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Dual Channel from 2 singles?

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KVWire

Member
Joined
May 20, 2002
Location
Seattle
I bought two 512mb PC3200 Mushkin Basic RAM from Newegg. When I put then in the dual channel slots CPU-Z says:
Channels # Dual.

So is my non dual channel RAM running as duals?

Great, cheap RAM. It's also running at 230 fsb.

Thanks.
KV
 
KVWire said:
So is my non dual channel RAM running as duals?

There is nothing special about "Dual-channel" RAM, other than the fact that they are two closely-matched pairs. Any two sticks of RAM, from any manufacturer, with any chips can run together in dual channel, as long as they can both run at the same FSB/Timings/vdimm.

Nice speeds BTW!
 
Great, thanks Nero.

So, is running in Dual Channel mode really worth it? Seems like my MB temp went up 2 degrees.

KV
 
Last edited:
KVWire said:
Great, thanks Nero.

So, is running in Dual Channel mode really worth it? Seems like my MB temp went up 2 degrees.

KV

hmm thats wierd, dont really think running in dual channel should even affect the temperature very much at all, maybe its just a coincidence.

I think its worth it, may as well use it if you got it.
 
The additional bandwidth available by running dual channel cures the problems experienced previously by the P4s, namely "starvation" for data. The cpu would sit around waiting for data to reach it. Dual-channel operation is of much more significance to an Intel P4 rig than an nForce2, but even they benefit some.

Like the guys said, any matching (in specs) sticks will typically work in dual-channel mode, the only advantage of a dual-channel kit is that the vendor will guarantee that the two sticks are compatible and will work together.
 
I ran tests all night. Idle in dual mode the MB temp was 35c. As soon as I put it back in single mode it dropped down to 31. In dual mode I was easily hitting 38c mb temps. Not good. I'll run more tests tonight, but it seems to be a problem with this RAM. I might try the other two dual slots, see if it's a mobo defect.

KV
 
The dual channel feature works by accessing two sticks at once, hence using more of the silicon on your board probably. Unless mobo temps are hitting the 50s I dont see a problem.
 
Good info. Thanks guys. Just want to clerify one thing: mb temps of up to 50c are OK? Don't want to fry anything.

KV
 
I don't like it when my mobo gets over 35ºC, nevermind 50ºC. I would back off for now and get some better cooling. Those temps are awfull high.
 
What are my options for cooling and what works best? I could put a better 120 fan in the back.

Thanks.

KV
 
Head over to the "Cooling" section. There are tons of good reads on fan selections and the like.
 
KVWire said:
I ran tests all night. Idle in dual mode the MB temp was 35c. As soon as I put it back in single mode it dropped down to 31. In dual mode I was easily hitting 38c mb temps. Not good. I'll run more tests tonight, but it seems to be a problem with this RAM. I might try the other two dual slots, see if it's a mobo defect.

KV


why do you care so much about your MB temp? I would be concerned if my cpu temp went up 4 degrees but not my motherboard
 
I'm running 2x256 single and 1x512 double sided in dual channel, different chips too, so far 225x10.5 2.65vdimm 2.6vdd... 2.75 vdimm gets errors.
 
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