Ganged or Unganged

[andy_93]

Hi,could some one please tell me what the difference is between Ganged and Unganged memory and is there any difference in performance between the two,at the moment iam running dual channel unganged,i have the two memory sticks in the first two slots on the mobo,i ran CPUZ just to make sure i was running dual channel. My specs are AMD x4 965 3.4Ghz with 4GB ram.

 

[badge]

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/dual-channel-memory-ganged-unganged-28369/

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=166222

 

[jitpublisher]

The Phenom processors work a little differently than most other processors when it comes to the traditional thinking about dual channel memory operation.
Phenoms have dual, or 2 memory controllers.
Each controller can work independently from the other and run a bank of memory in unganged mode, 64 bit bandwidth.
In the ganged mode you lock both banks of memory together, 128 bit bandwidth, but only 1 controller can be used at a time, 1 must wait on the other to finish what it is doing. There is more bandwidth this way, but most people don't need it, and running your memory in unganged mode, allowing the controllers to work separately will result in better performance.
Gaming is one area that shows a significant benefit by leaving your memory in unganged mode.
Unganged mode is the default mode for Phenom processors.

 

[andy_93]

Great,thankyou very much for the quick reply`s,ill leave it as itsment to be then,thanks again.