"Is there any order to installing memory?"

[Nooyawkah]

Here goes the inquiring mind again....


I have 2 questions:
1. Let's say there ar 2x256 sticks of DDR RAM in a computer. Now I am given a stick of 512, exact same memory. Is there any order in the installation? Like, would you have to put the 512 in slot 1 and the others in 2&3, or does it not matter?
2. If you had just the 2 original sticks, the 2x256, does it make any difference if you start from slot 1? Could you put them in 2&3, 2&4, etc.
2A. Or if you had just a single stick, does it have to be in slot 1 or could it be in any slot?

[Vic 970]

just to satisfy your curiosity:

when I bought my pc it had 64 mb so I had another 128 fitted at the shop. They took out the original from slot 1 & replaced it with the 128 mb then put the 64 mb in slot 2

there reason for doing so was "it gives the pc the big unit to work with, saving it from jumping between the 2, and when it needs more it spills over to the smaller unit."

I have since bought another 256 mb which I installed myself, & read the m/b manual before doing so, according to the manual..,

"memory of any size can be installed in any of the available slots, in any order."

That's just my experience, other m/b's may be different, & I know that some users like to have their 'best' memory first.

[Budfred]

I have never heard or read anything that would suggest that the order matters at all. I tend to put the biggest in the slot 1 and then next size in 2 and so on, but that is completely without justification. I suspect that the tech that told Vic that slot 1 is accessed first had no idea and followed the same kind of intuitive logic rather than technical knowledge. I would be delighted to hear if there is actually a preferred order though, any experts out there who have any info on it???

As it says here, it does matter with SIMMs:

http://www.pcguide.com/proc/physinst/ram-c.html

Budfred

[Steve]

The manual for my Intel motherboard suggests the highest capacity stick first, smaller ones later. The manual for my SOYO motherboard is the reverse. While playing around I've found that the SOYO really doesn't care what the setup is. It works fine with any configuration I've tried. My Intel board is REALLY picky about not only the order but which brand of RAM I use.

So far I'd say... it depends. :)

[Rick]

The only time I know of when the order of installed memory matters
is when you install memory of different speeds .

For example pc100 and pc133 in a system that sets the bios by memory speed.
Placing the pc100 in slot 1 will allow the system to adjust the bios to 100 and avoid memory errors

if you installed the pc133 in slot 1 it would allow the bios to adjust the memory speed to 133 and cause errors when accessing the pc100 memory in slot2 at that speed.

Otherwise unless the M/B manual specifically requires the memory to be installed in size order
it shouldn’t make any difference

[Vic 970]

Hi rick,

I'm not sure that I agree with you on that, I thought that the system sought the speed of the lowest chip & set accordingly (but I could be wrong)

There are all sorts of combinations that you could have, without being in a logical preference eg:

256mb PC 100 8ns (lower brand) (by size)
128mb PC 133 8ns (top brand)
64mb PC 100 7ns (lower brand)

another order would be..,

64mb PC 100 7ns (lower brand) (by access speed)
128mb PC 133 8ns (top brand)
256mb PC 100 8ns (lower brand)

or..,

128mb PC 133 8ns (top brand) (by brand)
64mb PC 100 7ns (lower brand)
256mb PC 100 8ns (lower brand)

probably best to keep to the same, but if you have a mixture, it's probably trial & error to see which works best.

& as steve mentions, some m/b's can be more 'picky' than others.

[no-mbr]

Good point Rick. I would suggest those that think it doesn't "make any difference" go ahead and follow the "manual".

Just because it "posts and boots" correctly doesn't mean all is well...

[Rick]

VIC


Place 512meg in slot one
SDRAM, PC133 • CL=2 • Unbuffered • Non-parity • 7.5ns • 3.3V • 64Meg x 64

Place 512meg in slot two
SDRAM, PC133 • CL=3 • Unbuffered • Non-parity • 7.5ns • 3.3V • 64Meg x 64

With the bios memory set to “ memory speed” (Reads off the dimm)
If the system doesn’t read the second slot cl=3 and sets the memory to cl2
You will have Major head aches at some point

The same for mixing 7 and 8ns ram. and or pc100/pc133
Over clocking 8ns ram to as little as 7ns will cause problems
running pc100 at pc133 is Overclocked by 30% :( bad idea

[BigBlue66]

Unless you're talking about an NForce2 board, the motherboards of today generally do not have limitations on which goes where.