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can dual channel ddr be used at the same time with single channel ddr???

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  knightfallz 
#1 ·
hello everyone this is my first post. any help would greatly be appreciated.

Well my question is can dual channel and single channel be used at the same time? My abit board supports single and dual channels. Right now I have one single channel stick of ddr memory. i'm thinking of adding memory, and i wondered if I get a dual channel set, can i still use the existing single memory stick? let me know thanks.
 
#3 ·
Most of the time the dual channel function will work with memory that is not sold as part of a "dual channel kit"

What I would do would be to buy another single memory chip of the same type you have now ie the same brand, speed, and latency. Install your memory in the correct slots as per your manual. The dual channel function will most likely work. You can see this in the post when the amount of memory is displayed.

In just about all of the instances I have seen, the dual channel function worked fine. In fact the system I am typing this on is running dual channel with memory that was not sold as a "kit"
 
#4 ·
Knightfallz,

The "dual channel memory kit" provides you with two electronically matched memory sticks that, when placed in the dual channel memory slots work together to give you better memory performance than two simply compatible sticks. How this is accomplished is another discussion.

If you add a third stick into the mix, say so you now have 3-512mb sticks installed, you will have the total 1.5 GB of memory ALL running in Non-Dual Channel Mode.
 
#6 ·
The real trick is determining whether there will be more benefit from faster operating memory of amount Xmb, or slower operating memory of amount X++mb.

Some reasonable analysis need be done...and at this point it has not even been mentioned how large the memory sticks are that are in question...or what the current memory utilization level is...so we are only having a philosophical discussion. :p
 
#7 ·
hey thanks for the feedback you guys! well my stick of memory is:

OCZ EL platinum
ddr pc3200 Capacity 512MB
Speed DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Cas Latency 2 Timing 2-3-2-5
Voltage 2.6V ECC No Registered/Unbuffered Unbuffered

So you guys are saying if i get a new paired stick of the same memory (2x256), this third stick will throw the dual channel off and all three sticks will run at single channel?
 
#10 ·
not only does your memory sticks have to be of the same capacity, eg 512 mb, but also of the same frequency-333, 400 mhz, etc. In a nutshell, it must be of the same specs. Also, I'm not sure if all motherboards can support 3 modules. If you really want more memory, you cn opt for 4 modules of the same specs. Cheers
 
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