NF7-S2 and Ram

hjohnso2

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Hello all,

This question is regarding my nf7-s2 and ram. Previously, I had two sticks of 512 MB of RAM in my PC. One of them went bad ( incidentally the one closest to the CPU..could it have cooked the ram? ) so now I only have 1 512.

Looking at my manual, I cant see where it says sticks of ram must be matched size wise..just in terms of speed.

Q) Do I have to add another stick of 512 or can I add something greater like 1 stick of 1 GB?

In that case I would have (1) 512 MB and (1) 1 GB sticks of ram in my PC.

My MB has three DIMM slots. DIMM 1 is closest to the CPU and 3 the furthest.

How would you reccomend I place that ram if the above plan works? the 1 GB in DIMM 1 and 512 in DIMM 2? I would prefer to place the 512 in DIMM 1 if the CPU in fact cooked the last stick of RAM there.

I really dont run my PC all that hot ( 110 F avg I would say for CPU ) but that was my only guess on why that stick went bad.


THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ANY HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
If you look at page 13 of the manual, you can see that you can use that combination in any of the sockets. I prefer filling from DIMM1 on up to DIMM3. In DIMM1 place the 1 GB and DIMM2 place the 512 MB. Then check your Bios to make sure the memory is recognized and check the speed of the memory also. Use CPU-Z to get the timings or set the Bios to SPD.
The only disadvantage of having 2 different memory modules is that you cannot use dual channel memory.
 

hjohnso2

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Thank you good sir!

I saw that page but I didn't think it totally answered whether or not you could mix and match memory stick sizes.

Good advice on making sure the memory speeds are properly matched after installing!
 

hjohnso2

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Thank you also,

I knew there was a tradeoff..but can you tell me what not being able to enable "dual channel memory" will mean to me in REAL terms?

Do you mean that two sticks of 512 for a total of 1 GB will perform better than 1 GB and 1 512 for a total of 1.5 GB?


The reason I am asking is I want to play Medieval Total War 2 and I expect it will eventually be wanting to consume more than 1 GB of ram!
 

Alyarbank

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Here's the memory info you requested from Crucials site:
# USB Support: 2.x Compliant
# Error Detection Support: Non-ECC only
# Chipset: nVidia nForce2 SPP
# Supported DRAM Types: DDR SDRAM only
# Module Types Supported: Unbuffered only
# Max Unbuffered DDR SDRAM: 3072MB
# Max Component Density: 512Mb
# 184-pin DIMM Banking: 3 (3 banks of 1)
# Graphics Support: AGP 8X

Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700,DDR PC3200,DDR PC4000 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.*

*Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory.

Try to match the current speed you have if possible. If you buy a slower module it will slow the others to the same speed.
 

hjohnso2

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Thank you very much!

Seems like what you all are saying is that mixing a 1GB stick with a 512 stick is okay to do as long as the speeds are the same.

Very good to hear!

Thanks!
 

Alyarbank

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Dual channel is faster definately. You should always try to get matched pairs for the best results. If you need more information to make your decision go to http://www.crucial.com/ they have a very good help system on their site which will explain this for you if you can't grasp it.
Dual channel can talk in both directions at the same time. Kinda like a parking lot with two entrances and exits will flow more efficiently than if there where one entrance and one exit. It will still hold the same amount of cars but will take longer to do so.
 

hjohnso2

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Good analogy!

Two questions though... :)

1) so are two stick of 512 faster than 1 stick of 1 GB?

2) If you have two slots filled with a 1 stick of 1 GB and 1 512..will the second 512 only be accessed if the 1 GB in slot 1 is 100% utilized??
 

ProHandyman

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2 sticks of matching 512MB RAM in DUAL CHANNEL OPERATION will be faster then 1 stick of 1024MB in SINGLE CHANNEL OPERATION.

Since pairing of different spec sticks of memory will result in single channel operations, your memory performance will drop. I believe it is between 10-20% depending on speed rating and timings of RAM.

Filling all 3 slots of memory no matter the size will aslo result in single channel operation.

You should start populating the memory slots from dimm slot 3 back towards CPU.

Since I am posting on an original NF-7S. I can attest to the different performances of the board using single channel, versus dual channel, and faster memory timings. For BEST PERFORMANCE, use identicle sticks in dual channel (dimm slots 3 and 2 or 3 and 1) with fast timings!
 

hjohnso2

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Gotya

well, it seems like I am not going to get optimal performance using two mismatched size memory sticks but its better than going to disk if I need more than 1 GB!
 

Alyarbank

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