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Odds of a new stick of ram running dual channel with an identical 18 month old stick?

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palesicklydwarf

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2005
Odds of a new stick of ram running dual channel with an identical 18 month old stick?

Beware! Silly question below! :D

I am looking to go dual channel on a new upgrade(A64 3700 939, MoBo, Ram & Video :burn: ) to an existing system(XP1800, KM266 MoBo :eek: ), and have on hand a 512MB stick of Patriot PC3200 in the old PC that is about a year and a half old, and was wondering what the odds of that stick running successfully with a new stick of the same size, brand, and model number(luckily Patriot still has the same model in stock) of memory? :confused:

Basically what I am asking is, should running in single channel for so long hurt a stick of ram's ability to work in dual channel mode? :shrug:

Any input would be greatly appreciated! :thup:
 
A prolonged use of single channel wont effect a memorys ability to run in a dual channel environment. If those sticks are identical you shouldnt have a problem running them in DC mode.
 
to run dual channel you do not need to have identical ram, only size matters...insert joke... the speed doesnt really matter as you can over or underclock the ram to make it work accordingly. similar ram (ie kits, and matched pairs) are apparently better because they are more compatible with each other and should run a little bit smoother (i was told, havent noticed any difference however). ive run dual channel with some micron 512mb and a stick of A-Data 512mb and it was flawless

dont worry, any new stick of ram that has the same capacity will work in dual channel, its just whether you want it to run the same speed or not and timings of course
 
Thanks for the sharing your experiences, it has helped me make up my mind. I am used to just buying new parts, and rarely ever get to re-use ram, as most of the time the systems I upgrade use PC2100., etc. or PC100/PC133.:thup:
 
I had an almost identical situation very recently to what you are asking. I had two memory modules, purchased 9 months apart, with identical model numbers (and thus size/clock), but different revision numbers. They would not run in dual channel. I did eventually find a solution to fix the problem. Here is a link to my thread with a detailed description of the problem, the various things I tried, and the thing I tried that eventually worked to solve the problem.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=469299
 
Sorin said:
identical model numbers (and thus size/clock), but different revision numbers.
When manufacturers change ICs, they change Rev Nos.
 
Will post results of whether it worked or not when I get all of the parts in and have time to work on the system(probably a couple of weeks from now).

Upgraded components:

Athlon64 4000+ San Diego 939(decided to go for the next step up) CPU
Patriot Signature 1GB (2 x 512MB sticks-one old, one new) PC3200 Ram
XFX Geforce 6600 256MB PCI-Express Passively Cooled Video Card
EPoX EP-9NPA3ULTRA NF4 Ultra 939 Motherboard

Thanks again everyone! :thup:
 
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Well the system has so far passed 4 hours of memtest with no errors(I always go at least 8) in dual channel mode @ 2.5-4-4-8, 2.6V, and stock speed.

The new stick of Patriot is ROHS compliant with CL 2.5, while the old stick with the same model number, is only rated at CL 3. Both sticks have Patriot branded chips on Brain Power PCB's though. It is a little early(to me) to say definitively, but it looks like the CL 3 stick is going to work just fine at CL 2.5.

So it looks like I was indeed worrying over nothing.

So, thanks again to everyone for your help, advice, and insight. :thup:
 
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