question about dual channel RAM

[borat_sagdiyev]

ok, so im getting 1 gig of ram for my birthday from joxley, and i already have 1 gig inside my pc in dual channel mode. 2x512mb sticks. ddr2. pc3200.

what i wanted to know, if i put the 2 samsung sticks he sent me in, will it still work in dual channel? because i heard that they have to be exactly the same (even model)

 

[Ð88]

so you will be running 4x512MB then? As far as I know, to take advantage of the dual channel technology, the modules do have to be the exact type and manufacturer. Otherwise the memory is just going to act like regular 2GBs but whichever RAM module is slowest will be the determining factor of the speed of your memory.

 

[borat_sagdiyev]

well they are all going to be ddr2 pc3200.

 

[borat_sagdiyev]

In order to achieve this, the DDR SDRAM memory modules must be installed into matching memory slots, which are usually color coded on the motherboard. Each memory module in each slot should be identical to the one in its matching slot. It's also possible to use similar memory sticks from different manufacturers or different production series as long they are of the same size, specification, the same number of memory chips and internal organization.

so yeah, i can use the different ones.

 

[Ð88]

well i was refering to latencies, whichever set of memory modules have higher latencies will be the speed that the others will work too.

 

[borat_sagdiyev]

ok.

 

[mammikoura]

well dual channel splits the work between the 2 ram sticks right?
So the old ones should work in dual channel, and I'm guessing the new ones would work too with eachother. Not sure if it's possible but I would imagine that it is.

One one way to know for sure, test it.