Does dual channel mode still require two identical memory sticks on modern X2 M/Bs?

Archaea

Archaea

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My dad is buying an HP slimline s3100n

It comes with 1GB of PC2 5300 RAM (2x512MB)

Buy.com has a sale today where you can get a single stick of PC2 5300 RAM for $20 bucks after a $10 rebate.

If I have my dad buy that, and use on of the 512MB sticks that the PC came with, will he be losing dual channel mode? I know in the olden days of my last reading up on this (p4 era) you did. Curious if they've fixed that so you can still keep dual channel with two different sized RAM sticks.

Reason being, the HP s3100n has an onboard GPU that steals a bunch of the system RAM and it would benefit from another 512MB of RAM. My dad's too cheap to pay $65 after rebate for two new sticks of PC6400, but I might be able to convince him to spend $20.
 
Yes, of course! You cannot use a 512MB stick and a 1GB stick and expect to have dual channel memory.

I own the s3100y (Intel equivalent of s3100n) and just purchased 2x1GB Crucial RAM from this website. It's $63.57 total, which is a pretty good deal. If you're willing to wait, every now and then you can find this type of memory for about $50. Check out dealnews.com for deals on memory and dealram.com for regular prices (i.e. no rebate hassles).
 
I'm debating whether my dad actually needs 2gb.

What's your take having the s3100y?

What's your primary use of the PC?
 
I really like the s3100y, minus its non-existent bios options. I ordered the base configuration to keep costs down, since I figured that everything extra would be much cheaper if I purchased it separately. If you father is using the computer for internet, office and dvds/videos, the base configuration is much more than enough. I can play 720p divx video just fine even with the terrible integrated video (from a gamer standpoint). It also runs Vista perfectly. It also works with Aero, though when I view DiVX videos from stage6.divx.com, the scheme defaults to vista basic, which it returns to Aero once I close the browser. Also, the computer starts up really fast. I have an Athlon XP 2500+ with 1.5GB RAM running XP that is much slower starting up. Once I see the desktop in the s3100y, I can use the computer just fine, even with McAfee having to load.

I bought this computer because of its price. I was happy about the scalability options because I knew I could make it a great computer for a slimline. I've tried playing games on it and it is almost impossible, unless they're at a pretty low resolution with everything turned down. I decided to upgrade the computer:

I just purchased a new video card (7600gs low profile, best one available for low profile cards), extra ram (2x1gb) and a Core 2 Duo e6700. In all, the computer cost me 299.99 (AR) for the base configuration and all this costs about 350, making the computer cost about 650, without selling the swapped parts on ebay. IMO, that's a great deal. Oh, and I also bought a wifi PCI card that works great. I happened to have a 19" CRT lying around that works acceptably. Once I upgrade everything, I will be using this computer as my primary computer.
 
i have a similar exp with the HP slimline s3020n that I'm using currently.

I upgraded to a x2 5200+ (fastest the board supports)
8400GS
2GB of DDR 6400

Here is my thread on my s3020n project ---

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1224011

I appreciate the info on the base system s3100n being more than enough for a standard non power user....Sometimes I feel sort of detached from what "basic" needs are, as I'm always gunning for more.
 
If your dad is like my dad he will benefit more from having 1.5GB than the difference in performance dual channel bring.
 
If you added the new single 1GB stick to a system already running 2x512 in dual channel, does that last GB not running in dual-channel affect the first 2GB? In other words, does all memory in a system need to be dual-channel for any of it to be dual-channel, or are the channels independent in this respect?

I know the channels are not independent if you install, say, a pair of PC4200 in the first channel and a pair of PC5300 in the second channel. In that case, all memory runs at the lower speed.
 
rseiler said:
OK, but let's say there were 4.
Click to expand...

Can someone answer that?

I have 2x512 sticks in dual installed on my computer, I wanted to toss in another 1gb stick and I want to know if that'll effect performance, or if I can even do that.
 
depends on the chipset, if its intel it will run in Flex mode. here are the rules (basically) I would need to know your exact chipset, or even better you find out, go to intel.com desktops chipset select your chipset and look/read the data sheet for your memory controller hub. Its actually fairly smart and will do its best to run what memory it can in dual channel. Dual Channel Interleaved is the fastest.

10.2.1.1 Rules for Populating DIMM Slots​
In all modes, the frequency of system memory will be the lowest frequency of all of
the DIMMs in the system, as determined through the SPD registers on the DIMMs.

In Single Channel mode, any DIMM slot within the channel may be populated in any
order. Either channel may be used. To save power, do not populate the unused
channel.

In Dual Channel Asymmetric mode, any DIMM slot may be populated in any order.

In Dual Channel Interleaved mode, any DIMM slot may be populated in any order, but
the total memory in each channel must be the same.

In Flex memory mode, any DIMM slot may be populated in any order per channel, but each channel must have at least 1 DIMM. The matching amount of memory per channel will be run in Dual channel interleaved mode and the remaining unmatched memory will run in Asymmetric mode.​
 
Ok...well scratch that idea then.

What about a pair of 2x1gb added to 2x512mb? Same speed of course.
 
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