Athlon64 S939, Asus OEM mobo = dualchannel not working?

[Keullo-e]

First I have to say that my English is not very good, but I hope you get what I'm saying

Well, I have an Asus A8NE-FM (Fujitsu OEM), Athlon 64 3500+ and 2.5GB of DDR (1GB 400MHz, 2x512MB 400MHz and 512MB 333MHz) on that mb. POST says that it's on single channel, and I thought it should be on dual channel, since the 4 memory slots are populated? Because it's an OEM mobo, the bios has very little adjustments and not even a word about the memory channel etc.. What should I do, keep them as they are, or try 2x512 400MHz + 2x512 333MHz (I have one 333MHz leftover)? Too bad too that the mobo doesn't have memory dividers in bios, since I overclock it with nTune and the memory clock also rises..

edit: It's my 2nd computer (girlfriend's Sims3 game-pc )

 

[Norton]

Identical sticks of ram (size) need to be used in pairs to run dual channel. The plan you suggested should put your ram in dual channel mode

 

[Keullo-e]

Hmm, feels kinda weird, since I've used few times before different sticks and they've worked in DC without problems. With my #1 rig, I had 2x2GB ddr3-1600 + 2x4GB ddr3-1333 modules and no problem with DC. In fact this has 2 different kits (2x4GB G.Skill Sniper 1333 + 2x4GB Kingston HyperX 1600) right now and I've got no problems

but Venice core is known to not like 4 RAM sticks (specially if they are different)

well, I've gotta try first the 4x512 combination if it works, too bad that the 1GB stick would then left unused.. Can't try now because that PC is in bedroom and my girlfriend is sleeping

 

[Norton]

Hmm, feels kinda weird, since I've used few times before different sticks and they've worked in DC without problems. With my #1 rig, I had 2x2GB ddr3-1600 + 2x4GB ddr3-1333 modules and no problem with DC. In fact this has 2 different kits (2x4GB G.Skill Sniper 1333 + 2x4GB Kingston HyperX 1600) right now and I've got no problems

but Venice core is known to not like 4 RAM sticks (specially if they are different)

well, I've gotta try first the 4x512 combination if it works, too bad that the 1GB stick would then left unused.. Can't try now because that PC is in bedroom and my girlfriend is sleeping

That works as you said- you just can't mix different sizes on the same channel (i.e. 2x512MB + 2x1GB should run in dual channel w/o too much trouble)

 

[Keullo-e]

Ah, alright. Well, I'll try the 4x512MB then, I think that 2GB in dual channel would be a lot better than 2.5GB in single

 

[FreedomEclipse]

you can run different sizes of ram when it comes to dual channel, but you need to match them up.

For example 512MB modules can go in Channel A and 1GB modules can go in Channel B - thats the only way its going to work.

the ram doesnt have to match 100% - they can be from a different manufacturer but so long as the spec is the same and their in the corresponding channels set up correctly then there shouldnt be an issue at all.

I ran my system more the same way back in 2001-2006. never had any problems with it at all till i upgraded

 

[terrastrife]

Ah, alright. Well, I'll try the 4x512MB then, I think that 2GB in dual channel would be a lot better than 2.5GB in single

If you need to use more than 2GB of ram, even 2.5GB of 333 single channel will be faster than 2GB of 800 dual channel.

no matter how slow ram is, it's still faster than hitting the hdd.

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

you have to take out one of the 512mb modules and stick the 2 512's in one bank and the 1gb module in the other bank. Or just use just the 4 512mb modules. Also set the memory speed in the bios to whatever the slowest memory stick is spec'd at. I have my A8n rig setup with 3gb of memory in dual channel by having a 1gb and 512mb stick in each bank.

 

[Krazy Owl]

Thats what i run on my setup 2X 512megs and 2X1 gigs running dual channel.

 

[Keullo-e]

It has now 4x512MB and works perfectly in dual channel

but thanks for the tips, I think I'll still keep that 1GB stick in somewhere safe for a case of emergency

 

[Krazy Owl]

Some board dont do dual channel whern the memory speed is not the same ... 333 mixed with a 400 as exemple. Also the timing is not auto adjusted by some board so you got to take a look on that.

 

[Keullo-e]

Some board dont do dual channel whern the memory speed is not the same ... 333 mixed with a 400 as exemple. Also the timing is not auto adjusted by some board so you got to take a look on that.

Runs @ 333MHz, but it doens't matter because I oc the CPU with nTune and the memory overclocks also. Bios doesn't have even adjustments to the memory clockspeed.