Single Channel vs Dual Channel enigma...

[omnimodis78]

Before I get told off for posting such a widely discussed topic, please hear me out... I have been trying to get to the bottom of this issue, but I keep getting different (and conflicting) answers. My issue is this, I currently use 2GB ram (2x1gb) in dual-channel, I am interested to try 3GB (3x1gb) which i know will change my configuration to single-channel. My Biostar mobo (TL-570 SLI) can take up to 4GB ram, but due to a silly design, with the heatsink on the processor, the first ram slot closest to the cpu is inaccessible, thus i can only use slots 2-4. I am using quality name brand ram in slots 3 and 4, so only the 2nd slot remained to be used for the generic type of ram. With the 3rd stick in, windows (xp32) is only seeing 2.75gb - no problem, but here is the issue - which ram stick is getting only partially used? Are the rams in slots 2 and 3 getting fully utilized, and the last one only partially? or is this even how it works? Basically, I don't want one of the better rams to be only partially used, so if that is the case, should I move the better rams to slots 2 and 3, and the generic one to 4? Does anyone catch my drift?

 

[gamerk316]

32 bit windows can only see up to 4GB total, counting GFX Card RAM, Sound Card RAM, Windows Page File, etc.

I'm guessing you have CF or SLI or a dedicated X-Fi card eating up the extra 1.25GB or RAM.