A7N8X Deluxe Memory Question

[mushpencil.20.potkettle]

Bit of a newbie question for you

I have a A7N8X 2.0 Deluxe fitted with a 2 x 256mb DDR PC3200 Dual
Channel Kit which is working fine.

I want to add another 512mb of memory. Can I do this and have the
whole 1GB work in Dual Channel mode? What would I need to look out
for when buying the 512mb chip?

I'm unsure because I had to experiment with the slots for the memory
to get Dual Channel working. Is the spare slot not capable of Dual
Channel? Can it only work on pairs of chips?

Thanks in advance...

 

[pzafian]

The manual that comes along with the board says that filling slots 1&3
or 2&3 (pairs of chips) or 1,2,&3 is necessary for the enhanced
dual-channel feature to work, along with setting up the BIOS correctly.
Now I just assume that they all had to be the same size and speed chip
for everything to work correctly. Is that right everybody?

Thanks,
Pete

 

[algae]

I think you are right. It stands to reason that if there are only two sticks
and they have to be the same then the third would also??
G.

 

[D R Tester]

Yes, you can get it working in dual channel. Your 2*256Mb sticks in 1 & 3 -
the 512MB stick in slot 2. remember though that ideally memory should be of
the same manufacturer/specification, I.e. same timings/latencies specified
by SPD, CAS, tRAS etc....

HTH
Dom

 

[Tom Braider]

Yes, you can get it working in dual channel. Your 2*256Mb sticks in 1 & 3 -
the 512MB stick in slot 2. remember though that ideally memory should be of
the same manufacturer/specification, I.e. same timings/latencies specified
by SPD, CAS, tRAS etc....

HTH
Dom

Slots 1&2 are one channel, slot 3 the other. I would put the 256's in
slot1&2 and the 512 in 3, which would result in a balanced
512Mb/channel, FWIW.

~TB

 

[me]

Slots 1&2 are one channel, slot 3 the other. I would put the 256's in
slot1&2 and the 512 in 3, which would result in a balanced
512Mb/channel, FWIW.

~TB

<snip>

Do I understand you correctly that if only one stick of memory is used
that it should go into slot 3? The manual doesn't say how the slots
should be populated.

 

[Nanga Parbat]

Do I understand you correctly that if only one stick of memory is used
that it should go into slot 3? The manual doesn't say how the slots
should be populated.

With one stick it doesn't matter what slot you choose.

Nanga

 

[Tom Braider]

<snip>

Do I understand you correctly that if only one stick of memory is used
that it should go into slot 3? The manual doesn't say how the slots
should be populated.

I don't see how you inferred that from my post, as I was suggesting the
best arrangement of 2 sticks of 256 and 1 stick of 512. Nanga is quite
correct about 1 stick - put it in any slot you like.

As for the manual - did you read section 2.5.2?

~TB