sticks of ram in dual channel

Can you just have 3 sticks of ram in a 4 dimm dual channel motherboard or do they all have to be filled up?

You can't have dual channel with 3 sticks.

It's best to have 2 sticks of memory, 4 sticks offers less o/cing ability.

I don't care for the dual channel because my ram is not paired. What I'm asking is if I use 3 sticks will all my ram be working (single channel) or will my third stick be useless?

All 3 in single channel

It depends on what board you are running. On nf3 boards you can't run it at all with three sticks period.

Abit Is7E with dual channel.

peter p said:

I don't care for the dual channel because my ram is not paired.

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What do you mean? They don't have to be a matched DC-set - any DDR-memory can run DC. However if one stick is much slower, they shouldn't be coupled. And I don't know whether the sticks must be of equal size, but I guess they have to be for DC to work.

peter p said:

What I'm asking is if I use 3 sticks will all my ram be working (single channel) or will my third stick be useless?

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They will work (all modules would be addressed, ie. you'd benefit from the full amount). The only drawback is in terms of performance, as you'd force the system to run in single channel if using three sticks. On Springdale/Canterwood either two or four slots must be populated for DC.