Questions about dual channel memory...

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Night_Wolf

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Hey everyone, I just registered here and have a few questions:

I built my computer, and just yesterday ordered some parts that really need an upgrade (memory, graphics card, and some fans) Anyway, right now I have 256mb of PC3200 DDR. (brand Ultra) my mb has 3 memory banks. My plan was to get a stick of 512, so I will have 768 for now, then in the future get another 512, so I would have a total of 1280mb.....

sounds good so far, but last night, when I was ordering memory (and the ad on the site changed after I ordered it) but I read it as I was buying 2 sticks of 512..... what it really was is 2 sticks of 256 PC3200 dual channal memory.... so I called up and after being on hold for 45min, finally got through..... the guy said I can return if once I get it.

Now my questions are, dual channal memory has to be used in pairs, correct? So I could not use the 2 x 256 dual channal and my regular stick of 256? Also, I have been thinking about keeping the dual channal and selling my stick of 256, and running all dual channal (the guy on the phone was tlaking about how it will be twice as fast and stuff) So if I have 2 x256 right now, and my mb has 3 banks for memory, in the future, can I put either a stick of 256 or 512 dual channal memory in, of the same brand, and will it work? And finally, would you guys recomend going with a total of 1280mb of regular DDR in the future, or, say 768mb of dual channal (3 x 256, if it will work)

Sorry for the long post, I do that on all the forums I visit.... here is the specs on my system:

AMD Athlon XP 2400+
256mb PC3200 DDR (currently)
nVida GeForce2 MX 400 64mb (finally upgraded this, I wanted either a 5600 Ultra or a 9600 Pro, but they were too much $$$.... so I picked up a 5200 256mb)
WD 100gb hdd, special edition (8mb chace, 7200rpm)
other things are, 400watt p/s, 52x cd/rw etc...
I have a cable modem broad band connection.

It is nothing ultra high end, more of what I call budget high performance..... it is the older stuff but still good, I mostly surf the web, do photo editing, some games (my system has a hard time with Battle Field 1942 right now, I think due to the memory and dated graphics card) and fine for what I need..... but this memory thing is bugging me....

Thanks everyone... I really apperciate all the help.
 
Hmmm.. Night_Wolf.. Firstly .. there's no special Dual channel memory .. It's just regular memory used in pairs ...
Though it depends on the mobo to figure out what kinda order or what type of ram(SingleSided or DoubleSided) needs to be used

U haven't mentioned which mobo ur using .. Just lookinto ur mobo's documentation to figure out what order u need to use the memory.
If u can't figure it out ..post ur mobo's model/make n' ..we'll help ya out
 
teh mb is a Mach Speed V400DBL...... all this stuff (the stuf I just bought, and the stuff I previously bought...mb/cpu etc...) are all form Tiger

How I understand it, and how it was explained to me is, dual channal is like having a big bucket and filling it with water, but instead of having 1 hose, you have 2, so it will be twice as fast...... this is the first I ever really looked into dual channal memory, so I don't know much about it.......

..... should I just return the 2 x256 of DC memory and get my regular stick of 512, then another 512 in the future, or keep the dual channal...... *IF* I was to keep the dual channal, being that my mb has 3 banks, could I use 2 x 256 DC and 1 x 256 regular memory, or would that not work?

Here is my mb...... I origanally thought it coudl take PC3200 memory, so that is what I bought, but when I try to run it as PC 3200, it will not boot up, so I am running it as PC2700 right now, I think if I exchange this dual channal memory, I will get a stick of 512 PC2700 to save a few bucks, since it woudl be running at 333mhz anyway.....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...-details.asp?EdpNo=575686&Sku=M450-2005&Tab=1
 
Also, on a side note, can anyone tell me if I made a wise choice with the nVida FX 5200?

I first wanted an ATi 9600Pro, but they were more then I wanted to spend (by $50) same with the 5600 Ultra I was looking at....so the next lower stage was the 9200/5200.... I was reading reviews and stuff, the 5200 seemed to be a little faster, and the 9200 dosn't support DirectX 9.0 (only 8.1) so that turned me away too.....

For the money, and what it is, will I be happy with this? will there be a big improvment over my current card (GeForce2 MX 40064mb SDram) I notice the 5200 dosn't have a fan on the heatsink...... I guess it will be ok though.....

