[the big Firefly]

HI GUYS: I HAVE N 512MB RAM IN MY PC AND I WANT TO BUY ANOTHER ONE FOR THE DUAL FUNTION, BUT 1STE OF ALL I DONT KNOW IF IT WORTH IT AN 2DE I DONT KNOW WHERE TO LOOK IF THE DUAL FUNTION IS ANABLED OR NOT. SO WHAT WOULD IT DO TO MY PC PERFORMANCE WISE AND HOW DO I SEE IF ITS ANABLED.

HERE IS MY MOTHERBOAD SPECS
GA-K8NF9 Ultra

1. AMD Athlon™64 X2/ 64 FX/ 64 socket 939 platform
2. Supports New Generation PCI-ExpressX16 Graphics interface
3. Supports Dual Channel DDR400 memory architecture
4. Supports NVIDIA SATA 3Gb/s and RAID for advanced storage application
5. Enhances network security with NVIDIA Firewall
6. Integrated T.I. IEEE 1394b FireWire interface
7. Integrated Gigabit LAN Ethernet controller Integrated high quality 8 channel

GIGABYTE AMD ATHLON 64 3000+, ati X700PRO, 512BM RAM DDR400, REST IS NORMAL

[Vikingod]

Don you mean Dual Channel?
If so, your motherboard does support it so long as your RAM is dual channel RAM. on most boards, you can see if Dual Channel is enabled at system POST. It will ussually say something like "512MB DDR 400 Dual Channel" once it checks the memory.

What kind of memory do you have, and what kind are you looking for?

[the big Firefly]

hi vikingod. so you want to tell me that not all DDR400 rams are able to run daul channel. that sucks if got "jetram 512 DDR400" well is there a mager difference in performance when having just 1gb oram and 2x512 in daul channel.

[the big Firefly]

where is everybody. i need to know some daul channel stuff.

[nitrousoxide52]

You need 2 sticks of RAM that are the same make and model as each other to run in dual channel.

[H3X4D3C1M4L]

And you need to read the motherboard manual

[the big Firefly]

ii do what the manual say but i dont know where to look to know wheter its in daul channel or not. how does it work. does the ram stay 1024 and rns faster or wha? thats waht i need to know.....????

o and i put the same to ram stick in my bro's pc and it shows when it count the ram in the beginning that its daul or single chanel. so thats why im asking. his got a solteck MB. if got the GIGABYTE Nforce 4 one....???

[H3X4D3C1M4L]

It stays the same size... it just works more like a RAID-0 array for RAM

[Babalou]

First you'll need to consult the motherboard manual for the correct slots to use.
Some boards require using odd and even slots, for example 1-3, 2-4. for it to work in dual channel.
If you do not have the ram in the right slots, it will not work dual channel. Again depends on the manufacturer.
Of course if you only have 2 slots, then that is the obvious choice.

The message during startup may say single channel or virtual single channel mode, or dual channel or virtual dual channel mode, depending on the manufacturer.

The amount of ram you put in your system is just that, the amount you put in, if you put in 2 sticks of 512M, you will get 1024M regardless whether its dual channel or not.
Dual channel mode will give you the benefit of better bandwidth for your memory. (which is a great increase)
Not double the amount put in.

Bottom line is, check your manual to see which slots are to be used for dual channel mode.
Then Make sure you have matching pairs of RAM.
You should be all set from there.

[the big Firefly]

hi babalou

chanels is set out like this "for example 1-3, 2-4. for it to work in dual channel".

the problem is not putting it in the slots the problem is how do i now if its working in daul channel or not. there something i can do to find out if its in daul......?

[Babalou]

Originally Posted by the big Firefly

hi babalou

chanels is set out like this "for example 1-3, 2-4. for it to work in dual channel".

the problem is not putting it in the slots the problem is how do i now if its working in daul channel or not. there something i can do to find out if its in daul......?

If you can get something like Sisoft Sandra, you could run a memory benchmark and verify
if its running around what it should be.

Dual channel is in theory 6.4GB of bandwidth(pc3200), Single channel is 3GB.
So you can check and see what your running at, it won't max out at 6, but likely around 5.2-5.8.
(Memory timings and speed rating can play a role in this)
I beleive the numbers you would see would show up in Megs, so look for higher than 5000.

The way that Dual channel runs, is it will take the amount of data it can receive and essentially double it, comparing to single channel mode.

[SeaWulf]

Originally Posted by the big Firefly

hi babalou

chanels is set out like this "for example 1-3, 2-4. for it to work in dual channel".

the problem is not putting it in the slots the problem is how do i now if its working in daul channel or not. there something i can do to find out if its in daul......?

Try using MEMTEST software which is easy to use or CPU-Z .....just google and you should find either with no problem ..either one will tell you if your memory is performing as dual channel




good luck

[Chaos]

you should aslo see 1024 MB Dual Channel 128bit on your screen during the boot process if not in Dual Channel mode it will say 1024 MB 64bit