Wildbill said:
That part I understand, My question is, if I use 2 sticks of 512MB
PC3200 DDR400, will it run in dual channel mode??
In another post, I read that you can only use 1* 3200 the other stick
supposedly has to be 2700/2100. Is this correct? I think I still have
time to have it changed.
In the original reviews on the Nforce2 chipset on Anandtech.com,
virtually all the motherboards could take three sticks at DDR400
rates. So, that shouldn't be a problem. The A7N8X Deluxe has two
memory data busses, and the claim is, there are three separate
address busses, so the Nforce2 Northbridge is uniquely equipped
for driving memory - very few products have as many separate resources
for connecting memory to Northbridge. Having separate address busses
makes it easier for the chipset to drive memory at the full rate,
and that is why all slots can run PC3200 memory. (This isn't a new
concept - there were some single channel Intel products in days past,
that had two address busses, so the idea of buffering address loading
is not new.)
I don't keep track of the picky nature of motherboards, because
it is hard to justify the opinions technically. While it is possible
that a BIOS could set up timing conditions that didn't favor certain
brands of memory chips, I don't think I'd buy that. Differences in
memory stick fiberglass PCB or in the choice or position of the
resistors and capacitors could do it, for example, in cases where
a memory DIMM maker has strayed from the standards.
In terms of the benefits, on motherboards without built-in graphics,
you won't see much benefit, maybe a few percent, by using dual
channel mode. So, think of your purchase as having just increased
the total system memory to 1GB, which is quite desirable. It means
you'll be able to keep multiple big programs running at the same
time.
Motherboards like a A7N8X-VM, where the Northbridge has built-in
graphics that draw their memory requirements from the system memory,
benefit from the extra bandwidth of a dual channel configuration.
On the A7N8X Deluxe, the memory on the video card removes the need
to be constantly drawing from the system memory.
If you are concerned about brand of chips or brand of DIMM maker,
visit nforcershq.com forums and do a search.
At the bottom of this page, the WinAce 2.11 compression benchmark
sees a 5% improvement in performance, by using dual channel memory.
This seems to be the best case improvement, as other benchmarks
seem to benefit less from dual channel.
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20021111/nforce2-14.html
Between CAS2 and CAS3 memory, there is also a 5% difference, when
using a compression program. Other programs see less benefit than
this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040119/index-09.html
It is possible for a single channel only A7N8X motherboard to be as
fast as the dual channel A7N8X motherboard. I just include
this one, to make purchasers of the A7N8X-X feel better:
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20031107/nforce2-400-08.html
You can find more article to read from this list:
http://www17.tomshardware.com/search/search.html?category=all&words=a7n8x-x
HTH,
Paul
