What memory brand should I use?

[Rusty]

I realize that the A7N8X v1.4 MB is a little touchy about memory. I
currently have a original Samsung 256 MB of DDR 400 (listed by ASUS as
recommended) in the first slot and I would like to use the dual channel
feature by adding an additional 256 Mhz of DDR 400. The current stick of
Samsung will not reach 400 Mhz but I believe it's due to the 2000+ AMD paly
in the system. The current max FSB is 182 Mhz at ~1.9 Ghz on an unlocked
AMD 2000+ paly in synch with the memory therefore there is no need to reach
400 Mhz on the DDR with this processor, as it will go no higher. What
type/brand of memory will work in this board for dual channel in conjunction
with the current Samsung stick?

 

[Mark G.]

I would go out and buy a set. In other words a 1 gig set of 2 X 512mb
sticks. They are the ones that make the dual channel ram work. Sell your old
one on eBay if need be. If you just buy another stick of different ram, you
want get the added advantage of dual rate. As far as brands, Kingston,
Corsair, Patriot are good brands to name a few. Don't know how favorable you
are to branding. Personally I got the 1 gig set of Patriot 2 X 512 and my
system rocks. And Patriot isn't as expensive as the others I mentioned and
they have been around for a while. Anyhow, good luck in your search and
remember, when placing 2 sticks of matched ram to use for dual rate, put
them in the "blue" ram slots. Hope that helps.

 

[Kylesb]

If he goes out and buys just 1 decent stick of 256 meg pc3200, and
sets up his ram timings properly, then he can get dual channel
working. Cost: about $40-50. Your suggested solution costs in the
range of $200. I think the decision is obvious.

Kingston is considered less than top quality, imho, especially the
"valueram" branded sticks. Crucial is good quality, very reliable and
guaranteed for life. Why do I prefer Crucial? The answer is simple,
they make the dram chips as well as the dimm boards. I have a stick
of pc2100 Crucial that runs w/o problem at 166 MHz, and fast timings.
Maybe I simply got a "good lot" board, but I don't think so. A few
years ago, my FIC 503+ had all kinds of problems with memory
compatibility, and one of the few brands that worked with the 503+'s
aggressive memory timing setup was Crucial. Corsair is good also.

--
Best regards,
Kyle
| I would go out and buy a set. In other words a 1 gig set of 2 X
512mb
| sticks. They are the ones that make the dual channel ram work. Sell
your old
| one on eBay if need be. If you just buy another stick of different
ram, you
| want get the added advantage of dual rate. As far as brands,
Kingston,
| Corsair, Patriot are good brands to name a few. Don't know how
favorable you
| are to branding. Personally I got the 1 gig set of Patriot 2 X 512
and my
| system rocks. And Patriot isn't as expensive as the others I
mentioned and
| they have been around for a while. Anyhow, good luck in your search
and
| remember, when placing 2 sticks of matched ram to use for dual rate,
put
| them in the "blue" ram slots. Hope that helps.
| | > I realize that the A7N8X v1.4 MB is a little touchy about memory.
I
| > currently have a original Samsung 256 MB of DDR 400 (listed by
ASUS as
| > recommended) in the first slot and I would like to use the dual
channel
| > feature by adding an additional 256 Mhz of DDR 400. The current
stick of
| > Samsung will not reach 400 Mhz but I believe it's due to the 2000+
AMD
| paly
| > in the system. The current max FSB is 182 Mhz at ~1.9 Ghz on an
unlocked
| > AMD 2000+ paly in synch with the memory therefore there is no need
to
| reach
| > 400 Mhz on the DDR with this processor, as it will go no higher.
What
| > type/brand of memory will work in this board for dual channel in
| conjunction
| > with the current Samsung stick?
| >
| >
|
|

 

[Nero]

I use a pair(not matched)of 512Mb from Crucial.
Never had any problems with them and my board(A7N8X Dlx)
Run them in dual mode but there is not that much difference between single
or dual mode if you do not have onboard graphics chip.
Before that I ran 256&512 as dual and still no problems.
I chose not to take notice of people saying this brand works, that one
don't, this one crashes......
the other thing is I don't try to be clever and do things that will cause
problems.

 

[Nero]

Just remember to have dual channel mode it's slot 1 and 3, or 2 and 3 and
not 1 and 2.

 

[Joel McGregor]

Whatever you do - don't buy Corsair. Their warranty support is the worst.
You have to post to their forum, wait a day for an answer, do that a couple
of times, when they agree to replace the RAM you then fill out an RMA
request and wait another day for the RMA #. Then you send the RAM to them
and wait for them to get around to sending out new RAM. I've had to deal
with them more than once and it usually takes about a month to get
replacement memory. Crucial has great support but very conservative
timings. Crucial will 2-day advance replace the RAM. They also have good
phone support and an excellent compatability database. They can tell you
how many sticks they have sold for your specific machine and how many have
been returned. OCZ is fast and has excellent support - you can actually
call and talk to someone and they will overnight the RAM to you on an
advanced replacement at no charge.

 

[Ben Pope]

I would go out and buy a set.
Why?

In other words a 1 gig set of 2 X 512mb
sticks. They are the ones that make the dual channel ram work.

As will any other 2 sticks of RAM run within their spec on a dual channel
board in the right slots.

Sell your
old one on eBay if need be. If you just buy another stick of different
ram, you want get the added advantage of dual rate.

If by "want" you mean "won't" you are mistaken.

<snip>
your search and remember, when placing 2 sticks of matched ram to use for
dual rate, put them in the "blue" ram slots. Hope that helps.

The colour of the slots does not necessarily signify anything. I've
installed two of these boards, one of them had no blue sockets.

The slot closest to the CPU is slot1, then slot 2 with slot 3 furthest away.
Slot 3 has it's own channel, slots 1 and 2 are the same channel. Best bet
for just about any nForce board is to leave the middle slot empty, as far as
I know.

Ben