2x512 and 1x1GB ddr

[m1ldslide1]

So I had assumed that a friend of mine could get to two gigs by purchasing a new 1xGB stick to go with his 2x512MB, but apparently he isn't able to get it to work.

He has a Gigabyte nForce4 mobo (ga-k8n-sli or something), an a64 3000+, and is running all valueRAM. I suggested he put the gig stick into dimm channel 0 and the 2x512 in channel 1. Shouldn't three sticks work just fine like this?

 

[m1ldslide1]

Bump.

Hoping somebody can say "yes, I've used three memory sticks totalling 2GB in an nForce4 dual-channel board before". Or even "here's the trick I needed to make it work".

Anyone?

 

[Lonyo]

Did you reset the BIOS?

 

[rtree]

IIRC, you cannot use 3 sticks of RAM with nForce4. I looked into this once because I also wanted to go 2x512 (which I had) + 1GB on a nForce4 mobo. Only 1, 2, or 4 DIMM's are supported (matching size of course when dual channel). I think it should be written somewhere in the motherboard manual.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: rtree
IIRC, you cannot use 3 sticks of RAM with nForce4. I looked into this once because I also wanted to go 2x512 (which I had) + 1GB on a nForce4 mobo. Only 1, 2, or 4 DIMM's are supported (matching size of course when dual channel). I think it should be written somewhere in the motherboard manual.

That seems to be the symptoms... I'm gonna feel bad for making a poor recommendation. I'll have him double-check his mobo manual to be sure, but that sounds about right.

Thanks!!

 

[Bob Anderson]

Originally posted by: rtree
IIRC, you cannot use 3 sticks of RAM with nForce4. I looked into this once because I also wanted to go 2x512 (which I had) + 1GB on a nForce4 mobo. Only 1, 2, or 4 DIMM's are supported (matching size of course when dual channel). I think it should be written somewhere in the motherboard manual.

Yep, that's true with my Chaintech VFN4 (nForce 4) motherboard. It says so explicitly in the mb manual.


-Bob

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: Bob Anderson

Originally posted by: rtree
IIRC, you cannot use 3 sticks of RAM with nForce4. I looked into this once because I also wanted to go 2x512 (which I had) + 1GB on a nForce4 mobo. Only 1, 2, or 4 DIMM's are supported (matching size of course when dual channel). I think it should be written somewhere in the motherboard manual.

Yep, that's true with my Chaintech VFN4 (nForce 4) motherboard. It says so explicitly in the mb manual.


-Bob

So I'm thinking more about this, and something is nagging in my brain saying that if I have him use 4 dimms, he'll only be able to run command rate at 2T. Does that sound familiar?

Looks like I might have him sell his 2x512 and get another 1GB if this is the case.

 

[Bob Anderson]

Originally posted by: m1ldslide1

Originally posted by: Bob Anderson

Originally posted by: rtree
IIRC, you cannot use 3 sticks of RAM with nForce4. I looked into this once because I also wanted to go 2x512 (which I had) + 1GB on a nForce4 mobo. Only 1, 2, or 4 DIMM's are supported (matching size of course when dual channel). I think it should be written somewhere in the motherboard manual.

Yep, that's true with my Chaintech VFN4 (nForce 4) motherboard. It says so explicitly in the mb manual.


-Bob

So I'm thinking more about this, and something is nagging in my brain saying that if I have him use 4 dimms, he'll only be able to run command rate at 2T. Does that sound familiar?

Looks like I might have him sell his 2x512 and get another 1GB if this is the case.

Yep, 2T. It hardly makes any difference, though. If your friend has a good reason for going to 2 gig, then that is far more important than going from 1T to 2T.

When I built this rig with 2x512, it ran at 1T.

When I installed later nvidea drivers, it went to 2T, even though the ram remained the same. I can't notice any difference, but I'm not overclocking anything.

-Bob

 

[m1ldslide1]

Alright, thanks for the input everyone.