.... Only reason why I even got the new graphics card (since the MX400 is fine) is because some games run slow/choppy, and I doubt it is the cpu..... plus this was the last thing to upgrade.... may as well keep everything on equal grounds..... I like this card, I had it for a few years, and it served me well, before this I had a 8mb Number Nine...... that was a good card too (not in bussiness anymore) and going form that to the nVida was a big step up (just like going form 128mb to 256mb of memory)

Is everyone happy with the 5200 or what?
 
ok, I htink I was getting everyone confused with this... Here is what I am asking.....

.....my mb has 3 memory banks

.... I [acciently] ordered a pack of 2 x 256mb PC 3200 dual channal memory.... I already have 256mb PC3200...... can I install all 3 of these (the 2 DC and the single non-DC) and have a toital of 768mb?

Or should I return the 2 x 256 DC, and get the single stick of 512 (then another 512 in the future) <--- I would have more memory doing it that way, but 768mb is still pretty good, and most of it would be dual channal.....

... I just want to know, becuase when I get this stuff, if I open the package, I will not be able to return it.....
 
They made Duel channel like they did because they wouldnt have to set up for making new memory and the consumer is tired of up grading.Basicly instead of reading 1 slot.It reads from 2 slot's.Though it is doubled.It dosent mean it run's double fast.There are other bottle necks that limit it.

Memory should all be the same.Specialy if your wanting Duel channel.You can get away with mixing size's IE 128 256 512 if your not going for duel channel though i wouldnt recommand it.

There are a couple past post on memory that explain it a lot better.
 
Night_Wolf.... Ur mobo is based on the Via chipset n' it does not support Dual channel operation .. So u can simply go ahead n' add the memory u've already ordered ... It will work as 768Mb of memory anywayz .. but not in dual channel mode.

As for ur question 'bout the 5200 fx ... Personally .. i think it's the worst card from Nvidia .. It performs worse than the Geforce 4 Ti 4800... The only thing it boasts of over the GF Ti4800 is the DX9 support ..which eventually turns out to be useless ..
If it's ever a possibility for u to change the card then swap it for a 9600 Radeon or atleast a 5600FX
 
hmmmm.... well, I guss I will just hold onto this memory then and run 3x 256..... in the least case, I will have 3 times the memory, so it should be a big improvment....

So the 5200 is really that bad? darn...... I'll see what I can do..... what kind of things does the 5200 fall back on?
 
well, what would be better, keeping my current 256, going through the trouble of returning the new 2 x 256 I am getting, and getting a stick of 512, then in the future get another 512.... or just run 3 x 256 for now.... is there any benifit to running 3 x 256 vs 1x 256/2x 512? also, will 768mb be enough, or will I just be having to upgrade again the in the future.....

..... is the 5200 really that bad of a card?
 
Night_Wolf said:
Also, on a side note, can anyone tell me if I made a wise choice with the nVida FX 5200?

I first wanted an ATi 9600Pro, but they were more then I wanted to spend (by $50) same with the 5600 Ultra I was looking at....so the next lower stage was the 9200/5200.... I was reading reviews and stuff, the 5200 seemed to be a little faster, and the 9200 dosn't support DirectX 9.0 (only 8.1) so that turned me away too.....

For the money, and what it is, will I be happy with this? will there be a big improvment over my current card (GeForce2 MX 40064mb SDram) I notice the 5200 dosn't have a fan on the heatsink...... I guess it will be ok though.....

.... Only reason why I even got the new graphics card (since the MX400 is fine) is because some games run slow/choppy, and I doubt it is the cpu..... plus this was the last thing to upgrade.... may as well keep everything on equal grounds..... I like this card, I had it for a few years, and it served me well, before this I had a 8mb Number Nine...... that was a good card too (not in bussiness anymore) and going form that to the nVida was a big step up (just like going form 128mb to 256mb of memory)

Is everyone happy with the 5200 or what?

Well, I was going to buy the 5200, but instead I bought the 5200 Ultra and it plays all the current games, and runs them pretty smooth too. Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo runs really smooth at 1280x1024 w/all settings, and I don't think my specs are all that much better than yours:

512MB PC2700
Athlon XP 2500+ OCed 2.08Ghz
GeForce FX 5200 Ultra 128MB
Abit AN7
WD 40GB 7,200 IDE
Sony 16x DVD

(by the way, those stats you see in my sig are what my computer is ABOUT to be)
 
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