I've got 2x512mb and 4 ram slots, what's the best way to increase my ram?
The reason I ask is because i'm not sure if putting two more identical 512's in there will give me some kind of performance hit because i'm using 4 sticks. Would it still be dual channel on an Asrock 939 dualsata2 or would I have to buy two 1g sticks to still be dual channel? I don't have the manual with me but i remember that two of the slots were one color and the other two were another color which would lead one to believe that you can still have dual channel with 4 sticks.
Is there any advantage to getting two fresh 1gb sticks and tossing the old ones?
Is there any advantage to getting two fresh 1gb sticks and tossing the old ones?
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Then later if you want more then 3gig's of ram replace the 2x512 with 2x1 giving your 4 gigs total, which is your max.
Not the end of the world.
Buy 2x1GB and run some un-buffered sandra benchmarks yourself. I'll be that you don't see more than a few % difference between configurations.
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2.3 Installation of Memory Modules (DIMM)
939Dual-SATA2 motherboard provides four 184-pin DDR (Double Data Rate)
DIMM slots, and supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. For dual channel
configuration, you always need to install identical (the same brand, speed,
size and chip-type) DDR DIMM pair in the slots of the same color. In other words,
you have to install identical DDR DIMM pair in Dual Channel A (DDR1 and
DDR2; Blue slots; see p.8 No.7) or identical DDR DIMM pair in Dual Channel B
(DDR3 and DDR4; Black slots; see p.8 No.8), so that Dual Channel Memory
Technology can be activated. This motherboard also allows you to install four
DDR DIMMs for dual channel configuration, and please install identical DDR
DIMMs in all four slots. You may refer to the Dual Channel Memory Configuration
Table below.
Dual Channel Memory Configurations
DDR1 DDR2 DDR3 DDR4
(Blue Slot) (Blue Slot) (Black Slot) (Black Slot)
(1) Populated Populated - -
(2) - - Populated Populated
(3)* Populated Populated Populated Populated
* For the configuration (3), please install identical DDR DIMMs in all four slots.
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Do you think i need to heed the part after the asterisk or should it not matter as long as the timings are similar?
Now here's the thing:
Because you have 512mb sticks, you're going to be losing some speed because the bank interleave will be sized differently between the 512mb ICs and the 1GB ICs on your new sticks. You should make up most of the deficit, if not exceed the deficit by sheer RAM capacity, however.
Lastly, 4 sticks might just plain not work. The A64 memory controller often hates four sticks.
The safest bet would be to sell off the 2x512MB modules and just pick up a 2GB kit (2x1GB). You'll benefit from 1T command timing as mentioned above and better overall system performance. The memory performance increase would likely outweigh the benefits of an extra 1GB of ram.