DDR 2, DDR 3, 64 bit and 2 gig sticks -help

[madmanjohn]

Hey guys i need a quick answer to this so i can finish someone elses project that got dropped into my lap.

a year or so back when i built my rig, 1066 ddr2 memory was expensive and the hottest thing going. At the time i was told "if you are going to run 2gb sticks then you have to run 64bit software" and that 32 bit would cause damage and overheat the ram.

today a friend got into some trouble with his build and brought it here.

its an ASUS M4A785T-M with an Athlon II 620 x4, I found where he made most of his mistakes and corrected that and did a bios update looking for a core or L3 unlock and that went nowhere on this chipset. :shadedshu

My question: he only has 2 sticks of Supertalent ddr3 1333 ram at 2 gig each. My logic says he should still be running 64bit windows and not 32 bit. Does this rule still apply to ddr3 ram?

I need an answer quick guys-- i want this thing outa my house tonight-- youd have to know the induvidual-

 

[sneekypeet]

The PC will run as normal.

The issue is the way a 32 bit OS adresses the ram, it cant use all 4 GB. It will do no damage or overheat anything to run it on a 32bit OS.

 

[ComradeSader]

The issue is the way a 32 bit OS adresses the ram, it cant use all 4 GB.

This.

 

[madmanjohn]

thanks guys.

I cant remember where i read it at but maybe things have changed since then. It was explained as the fact the ram would only be able to respond to one half of the timing cycle and therefore would damage the ram because of the way it was constructed but maybe that was just for the corsair dominator ram---and overclocking. either way it said i had to run 64 bit to use 2 gig sticks in any configuration.

This is my first chance working with ddr 3 so i wanted to doublecheck-- either way Im installing 64 bit. he still has room for 2 more sticks-

I was hoping that it would explain the poor performance of the 32 bit win 7 thats already on it.

thanks for the speedy response and have a great night. Cheers

 

[Dent1]

I cant remember where i read it at but maybe things have changed since then.

Nothing has changed since then, what you read was complete rubbish, I wouldnt visit that site or read that book again if they makes false claims like that.

either way it said i had to run 64 bit to use 2 gig sticks in any configuration.

That is false, you can use as may sticks as your motherboard can support but only approxmiately 3.2GB of the total capacity will be addressed on a 32 bit OS. This is the case whether you run SDRAM, DDR1, DDR2 or DDR3 or any ram type in general.

This is my first chance working with ddr 3 so i wanted to doublecheck-- either way Im installing 64 bit. he still has room for 2 more sticks-

I was hoping that it would explain the poor performance of the 32 bit win 7 thats already on it.

thanks for the speedy response and have a great night. Cheers

Your poor 32bit windows 7 performance is most likely unrelated to the ram.

 

[madmanjohn]

update

Nothing has changed since then, what you read was complete rubbish, I wouldnt visit that site or read that book again if they makes false claims like that.


This information I quoted from came WITH the 1066mhz 2gb sticks of corsair dominator ram i purchased 3 years ago that I am running on now. Keep in mind these are matched pairs of 2 gb sticks, and totals out to 8gb. A few weeks after that purchase, I bought a 2gb stick for a hp rig that only had one ram slot and at that time it had stated the same thing, but that was a single 2gb stick of OCZ nvidia optimized ram at 800mhz.

I do usually trust liturature sent by the manufacturer with the product especially when it states that "All warranty's are null and void if run with a 32 bit operating system". Keep in mind that the 1066 corsair dominator ram was brand spanking new on the market at that time, in fact, these 4 sticks are from the first batch of 10 sticks that the tiger direct warehouse in naperville il ever sold.

I wish i had a scanner to show you, also If you look into ram on both the tiger direct and newegg sites there are several instances where it states the same thing with certain brands and combinations of ddr2 ram in a 2gb stick configuration.

Lee Saecho at MA labs, the makers of Supertalent ram contacted me yesterday afternoon to return my call and stated that yes this was an issue with early 2gb sticks but is no longer a problem with todays ram.

Either way, this computer has never seen 32 bit software in its life.

The poor performance of the ddr3 rig i was questioning was directly related to drivers ( actually lack of proper drivers ) and bios configuration.

But it is the first ddr3 ram i have ever worked with in a tower and i just did not want any suprises

- better to check first than to smoke later...

Cheers-mjs

 

[Dent1]

^ My feeling is that they were trying to wiggle out of provinding a warranty, they know that the vast majority of users run a 32-bit operating system so its easier to support he few users on a 64-bit OS. But there is no technological reason why it wouldnt work as explained above.