3 sticks...dual channel

[pspada]

There's something wrong with you, your apt is much too clean for a computer dork.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: pspada
There's something wrong with you, your apt is much too clean for a computer dork.

LOL! Well, that was before I got a working Internet connection, so I had more time for housekeeping Now that I can be a mouse potato again, it looks more like what you'd expect. I bought a card table and put the computer in the kitchen where it can be within arms' reach of the coffeemaker, too.

 

[pspada]

There's a whole buncha crap in the results.sah file, how do I know what I'm looking for?

 

[mechBgon]

In Notepad, do a Ctrl-F and search for cpu_time. For example,

cpu_time=13169.734375

meaning 13169 seconds to process the included work unit, which is the "standard" one.

 

[mechBgon]

By the way, for a second run, unzip the SETIBench.zip afresh to a new directory and plunk the 3.08 client into it.

 

[pspada]

The 2nd try (dual channel) never finished, I finally turned the box off after 4 or 5 hours. I'll try running it again today.

EDIT -- well, I was going to. But I inadvertenly removed the partition on that machine....DOH! I'm reinstalling the OS now, so I'll try the benches again once I've finished.

 

[valky]

thought i read somewhere that if you use 3 slots, slots 1 and 2 combine into a single channel while the 3rd slot becomes the 2nd channel keeping the dual channel enforced .....i guess this is what i need to know for sure.

Slots 1 & 2 is channel A and slot 3 is channel B. So for 2 sticks slots 1 & 3 is dual channel and with three sticks slots 1 & 2 (256) and slot 3 (512) is 1Gig dual channel which is the limit of this chipset.............. :beer:

 

[pspada]

I think not ^.

 

[BlackMountainCow]

3 sticks work as well
however there is one drawback:
you have 3 slots for 2 channels.
slot 1&2 = channel 1
slot 3 = channel 2

if the amount of memory in one channel is bigger then in the other channel, only the amount of memory in teh smaller channel times two is run in twinbank mode (128bit). the remaining ram is run in 64bit mode.

example:
slot 1&2 have a 512MB module in each slot:
channel 1 = 1024 MB
slot 3 has a 512MB module as well:
channel 2 = 512MB

channel 2 has only 512mb of ram *2 = 1024 in 128bit mode, the remaing 512mb of channel 1 are run in 64 bit.

example 2
slot 1&2 have a 128MB module in each slot:
channel 1 = 256 MB
slot 3 has a 512MB module :
channel 2 = 512MB

channel 1 has only 256mb of ram *2 = 512 in 128bit mode, the remaing 256mb of channel 2 are run in 64 bit.

example 3:
slot 1&2 have a 256MB module in each slot:
channel 1 = 512 MB
slot 3 has a 512MB module:
channel 2 = 512MB

channel 2 and channel 1 have the same amount of memory so the whole ram is in 128bit mode.

example 4
slot 1 has a 512MB module, slot 2 is empty
channel 1 = 512MB
slot 3 has a 512MB module:
channel 2 = 512MB

channel 2 and channel 1 have the same amount of memory (1GB) so the whole ram is in 128bit mode.

hope this helps....

 

[pspada]

I don't think that it is required that you balance the ram between the channels for it all to be in dual channel mode, accessing at 128-bits.

 

[valky]

I don't think that it is required that you balance the ram between the channels for it all to be in dual channel mode, accessing at 128-bits.

What it requires is that the total of channel A equals Channel B for Dual Channel operation. If this requirement isnt met then it is the balance of the smallest in slot 1 0r 2 equal Slot 3 and 1 Gig is the lilmit so you figure it out............ :beer:

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: valky
I don't think that it is required that you balance the ram between the channels for it all to be in dual channel mode, accessing at 128-bits.

What it requires is that the total of channel A equals Channel B for Dual Channel operation. If this requirement isnt met then it is the balance of the smallest in slot 1 0r 2 equal Slot 3 and 1 Gig is the lilmit so you figure it out............ :beer:

I'm not sure if I'm understanding what you meant to say here I use three 512MB DIMMS on an nForce2 Ultra400 board, and it is running in dual-channel mode, and it comes up as 1536MB, not 1024MB. Are you contradicting that, or did you mean something else?

