DDR2 Matched Pair...

Does "matched pair" mean that every stick of ram has to be the same size, speed AND brand or just the same size and speed

E.G:

2 Crucial 1GB PC2-6400
+
2 White Box 1GB PC2-6400

Would This configuration work or would I need 4 Crucial 1Gb sticks etc? :s

canderson90 said:

Does "matched pair" mean that every stick of ram has to be the same size, speed AND brand or just the same size and speed

E.G:

2 Crucial 1GB PC2-6400
+
2 White Box 1GB PC2-6400

Would This configuration work or would I need 4 Crucial 1Gb sticks etc? :s

Click to expand...

If the specs are the same (voltage, timings etc...) then they will work fine together

just same size and speed

a good tip is to install CPUZ as that will tell you amongst other things what speed, timings and voltages your memory will do, basicaly reads the firmwear of the memory, can`t remember exactly what its called sdp,spd but I`m sure some1 will know round here and post it ........ I hope


To me all 4 ram sticks should work fine together = 4Gig but if you are running a 32 bit os and have a 512Mb GFX card u will only get 3.5 Gb in windowz its even worse if you GFX card has 1Gb of memory as then U are basically wasting a ram stick

Matched pair used to mean that they were literally next to each other off the production line but unless you are trying to squeeze every nth out of an overclock you really will not notice the difference. The important thing as the chaps above have said is that the speed, voltage, timings are the same. And make sure they are the same size and in pairs of the same type as if they differ you may not make full use of the Dual Channel features and so it will just run slower than the board is capable of.

The quality of the ram is also important as it aids with stability. The more expensive ram basically is the better pick from the production line hence you see Mushkin, G.Skill brands at higher prices vs the Crucials and Kingstons. To be honest for a regular non-clocked system most are fine but always check your board compatibility with say Crucial`s online tools first just to make sure

Cheers,

Matched PAIRS. You can use a pair from one brand and another pair from another.

Check the documentation of the mobo to see the way you must hook the sticks. On my board I had to use socket 1 & 3 for one pair and 2 & 4 for the other. Works a dream.

Of course, remember the memory sticks must be the same specs or you'll have to force the best pair on the lower specs of the other pair.

Boards with only 3 memory slots must have three sticks exactly equals.

cosmicfrog said:

To me all 4 ram sticks should work fine together = 4Gig but if you are running a 32 bit os and have a 512Mb GFX card u will only get 3.5 Gb in windowz its even worse if you GFX card has 1Gb of memory as then U are basically wasting a ram stick

Click to expand...

Even If I have a grapics card with its own memory rather than system shared? :s

I went on the Crucial website and It said that I could only put 2gb in...... the bored manual and manufacturer say 4gb matched pair :s Hence Im very very confused.

canderson90 said:

I went on the Crucial website and It said that I could only put 2gb in...... the bored manual and manufacturer say 4gb matched pair :s Hence Im very very confused.

Click to expand...

I would go with what the board manufacturer and manual tell you

Windows XP (32bit) will only recognize up to 3Gb RAM.

Vista & 7 works with up 16Gb (IIRC).

rkauer said:

Windows XP (32bit) will only recognize up to 3Gb RAM.

Vista & 7 works with up 16Gb (IIRC).

Click to expand...

You still need 64-bit versions of Vista & 7 to utilise more than 3gb of RAM.

thats what I said, if you use a 32 bit os you lose certan amount of ram for you gfx/sfx cards

its basically 4Gb - size of your gfx card

Its crap that the 64bit versions on windoz are crap for gaming

cosmicfrog said:

thats what I said, if you use a 32 bit os you lose certan amount of ram for you gfx/sfx cards

its basically 4Gb - size of your gfx card

Its crap that the 64bit versions on windoz are crap for gaming

Click to expand...

64bit Vista and 7 seem fine for gaming for me.

Heres a quick trick...

If you have a licence key for 32 bit Vista (im sure this would work with 7 too but never tested it out), get yourself a 64 bit vista disc, it can be any version (home, business etc), and use that for the install. Use your 32 bit key and presto, you have 64bit windows installed on your system which activates just fine. It seems from Vitsa, the key only dictates the OS version and the disc dertermines the 'bit version' that gets installed. This wont work with XP however.