Dual Channel Memory Question

[vileblue]

Hi, sorry for the probably stupid question, but here goes.

I was looking a new computer setup, and was looking at the MB

Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3

running with a AMD Phenom II X6 1055T.

I got to the RAM part of the setup, went back to the MB and noticed it used a dual channel system. Ive read up on this and understand what this means. However when I went to Crucial.com to see what it recommended in terms of RAM I saw something I thought was a tad odd, crucial said the MB had 2 banks for RAM, while I can clearly see 4 in any picture of the MB available.

It also recommended I stick to an 8gb limit. My question is, it would seem the obvious choice is a 2x4gb (8g) setup. However would it not also be possible to run with 4x2gb (8gb) since I can see four DIMM's in the picture?

Furthermore, ignoring the manufacturer limit of 8gb for a second, it would be possible to run even 4x4gb (16gb)?


Thanks

EDIT: after looking around more on the fabulous internet, I found that Kingston and Corsair both have similar feature programs on their websites. Kingston says the MB has 4 banks and its limit is 16gb. I would still appreciate a confirmation that I'm right, but I am now reasonably confident Crucial just stuffed up on this one.

 

[damasvara]

EDIT: After re-reading your post, I finally understand your point (duh!)

Okay, dual channel means using 2 piece of RAM to improve performance (higher bandwidth, I believe?). Using all 4 slots with dual channel RAMs will give you the only dual channel performance, not quad channel (double the dual channel) nor decreasing their performance, if that's what you're asking about.

You're possibly just misunderstood the RAM specification recommendation, like I misunderstood your question... :lol: Sorry for that

 

[vileblue]

Yeah I know that there is no magical quad channel bonus in a dual channel MB, the bit that made me confused was when crucial told me there was 2 banks for RAM which is complete crap. It also seems the max at 8gb is wrong too.

If a mod could ah close this thread that would be super.

 

[damasvara]

If a mod could ah close this thread that would be super.

Well, you can always vote for best answer as a sign of content, a [solved] quote will pop up at this thread's title, thus making the mod easier to sort.

I'm not sure what kind of thread this is though, the best answer option may not be available.

 

[vileblue]

Well, you can always vote for best answer as a sign of content, a [solved] quote will pop up at this thread's title, thus making the mod easier to sort.

I'm not sure what kind of thread this is though, the best answer option may not be available.

Ok, the first person to actually look a pic of the model of MB (mentioned in the first post) and tell me how many banks it has for RAM, (which was the main question) gets best answer thingo. Although both the other answers were well written, I already knew how dual channel memory worked.

 

[damasvara]

Sorry, I already checked the website, the specific model you've mentioned is not there. Typo?

But the similar models all have 4 slots of RAM, with 16GB of supported max. memory stated at the data sheet.

It comes down to you to pick the BA, since you're the one who can judge it yourself. Anyone is fine, I'm not referring myself to be opted, since it's a matter of perspective.

 

[vileblue]

This website?

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=GA-890XA-UD3

 

[damasvara]

Nope, the Gigabyte's Since you asked about the RAM slots, I checked the motherboard for further details. But after re-checking it, I actually found it! (Absolutely typo! My bad...) :lol:

This one:

 

[vileblue]

Sorry it seems dumb to point out that I was already aware of your point, redirect you to the original point and politely ask for a mod to close a thread that I did not think was going to get answered.

 

[damasvara]

^
that's a dumb thing to say if people are trying to assist.
kind of immature and non-professional..

:lol: Well. true... but as more experienced members here, we need to be more lenient. We've seen worse, don't we?

 

[vileblue]

Best answer selected by vileblue.

 

[damasvara]

Sorry it seems dumb to point out that I was already aware of your point, redirect you to the original point and politely ask for a mod to close a thread that I did not think was going to get answered.

A classic misunderstanding situation. No offense taken... The dumbest thing is if you don't ask.

 

[jaquith]

Gigabyte MOBO is a bad choice.

 

[LezLee]

Hi,

I have an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe mainboard, and now I'm using a GEIL dual channel set (2x512MB @ 500MHz) with a Kingston 1 GB (400MHz) module (in total 2GB). I'm planning to change the GEIL set to an other Kingston (1GB) so it would be a 2GB dual channel (2x1GB instead of 2x512). Would it improve my PC's performance during games?
(My CPU is an AMD Athlon XP 2500+ @ 2 GHz (overclocked))

Thank you,
Lez

 

[damasvara]

^ You should open a new thread for this, but since it's a simple question, I'll just answer it: Yes. Regardless of the brand, 2GB Dual channel will definitely improve your PC's performance, as it has become a standard for modern computing.

Hope this helps.

PS: I'm not sure the GEIL transfer speed is 500MHz, you might wanna re-check that.

 

[LezLee]

Thank you for the answer, I thought that my CPU's performance would cause a "bottleneck" effect, but we will see.
The dual set is a "GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4000 500MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit"
so it runs @ 500MHz.

 

[damasvara]

DDR as in DDR1? No wonder it's rated at 500MHz. In that case, the speed itself will bottleneck your system performance, regardless of the size. But for some, the difference is negligible. In gaming, it will result in a couple of FPS loss. But that's just me.

For more insight, I suggest to open a new thread for your question. The others might have more valuable experience to share with you.