Ram issue

[NyKKoN]

Can you use multiple types of ram successfully? I have two sticks of OCZ SLI-Ready (1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820227198) and two sticks of OCZ Gold (1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel (now deactivated at Newegg). The motherboard is an EVGA 122-M2-NF59-TR Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813188016). The SLI sticks are located in 1 and 3 while the Gold sticks are located in 2 and 4. When the system is booting it does a scan of my memory and shows 4 GB worth, but when I look at the General tab under system properties it only shows about 2.7 GB worth (I'm not at my computer now, so I can't tell you the exact value). Originally I had just the two Gold sticks and it showed 2 GB in the properties, so there has been some recognition of change. Can these sticks be run together? Is there something in the BIOS I need to change? I noticed there is a setting in the BIOS to enable the SLI Memory in relation to CPU OC (I think that's what it said), but the computer wouldn't post for the values of 0% or 1%, so I didn't bother to try the others.

Thanks for any help

-NyKKoN

[Eclecticos]

Is because your running a 32bit operating system. You will need to move onto 64bit Operating system to utilize 4GB.

[HackSore]

I think the reason it wont recognise the full 4 gig is because of the limitations of the x86 version of windows.

I'm pretty sure using the 64bit version of windows would solve the problem.

EDIT:

lol, beat me to it!

[Eclecticos]

I'd also recommend grouping the similar ram.

[NyKKoN]

Thanks for you help.

In regards to the ram, I thought that slots 1 and 3 went together and 2 and 4 went together. Is this not the case?

-NyKKoN

[NyKKoN]

After further research, it appears that 32bit XP supports up to 4GB of RAM. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Professional_x64_Edition and http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx). So maybe this is not the cause of my troubles, any other suggestions?

-NyKKoN


Edit: Sorry, I should have added this to the last post...

[Eclecticos]

What Microsoft says . . and whats its actually capable of has never been exactly the same thing, to say the least.

[NyKKoN]

Ok, thanks. And with the grouping thing, are 1:3 and 2:4 paired or 1:2 and 3:4?

-NyKKoN

[alexanderH]

groupings depend on motherboard and processor.
Check with your manual if you still have it or reference your mobo's website and check out the FAQ there. It should specify in decent detail. If it is newer there will be colour coding to identify channeled slots.

Also if you run any one chip of ram at a lower speed than the rest of the ram, it will all lower its clock speed down to that of the lowest stick. So while you may be adding memory you may be losing precious power.

Just something to think about. Otherwise you can mix and match all you like provided each individual board is supported by motherboard/cpu.

[Airbozo]

This issue comes up a lot.

Yes the 32 bit version of windows CAN recognize 4gb of memory, but that _includes_ the page file. You have 4 gb of memory and want to use it all? Disable the page file, or make it really small. YMMV

[.Maleficus.]

Ok, thanks. And with the grouping thing, are 1:3 and 2:4 paired or 1:2 and 3:4?

-NyKKoN
Dual channel runs in 1 and 3 and 2 and 4 like you said. You can also find which slots to use by the color (one group is one, and the other group is another).

Welcome to the forums BTW!

[NyKKoN]

Thanks everyone. This clears everything up. I have a spare Vista 64bit so I may just create two partitions, and then I can choose more memory or less frustration depending on what I am doing.

-NyKKoN

Edit:
Dual channel runs in 1 and 3 and 2 and 4 like you said. You can also find which slots to use by the color (one group is one, and the other group is another).

Welcome to the forums BTW!

Thats what I thought, but just making sure. Thanks, I have been looking at the worklogs for a while. When this issue came up I felt that this was a good place to find the answer, which I did. Thanks everyone.