Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > MSI-Microstar > [Solved] RAM combination
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koshie910   08-29-2009 at 06:59:10 PM

Hello!
I have an MSI P35 Neo3 motherboard, quadCore Q9650 processor, and 4 sticks of RAM w/c I recently upgraded (2 old Corsair 512MB 667Mhz and 2 new Corsair 2GB 800MHz memory). My MSI MB is dual channel with 4 slots of memory supporting up to 8GB RAM. 2 of them is colored orange the other is green. the green slot is the one closest to my processor. i'm not really good on these stuff so now I am confused as to how to install these RAMs:
- is it ok to use all 4 RAMs even if capacity and speed are different for 512 and 2GB sticks? will it affect my PC's performance? truth is, i don't want to get rid of the 2 512MB RAMs if they can boost my pc's performance up to 5GB RAM, but if they would affect the performance of the 2GB RAMs, I'd rather sell the old RAMs at a fair price =).
- if yes, on which colored memory slot should I install the 512 or the 2GB memory (green or orange)?
- if not, where do I insert the two pc 2GB RAMs, on the orange or the green slot?

If you can include a simple technical explanation as to why you arrived at your answer, it will be very much appreciated! I've been searching for answers over the net but would suggest different options and I get confused even more.

please help

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Best answer from 4745454b
MSI doesn't color the slots correctly. While you would assume that the green ones are one channel and the orange ones are another, thats wrong. They need to be put in the "normal" way, each channel separated by a RAM slot. I have no idea why MSI does this, and I wish they would stop.

Which Win7 are you running? Rather, is it a 64bit version or not? You could leave all five GBs in if you are running x64, and if you need that much ram. You are probably better off just running the 2x2GBs and moving the ram speed up to DDR2-800. With those DDR2-677 sticks in there you'll be held back by what they can do.
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GhislainG   08-30-2009 at 02:58:51 AM

All memory will run at 667 MHz, but you didn,t provide specs for the old and new modules. It doesn't matter what slot color you install them as long as identical modules are in same color slots, but do yourself a favor and sell the old modules. Unless you really need 5 GB, running slower memory will hurt performance a bit. I presume that you are running a 64-bit OS; otherwise running 4 GB or more is useless.

Reply to GhislainG
koshie910   08-31-2009 at 04:37:28 AM

yes, i'm using Windows 7 (dual boot with win xp ultimate ed.). What specs do you want to know? both are corsair DDR2 modules running at 667MHz(512MB) and 800MHz(2GB). on my Sisoftware the new modules say model CM2X2048. thanks for the reply. i'll do what you've suggested.

Reply to koshie910
4745454b   08-31-2009 at 05:05:23 AM
Best answer

MSI doesn't color the slots correctly. While you would assume that the green ones are one channel and the orange ones are another, thats wrong. They need to be put in the "normal" way, each channel separated by a RAM slot. I have no idea why MSI does this, and I wish they would stop.

Which Win7 are you running? Rather, is it a 64bit version or not? You could leave all five GBs in if you are running x64, and if you need that much ram. You are probably better off just running the 2x2GBs and moving the ram speed up to DDR2-800. With those DDR2-677 sticks in there you'll be held back by what they can do.

------------------------------ The voice of REASON
Do NOT feed the TROLLS!
Always a DEMON!
 Reply to 4745454b
koshie910   09-07-2009 at 08:59:38 AM

@4745454b: yes it's 64-bit win 7. so what do you mean, i had to put one 2-GB on the green slot and the other on the orange slot? I removed the two 512-MB modules already

Reply to koshie910
4745454b   09-07-2009 at 09:40:09 PM

Correct. When using an MSI board, ignore the color of the slots. Put them in according to the manual, or just try "normal" first. Should work. I'd go 2x2GB simply because its easy.

------------------------------ The voice of REASON
Do NOT feed the TROLLS!
Always a DEMON!
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