.pdf

From an electrical signal performance perspective, I like to
stick DIMMs next to the termination resistors on the bus. If you
look at the picture of your motherboard in the user manual, the
termination resistors are next to the black slots. So, using the
two black slots first, theoretically makes the electrical signals
on the memory bus look slightly better. (Not that it really
matters...)

As for whether dual channel operating mode makes a difference, I
played with a 865GE based system before Christmas, and yes, you
can feel the difference in performance. Using memtest86, the
bandwidth number is about 30% more when you use matched memory
sticks and the resulting dual channel mode. Just in case you
were wondering what you are missing :-)

HTH,
Paul
 
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