what happens if i run ddr2 800 2x1gb+ ddr2 1066 2x 1gb

[shooter124]

hey so i ordered 2 x 1gb of ballistix ddr2 800. i was wondering if i want to upgrade to 4gb should i try to get another 2 gigs of ddr2 800 or can i grab the 1066 and just set it to run the same speed at the ddr2 800. is there any disadvantage to having 2 mismatched speeds?

 

[badge]

hey so i ordered 2 x 1gb of ballistix ddr2 800. i was wondering if i want to upgrade to 4gb should i try to get another 2 gigs of ddr2 800 or can i grab the 1066 and just set it to run the same speed at the ddr2 800. is there any disadvantage to having 2 mismatched speeds?

Disadvantges include the four DIMMS refusing to boot and run together period or perhaps the four DIMMS run together, but will not run in dual channel. On the other hand, the four may run fine at 800 mhz., you have to just try it or email tech support at Crucial.com and ask.

 

[shooter124]

what would make them not boot? i can make the 1066 run at 800 right, alternatively i could make them both run at 1066 as these are high quality stick and should be able to reach 1066. Does anyone have any experience doing this on a ds3 motherboard or any other board for that matter

 

[albundy2]

well you would have 2 gigs of over priced ddr2 800. your system will default the ddr2 1066 to match the ddr2 800 speed. won't really matter anyway if your not running 64bit os because you wont be using the full 4 gigs. 32bit os cant address that much.

 

[NaDa]

There is another thing with running 4 sticks of ram.
It's harder for a mobo to run 4 sticks compared to 2 and will probably run at a bit lower speed or relaxed timings.

 

[BustedSony]

There is another thing with running 4 sticks of ram.
It's harder for a mobo to run 4 sticks compared to 2 and will probably run at a bit lower speed or relaxed timings.

That's only true of AMD systems with the CPU's on-die memory controller. Intel systems do NOT have any issues with running four sticks. The OP did not say which type of system he has, which would have been useful. The OP also didn't specify WHY he wanted four gigs, so I assume he's aware of the 32-bit OS limitations.

These should run just fine, with the 1066 Ram running at 800, or maybe this could be overclocked a bit with the 800 Ram being the limit.

 

[Mondoman]

...
That's only true of AMD systems with the CPU's on-die memory controller. Intel systems do NOT have any issues with running four sticks.

Sorry, but it's an equal-opportunity problem. It comes from using unbuffered memory instead of registered or fully-buffered RAM.

... These should run just fine, with the 1066 Ram running at 800, ....

Yep, most likely.

 

[shooter124]

going to be a p35-ds3r intel system running a q6600 hopefully. I went ahead and got the 1066 ram because its so cheap and eventually im going to be running vista 64bit.

so if im running the q6600 and i pump it up to 3.0ghz i still only need ram that runs at 667 to run one to one? but i can still run my ram at 800 right? Also can i overclock just the 800 to run at the 1066 freq?

 

[BustedSony]

...
That's only true of AMD systems with the CPU's on-die memory controller. Intel systems do NOT have any issues with running four sticks.

Sorry, but it's an equal-opportunity problem. It comes from using unbuffered memory instead of registered or fully-buffered RAM.

... These should run just fine, with the 1066 Ram running at 800, ....

Yep, most likely.

On AMD systems you have to choose particular slots for least latency, if the second pair of slots is used then they all run slower. On an Intel set you can use any pair of slots with equal results, and I've yet to see latency increase or timings having to be relaxed (with unbuffered ram) when adding two more.