 

[pspada]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: valky
I don't think that it is required that you balance the ram between the channels for it all to be in dual channel mode, accessing at 128-bits.

What it requires is that the total of channel A equals Channel B for Dual Channel operation. If this requirement isnt met then it is the balance of the smallest in slot 1 0r 2 equal Slot 3 and 1 Gig is the lilmit so you figure it out............ :beer:

I'm not sure if I'm understanding what you meant to say here I use three 512MB DIMMS on an nForce2 Ultra400 board, and it is running in dual-channel mode, and it comes up as 1536MB, not 1024MB. Are you contradicting that, or did you mean something else?

Dit-freakin-to

 

[CarpeDiem99]

Currently I'm using 3 x 256 mb KHX3200 11-2-2-2 2.6V 200 fsb in my NF7-S v2.0

So channel 1 is 512 mb and channel 2 is 256 mb, channel 1 is 128 bit and channel 2 is 64?

Is it bad to run 3 sticks all of which are 256?

 

[valky]

 

[valky]

 

[valky]

 

[valky]

 

[valky]

;samuraisquirrel wrote:
"All dual channel nforce2 MBs i've used had this same configuration,,,

1. channel = slot 1 and slot 2
2. channel = slot 3

must have a dimm in each channel to enable dual
channel.


It is my understanding,
if you populate the slots so the channels are balanced (eg. 256MB slot1 - 256MB slot2 - 512MB slot3) then all your memory will be used in Dual Channel....

if you populate the slots unbalanced (eg. 128MB slot1 - 128MB slot2 - 128MB slot3) then the channel containing the lowest amount of ram will limit the amount of total ram used in dual channel (being the 128MB dimm in slot 3).. so in this configuration you are running 256MB in dual channel and the remaining 128MB ram left over in channel 1 (slots 1 and 2) will be used as single channel...

your ram does not have to be identical in all 3 slots, or even if you are just using 2 slots to enable dual channel, of course it will most likely be more efficient and more stable with less compatibility issues if they are identical"........ :beer

 

[mechBgon]

Woooo, quintuple-post!

Well, 1) it is largely a rhetorical question since the platform is not sensitive to DC versus SC in most apps, and 2) my understanding is that the crossbar unit on the northbridge allows both controllers access to all three DIMMs at once. Maybe we can drag an official nVidia rep in here to answer this long-debated question

 

[hclarkjr]

ok you guys have me confused now!! i have a abit nf7-s version 2 board coming in the mail and already have 3 sticks of crucial PC2700 memory to put in it. they are identical 256 meg sticks, tell me in simple terms i can understand what would be the best way to run them on this board. i am going to be using a unlocked 2500+ on it with a Thermalright SLK947-U. thank you

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: hclarkjr
ok you guys have me confused now!! i have a abit nf7-s version 2 board coming in the mail and already have 3 sticks of crucial PC2700 memory to put in it. they are identical 256 meg sticks, tell me in simple terms i can understand what would be the best way to run them on this board. i am going to be using a unlocked 2500+ on it with a Thermalright SLK947-U. thank you

Plug in all three sticks and set them to run sync'ed to the CPU's frontside-bus speed. For that board, just jump into the SoftMenu III and set the CPU FSB/DRAM Ratio to 3 / 3 or any of the other ratios that are a 1:1 ratio. I would run the RAM at 2.6-2.7 volts as needed for stability. HTH, have fun with the new rig

 

[hclarkjr]

will the bios set the ratio automaticly for me at 3:3?

 

[mechBgon]

According to the manual I've got here, it defaults to "By SPD." That could result in non-synchronous operation as soon as you tried an overclock, so if it were me, I'd just take matters into my own hands and set it to a 1:1 ratio and be done with it.

 

[hclarkjr]

ok next question then, what is better overclock, multiplier or FSB? or combo of both?