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Mixing DDR speeds?

G

Gene126

n00b
Joined
Feb 27, 2004
Messages
26
I have an AMD Barton 2600+ with a Gigabyte GA-7N400L motherboard. Currently I have a Kingston Hyper X 2x256 PC3200 ram kit installed but I was thinking about possibly adding more memory.

Can I add another 2x256 kits in my mobo and have both memory controllers running in dual channel mode?

What about just adding a single dimm to the third or fourth slot? Would this negate any advantes of the first dual channel kit?

I have read some websites on the net and some say that mixing DDR speeds if fine but others say it creates instability.

I currently have PC3200 kit but the PC3500 kits are on sale right now for cheaper so I was wondering if its ok to mix the different speeds.

Thanks.
 
The prices for Kingston Hyper X at ncix are:

2x256 kits

PC3200 $175.56
PC3500 $189.96
PC3700 $167.90

in Canadian funds.
 
If you want to upgrade your memory, the best thing to do is sell your current memory and buy 2x512.
 
Copied and pasted out of the Memory FAQ sticky at the top of this forum:

Using Dual Channel

Dual Channel requires at least two modules for operation. It is recommended that the modules you use be of the same size, speed, arrangement etc. Dual Channel is optional on the original nforce2 motherboards and nforce2 ultra400. You can choose to run in single channel mode on these motherboards. Nforce2 400 boards are singe-channel only. Most dual channel capable nforce2 motherboards come with three slots. On these motherboards the first memory controller controls only the first slot (or the slot by itself), while the second memory controller controls the last two slots (which are usually closer together). Name them slots 1, 2 & 3 respectively. To implement Dual Channel, it is necessary to occupy the slot 1 (channel 0) and either one of the two slots that are closer together, slots 2 or 3 (channel 1). The entire config would be running in 128 bit mode.

You can use three modules in Dual Channel Mode, by filling the third unoccupied slot. With three sticks, slots 1 remains as channel 0 while slot 2&3 become channel 1. To maintain 128-bit mode, with all three slots filled, each channel must have an equal amount of memory. For example, slots 1 should be filled with a 512 Mb module, while slots 2 & 3 are populated 256 Mb modules. If you were to use three modules of the same size, then only the first two modules would be running in 128 bit Dual Channel Mode. Example, using 3x 256 Mb modules will have the first 512 Mb running in 128 bit Dual Channel mode, while the remaining 256 Mb will be in 64-bit Single Channel mode.

Intel dual-channel systems are different. The have either two or four slots, and to run dual channel mode must have either one or two pairs of (hopefully) matching modules. Running three modules on a P4 system will force it to run in single channel mode, and is therefore to be avoided.

Consult your motherboard manual for instruction on exactly which slots exactly to use.
 
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