|
AaronEvil
The GuitarVillain



Registered: 09/27/04
Posts: 1,706
Loc: California
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
|
Additional RAM Help
#7866898 - 01/11/08 09:33 PM (16 years, 21 days ago) |
|
|
Mixing RAM brands wont matter as long as its the same type correct? Im using DDR2 PC6400 800MHz Dual Channel, that wont create a problem if I use a brand other than GeIL will it?
--------------------
There is not a lot of difference between a fox hole and a grave; but knowing that you dug your ditch and climbed in anyway.
Edited by AaronEvil (01/12/08 12:51 PM)
|
Varman
Stranger




Registered: 07/16/06
Posts: 168
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: AaronEvil]
#7866958 - 01/11/08 09:50 PM (16 years, 21 days ago) |
|
|
it should work... but you can only run dual channel if they are of the same brand/model/size
--------------------
"Its A circular vortex..."
|
AaronEvil
The GuitarVillain



Registered: 09/27/04
Posts: 1,706
Loc: California
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: AaronEvil]
#7867004 - 01/11/08 09:58 PM (16 years, 21 days ago) |
|
|
Im not to informed on the ins and outs of RAM but, I have 2GB (1GBx2), if I were to add more Ram in my empty slots would I have to get the same brand/model/size for the other two slots?
--------------------
There is not a lot of difference between a fox hole and a grave; but knowing that you dug your ditch and climbed in anyway.
|
Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: AaronEvil]
#7868059 - 01/12/08 03:17 AM (16 years, 20 days ago) |
|
|
It depends upon what you mean by "same type". If you mean identical in every way, then you are correct. However, it can be a bit tricky ensuring that the memory is the same. For example, a 1G DIMM from one vendor may be double sided while a 1G DIMM from second vendor may be single sided. If the logic board only supports singled sided DIMMs, then...
Most modern logic boards shouldn't care. Assuming the memory is supported, worse case would typically be running in single channel mode. You might take a tiny performance hit if the logic board supports dual channel mode. (More of a performance skip than a hit. You aren't gaining anything rather than losing something.)
It really is best to use the same memory all the way across. The biggest reason for this is identical timing characteristics allowing dual channel mode. When chip timings don't match, the system will usually set everybody to the slowest speed. (By timing, I am talking about CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS, not the speed of the DIMM.)
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
|
AaronEvil
The GuitarVillain



Registered: 09/27/04
Posts: 1,706
Loc: California
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: Seuss]
#7868661 - 01/12/08 10:55 AM (16 years, 20 days ago) |
|
|
Ok I see what you are saying. How do you change the setting from dual to single channel? I had this machine pre-configured with dual.
--------------------
There is not a lot of difference between a fox hole and a grave; but knowing that you dug your ditch and climbed in anyway.
|
AaronEvil
The GuitarVillain



Registered: 09/27/04
Posts: 1,706
Loc: California
Last seen: 12 years, 8 months
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: AaronEvil]
#7868971 - 01/12/08 12:52 PM (16 years, 20 days ago) |
|
|
Ok, so I am now on single channel 4GB of RAM which from what I have been reading, wont really hurt my performance too much. Anyway, I installed the additional 2GB but I only see 3GB. I have read that I need to make a modification to either boot.ini or to my bios settings. Does anyone know exactely what I will need to modify?
--------------------
There is not a lot of difference between a fox hole and a grave; but knowing that you dug your ditch and climbed in anyway.
|
karma35
Stranger
Registered: 09/07/07
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 9 days
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: AaronEvil]
#7881661 - 01/15/08 03:10 AM (16 years, 17 days ago) |
|
|
Dual channel vs single channel isn't going to have any noticeable difference. Don't worry about it.
Also, you don't need to use the same size RAM in the two free slots. If you have 2x1GB, it's fine to add 2x512MB. You only need to keep the pairs the same size.
About the 3GB limit: If you're running XP Home on an older computer, there's a good chance that no amount of tweaking will allow you to see it all. XP Pro has a "/3GB" switch that you can add to boot.ini, I don't think it works on XP Home, and even if it does it's a nasty hack that will only allow you to see ~3.5GB of the RAM. If you really need 4GB, you'll have to spring for a 64-bit operating system.
|
Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: karma35]
#7881757 - 01/15/08 04:43 AM (16 years, 17 days ago) |
|
|
> Dual channel vs single channel isn't going to have any noticeable difference.
Not true. There is a measurable increase in throughput when implemented correctly. On Apple hardware, the increase in performance can be around 20%.
> If you really need 4GB, you'll have to spring for a 64-bit operating system.
Not true. A 32-bit OS, correctly written, can address 64GB of memory using PAE on Intel hardware. However, a single process on a 32-bit OS cannot address more than 4GB. The hardware can also limit the maximum memory addressable. Often, a logic board that can handle a max of 4GB will only be able to address ~3.5GB with the remainder of the address space mapped into hardware (BIOS, video memory, etc).
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
|
karma35
Stranger
Registered: 09/07/07
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 9 days
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: Seuss]
#7882065 - 01/15/08 07:51 AM (16 years, 17 days ago) |
|
|
Seuss, I suspect you are looking at benchmarks that explicitly measure RAM speed. A 20% increase in RAM speed does not translate to a 20% overall performance increase. In the real world, a 20% increase in RAM speed is totally insignificant for what anyone actually uses a computer for: Email, web browsing, word processing, a few games, etc.
Put two computers next to each other, one with dual channel RAM and one with single channel RAM (but otherwise identical), and ask a dozen people to spend an hour with each. I doubt a single person would be able to tell you which is which, except maybe the benchmark junkies whose first action would be to run benchmarking software :-)
Also, I understand what you're saying about having the right combination of software and hardware to allow access to the full 4GB, but this has always seemed like hacky black magic to me. Switch to a 64-bit OS and put all this craziness in the past. :-)
|
Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: karma35]
#7882230 - 01/15/08 08:56 AM (16 years, 17 days ago) |
|
|
> Seuss, I suspect you are looking at benchmarks that explicitly measure RAM speed.
You suspect wrong.
> A 20% increase in RAM speed does not translate to a 20% overall performance increase.
Nor did I claim a 20% increase in RAM speed. Dual channel increases memory bandwidth by 100% which can result in around a 20% performance increase on Apple hardware.
> In the real world, a 20% increase in RAM speed is totally insignificant for what anyone actually uses a computer for:
Anybody that uses a computer for a memory (or IO) bound application will improve... things like photoshop, video encoding, cad design, etc.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
|
karma35
Stranger
Registered: 09/07/07
Posts: 33
Last seen: 5 months, 9 days
|
Re: Im pretty sure I know the answer but... [Re: Seuss]
#7883382 - 01/15/08 01:03 PM (16 years, 17 days ago) |
|
|
|
Sell Your Soul
Nutmeg shaman



Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 40,819
Loc: Over there
|
Re: Additional RAM Help [Re: AaronEvil]
#7883392 - 01/15/08 01:06 PM (16 years, 17 days ago) |
|
|
You have to set the timings to that of the slower memory, otherwise the slower memory won't be able to keep up and you'll have memory errors a plenty. Do not mix different memory types within the same channel.
|
|