Will 2 identical single-channel DDR2 work in dual-channel?
- Thread starter krazynutz
- Start date
cdonato
Distinguished
- Nov 14, 2006
- 127
- 0
- 18,680
You would be better off buying a kit with matched chips that are tested together if you are going to be buy 2 chips new anyway. This way its a guarantee & not a chance that the chips may be the same models but have a slightly different spec due to manufacturing variation. Crucial, Corsair, OCZ, Kingston all sell matched kits for dual channel
audiovoodoo
Illustrious
- Sep 17, 2006
- 10,090
- 0
- 40,860
They dont even need to be identical to run dual channel. You will simply be limited to the timings of the lowest spec stick.
Short answer is thought that a matched pair would probably be the easiest option.
Short answer is thought that a matched pair would probably be the easiest option.
Dual channel is determined by the motherboard.
You should read the motherboard manual on RAM before buying anything to make sure your RAM specs match up with what the motherboard supports.
You can buy 2 single sticks and use it as dual channel.... How do you think we did it before the manufacturer's thought of selling dual channel kits?
I've done it on all my computers. Dual channel kits are for a little extra assurance and pure marketing.
I've only seen kingston market RAM sticks as "single channel only" and that isn't correct.
A caveat: Intel has less strict guidelines for dual channel operation. AMD is a little more strict. In my experience I've found that as long as you stick w/ a good brand name, you shouldn't have any issues.
(Altho I've read about people having issues w/ OCZ and some new motherboards, you might want to search around w/ the Search option if you're worried about it).
You should read the motherboard manual on RAM before buying anything to make sure your RAM specs match up with what the motherboard supports.
You can buy 2 single sticks and use it as dual channel.... How do you think we did it before the manufacturer's thought of selling dual channel kits?
I've done it on all my computers. Dual channel kits are for a little extra assurance and pure marketing.
I've only seen kingston market RAM sticks as "single channel only" and that isn't correct.
A caveat: Intel has less strict guidelines for dual channel operation. AMD is a little more strict. In my experience I've found that as long as you stick w/ a good brand name, you shouldn't have any issues.
(Altho I've read about people having issues w/ OCZ and some new motherboards, you might want to search around w/ the Search option if you're worried about it).
nottheking
Distinguished
- Jan 5, 2006
- 1,456
- 0
- 19,310
Yup, as mentioned, the only real difference between buying a "dual channel kit" and a pair of identical RAM modules from the same maker is that the kit comes in one package.
There is no fundamental difference between "dual-channel" and "single-channel" modules. So long as they have pretty much the same specs, they will work together; speed can actually be different, as I recall, as it will, with any SDRAM setup, just clock down the fastest modules to match the slowest ones. The only real requirement is, I recall, that both modules be of the same size.
Of course, a dual-channel kit usually winds up being slightly cheaper than buying the chips separately... But if you can buy the separate chips cheaper, there's no need to worry about it.
"Dual channel" simply means that the motherboard northbridge chipset, (in an Intel board, or a 32-bit AMD board) or the CPU itself, (with an Athlon64 system) happen to have two 64-bit memory controllers rather than one. If you don't have matched pairs of SDRAM sticks, it simply uses one of them; otherwise, it can use one controller for each even half of the RAM. It may be that AMD's is more strict, given that the whole integrated RAM controller is a tighter design, but I haven't noticed much of a difference here.
There is no fundamental difference between "dual-channel" and "single-channel" modules. So long as they have pretty much the same specs, they will work together; speed can actually be different, as I recall, as it will, with any SDRAM setup, just clock down the fastest modules to match the slowest ones. The only real requirement is, I recall, that both modules be of the same size.
Of course, a dual-channel kit usually winds up being slightly cheaper than buying the chips separately... But if you can buy the separate chips cheaper, there's no need to worry about it.
"Dual channel" simply means that the motherboard northbridge chipset, (in an Intel board, or a 32-bit AMD board) or the CPU itself, (with an Athlon64 system) happen to have two 64-bit memory controllers rather than one. If you don't have matched pairs of SDRAM sticks, it simply uses one of them; otherwise, it can use one controller for each even half of the RAM. It may be that AMD's is more strict, given that the whole integrated RAM controller is a tighter design, but I haven't noticed much of a difference here.
With AMD you'll gain up to 30% more speed, depending on applications: A/V editing, publishing, DB and CAD softwares will all benefit a lot from dual channel on AMD CPU. In games or regular office apps you'll see almost no difference since they aren't memory intensive applications.
On Intel side the maximum gain can be 10-15% due to the higher external memory controller latency (the two channels are interleaved on the FSB).
On Intel side the maximum gain can be 10-15% due to the higher external memory controller latency (the two channels are interleaved on the FSB).
apache_lives
Splendid
- Dec 10, 2002
- 6,873
- 1
- 26,160
two matching sticks will work, and sometimes similar pairs will work too (eg 2xdouble sided sticks, diffrent brands), no guarentee there tho
companies like to charge a premium for that "guarentee"
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
Question I’m going to build a budget pc these are the specs open to advice the budget is £500
- Started by NotSure25
- Replies: 4
-
-
News Chinese may be evading Nvidia GPU sanctions with Dell, Gigabyte, and Supermicro servers: Report- Started by Admin
- Replies: 3
-
Discussion What's your favourite video game you've been playing?- Started by amdfangirl
- Replies: 3K
-
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram