Memory Help

[carrot]

Hi,
I want to buy some more RAM for my computer. I curently have 1GB in there and am looking for probably another Gig. my mobo is an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe (Off-topic:is that a good mobo?) on the box, it says that it takes Dual-Channel DDR400 (PC3200), which i think is a good thing. I dont know if it is actully setup as Dual-Channel, at least i dont remember setting it up. Do I need to "turn on" Dual-Channal? Do i need Dual-Channel RAM? Also, i would like to find out how my memory is hooked up (like if it is Dual-Channel or not...), and what speed it is (IE DDR333? or DDR400.
is that possible?
TIA

[odannyboy000]

your ram is 99% likely to be dual channel. you do not have to turn it on, it is locked. also, you will want to buy more ram that is pc3200. just go to newegg. com. make sure it is dual-channel, which almost all pc3200 is. also, check to see how many slots your mobo can take, i think 4. since u have a gig already i am going to assume that it is 2x512, so just buy 2x512 more with the same cas latency.

[carrot]

thank you!
P.S. what is cas latencey

[jlreich]

You have three memory slots in that mobo. To use dual channel you have to have two like sticks in most likely in the first two slots. Sorry I can't more specific, Asus's site is messed up right now so I can't get the manual. Here is the page for your mobo. http://uk.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A7N8X-E%20Deluxe&langs=11#

If you already have two sticks and want another GB you will need to get a 1GB stick. And as far as I know dual channel will be automatically enabled when two compatible sticks are put in.

BTW there is no such thing as "dual channel ram modules". Dual channel comes from the mobo's chipset. All ram is dual channel capable. You just need two sticks that are alike and in the proper slots.

You will see ram sold as "dual channel kits", but that's just insure the two sticks are exactly the same.

[carrot]

alright. THANK YOU!!!

[saphalline]

Yes, that's the "primo mobo" of its era. IMO, the best Socket A mobo ever made. It uses the NForce2 Ultra 400 chipset, if you have rev 2.0. The NForce2 memory controller is not capable of true 128-bit wide dual-channel mode, but rather it's capable of 64-bit oscillating dual-channel mode. This means you can put almost any combo of 3 sticks of DDR RAM in there and the memory controller will turn as much of it as possible into dual-channel mode. 2 x 512 plus another 1 gig stick would be perfectly fine.

I'd say the best configuration would be to put the two 512 sticks into the slots of the same color, and put the 1 gig stick into the other slot.

[carrot]

okie dokie then.
Thanx alot everyone!!