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Mixing DDR Ram for Dual Channel
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2005 1:59 am
by woovic
I have an ASUS P4P-800 mobo with 2x256 PC3200 Kingston running in dual channel mode. I have 2 more slots free and I'm thinking about putting in some more ram.
I know the following configuration will work in dual channel
4x256 PC3200 Kingston
But will this work as well without sacrificing dual channel?
2x256 PC3200 Kingston
2x512 PC3200 OCZ
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2005 5:56 am
by FlyingPenguin
WELCOME TO PCA!
Dual channel is VERY fussy. Timing is very critical. Mixing brands is generally not recommended. Also you may sacrifice stability by using 4 sticks instead of 2.
Frankly what I'd recommend for long run stability is just replace the existing RAM with two 512MB sticks.
Newsgroups are flooded with posts from people who just buy whatever good RAM deal they find an then find out the RAM doesn't work well with their mobo. Save yourself a lot of grief.
MAKE SURE to use a memory database like the ones online at Crucial.com or Corsair.com to lookup the EXACT memory that's GUARANTEED to work with your mobo.
Once you've got the new memory installed and tested and you know it's stable, you can TRY using the old memory in the 2nd pair of slots and see if it's stable. No great loss if it isn't, but I would really recommend just sticking with 2 sticks.