Do all Nforce2 Ultra400 boards only support 2 Dimms with DDR400/PC3200 RAM?

[Nil Einne]

Was planning to get a Abit NF7-S motherboard for my new system when I
discovered it only supports (according to official specs) 2 stick if
you're running at DDR400. Since I only have 2x256mb=512mb PC3200 RAM
and may want to upgrade to 1024mb in the future, this is kind of
dissapointing. Does anyone know if there is anything particular about
the design of the board that limits it to 2 sticks? I've noticed that
most manufacturers don't seem to suggest this on their pages although
it's not stated for certain. If it is not a specific problem, do all
Nforce2 Ultra400 boards only support 2 sticks?

More importantly, is this only the official recommendation which
doesn't really show much effect (i.e. 3 sticks generally cause no
problem even though it's not officially supported).

Thanks for any help.

 

[jpsga]

The Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2 supports 3G of memory ( so the book says ). It
has 4 slots. Using Dual Channel Technology you can populate all four slots.
However, two of the slots *must* use single sided memory sticks. I don't
know if these exists at 256mb as I never looked for them.
JPS

 

[Nil Einne]

The Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2 supports 3G of memory ( so the book says ). It
has 4 slots. Using Dual Channel Technology you can populate all four slots.
However, two of the slots *must* use single sided memory sticks. I don't
know if these exists at 256mb as I never looked for them.

Does it specifically mention it support 3G at DDR400 or does it just
say it support 3G of RAM and DDR400? The Abit NF7-S mentions it
supports 3G but only at DDR333 or less. AT DDR400 it only supports 2G.

As for dual channel, I have read before that some boards with 3 slots
(ala the NF7-S) allow you to use full dual channel if you use a 512mb
in the single slot channel and 256mb each in the two slots channel.
Don't know if single sided memory is a requirement for this but mine
is anyway.

Having said that since the NF7-S doesn't support 3 stick with DDR400
this perhaps isn't that relevant.

 

[Nil Einne]

The Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2 supports 3G of memory ( so the book says ). It
has 4 slots. Using Dual Channel Technology you can populate all four slots.
However, two of the slots *must* use single sided memory sticks. I don't
know if these exists at 256mb as I never looked for them.

Does it specifically mention it support 3G at DDR400 or does it just
say it support 3G of RAM and DDR400? The Abit NF7-S mentions it
supports 3G but only at DDR333 or less. AT DDR400 it only supports 2G.

As for dual channel, I have read before that some boards with 3 slots
(ala the NF7-S) allow you to use full dual channel if you use a 512mb
in the single slot channel and 256mb each in the two slots channel.
Don't know if single sided memory is a requirement for this but mine
is anyway.

Having said that since the NF7-S doesn't support 3 stick with DDR400
this perhaps isn't that relevant.

 

[jpsga]

The manual does *not* indicate a speed limitation.
JPS

 

[ICee]

Was planning to get a Abit NF7-S motherboard for my new system when I
discovered it only supports (according to official specs) 2 stick if
you're running at DDR400. Since I only have 2x256mb=512mb PC3200 RAM
and may want to upgrade to 1024mb in the future, this is kind of
dissapointing. Does anyone know if there is anything particular about
the design of the board that limits it to 2 sticks? I've noticed that
most manufacturers don't seem to suggest this on their pages although
it's not stated for certain. If it is not a specific problem, do all
Nforce2 Ultra400 boards only support 2 sticks?

More importantly, is this only the official recommendation which
doesn't really show much effect (i.e. 3 sticks generally cause no
problem even though it's not officially supported).

Thanks for any help.

The NF7-S supports 3 sticks of memory. It's usually best to use two 256
MB modules and one 512 MB module, or two 512 MB modules, but you can use
any combination you wish. As long as there is a module in slot one or
two and slot three, dual channel is enabled, regardless of the amount of
memory on the modules.

 

[Nil Einne]

The NF7-S supports 3 sticks of memory. It's usually best to use two 256
MB modules and one 512 MB module, or two 512 MB modules, but you can use
any combination you wish. As long as there is a module in slot one or
two and slot three, dual channel is enabled, regardless of the amount of
memory on the modules.

According to the offical specs, the motherboard only supports 2 slots
at DDR400...

 

[ICee]

According to the offical specs, the motherboard only supports 2 slots
at DDR400...

Then I guess you'll have to tell all the people running 3 sticks of
memory at 200 MHz+ that the MB isn't spec'ed for it.

 

[Aussie]

Dont u believeing reading manuals?