Dual Channel Memory Modes

[KogiKaishakunin]

Greetings :)

I am a little confused about my current set-up. My chipset (865G) supports dual channel memory. However, I happened to glance at my BIOS settings and saw this:

Memory Mode: Single Channel
Channel A 0: 512 333mhz
Channel A 1: none
Channel B 0: 512 333mhz
Channel B 1: none

Shouldnt I be in Dual Channel Mode? Both RAM sticks are exactly the same and from the same company. It also will not let me highlight the Memory Mode and change it manually. Do I have things configured correctly? If not, where do I make changes?

Help Plz!

[gwallen4]

Your motherboard manual should have instructions for setting up dual channel memory.

If you tell us what motherboard you have, we might be able to help.

[Rick]

To use DDR you normally have to install and pair the memory up.
The slots used should be listed in your manuals

In Some configurations you pair them by placing the memory in slot 1+3 2+4
In Others they are paired 1+2 3+4
You will have to check your mother board / system manual for the exact setup you have

[KogiKaishakunin]

I have an Intel (Midway) Pentium 4 Motherboard No CPU R0

It looks like the memory slots are in 2 banks of 2 (4 total slots).

[saphalline]

No, only 2 slots are filled, as per your BIOS readings. Each slot supports up to 2 banks (chips on each side of the stick) so you have two double-sided sticks of PC2700 / DDR333. You didn't say how much RAM, but if both sticks are the same, it shouldn't matter.

What does matter is what your BIOS says. Channel A 0 and Channel B 0 have RAM. You should have your RAM sticks in Channel A 0 and Channel A 1. Most of the i865/75 mobo's have the RAM slots color-coded. Just move your RAM sticks so that they are both in slots of the same color.

[KogiKaishakunin]

Sorry all, Let me clarify my hardware:

P4 2.4 Ghz HyperThreading w/ 800 Mhz FSB
Intel® Desktop Board D865GBF (not whatever I said above)
1024 Mb PC2700 DDR RAM (2 sticks of 512)


Saph, I tried moving both ram sticks into channel A, so that they were in A 0 and A 1, but my BIOS still says I am in single channel mode.

I noticed when I was moving the sticks that only 1(!) of them had chips on both sides of the stick. The other had chips on 1 side only.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[saphalline]

I noticed when I was moving the sticks that only 1(!) of them had chips on both sides of the stick. The other had chips on 1 side only.Uh oh! :eek: I don't think you can get those in dual-channel mode. Intel's memory controller isn't as resilient as NVidia's because it operates in full 128-bit wide mode (as opposed to NVidia's switching 64-bit wide mode).

If your RAM sticks don't have the same number of banks, chip density, and capacity, dual-channel is a no-go. Any way you can trade in one or both of those sticks to get an identical pair?