Does order of RAM sticks matter?

[tom34diy]

Tomorrow I plan to install a 1GB stick into my 2006 Dell Dimension E510 that runs XP, and I am wondering if the order of the old and new sticks matter? It came with two 512s in the first and third slots, and last year I added a 1GB stick in the second slot. That sped things up for us.

Now, should I just put this new 1GB stick in the empty fourth slot, or is there a better arrangement, such as the 1GB sticks being in the first and third slots (since Dell used those slots first when they built it), or should I put the 1GB sticks in the first two slots?

1. Existing: 512 x 1GB x 512 x empty slot
2. Easiest option: 512 x 1GB x 512 x 1GB
3. Other option: 1GB x 512 x 1GB x 512
4. Maybe best?? 1GB x 1GB x 512 x 512

I have attached a picture just in case my post was not clear. Any thoughts or tips will be appreciated. Tom

[tom34diy]

Okay, we'll try attaching that picture again. Tom

[mjc]

#2 or 3...doesn't really matter, that much, but the arrangement of 1st & 3rd with the original matched set, seems to indicate dual channel mode...any other arrangement breaks that and you suffer a performance penalty. While doubling your RAM, you weren't running it optimally.

[tom34diy]

mjc, thanks for the quick reply. I should have paid more attention when I did the install last year. I look forward to seeing how the new arrangement works. By new arrangement I mean #3, putting the 1GBs in the first and third slots. Thanks again. Tom

[tom34diy]

Well, I moved the RAM around, putting the 1GB sticks into the first and third slots and the 512s into the second and fourth slots. Things are much faster now. Wish I had known more about the importance of which slots are the important ones about a year ago.

mjc, thanks for the help. Tom

[Octa]

I Have two sticks of 2gb each 800MHz DDRII.

And yes when i boot up the BIOS seems to be showing me that my ram is single channel mode.

so id have to move the one stick of 2gb ram to slot 3 and 1? is this correct?

octa.

[mjc]

octa...tacking a question like this on to someone else's thread is considered 'bad form'. It is best to start your own thread with all the details about the problem.

But...

In answer to the question, yeah, probably. Most motherboards color code the RAM slots, these days, so in order make sure you are running in dual channel mode, you need to put the RAM in the matching color slots. In most cases that is 1 & 3 and 2 & 4.