Mixing different corsair dual channel ram

[nick71]

Hi,

I currently have 2 x 512mb 3200XL sticks running at 2225 in dual channel on a MSI K8N Neo2 Plat. mobo but want to add 2 x 1g 3200C2 sticks to also run in dual channel. Realise that i will have to adjust ram speeds back to the 3200C2 speed but do you foresee any other conflicts?

 

My mobo will reduce the speed to 333mhz instead of 400mhz, understand as well - not sure if there is a way around that - don't think there is a bios update to fix this just part of the chipset (AMD 64 Newcastle core).

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[CMC_SAVAGE]

but do you foresee any other conflicts?

Other than the fact that they probably won't work together?

If you already have the C2's, all you can do is try.(Don't buy them).

[nick71]

What model will work? i'm after 2g worth.

[RJLeong65]

Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the Newcastle's memory controller, using four double-sided 512MB sticks of memory will drop your memory clockspeed to PC2700/DDR333 (166MHz), and will also force a 2T command rate setting.

 

In addition, I've even read a horror story in which mixing the LL and the C2 modules in the same system defaulted all of the memory speeds and timings to fail-safe settings (PC1600/DDR200/100MHz, CAS 3-4-4-8, 2T)!

 

There is no way around this limitation, other than to get rid of your two existing 512MB sticks and get youself a TWINX2048 kit.

 

Here are my recommendations:

 

Good All-Around: TWINX2048-3200C2 Series

 

Best Performance: TWINX2048-3500LL Series

[nick71]

Sorry, what i mean is i want 3g in total.

 

I want to keep the 2 x 512mb stick of 3200xl in dual channel.

 

I also want to add 2 x 1024mb sticks in the other dual channel slots - what ram will not conflict with the other 2 x 512mb 3200xl sticks?

 

 

Thanks

Nick

[RAM GUY]

I am sorry but this would not be possible. With most MB's today all of the memory you use would need to be exactly matched both in part# and revision or the system may not post or be stable.

[RJLeong65]

Sorry, what i mean is i want 3g in total.

 

I want to keep the 2 x 512mb stick of 3200xl in dual channel.

 

I also want to add 2 x 1024mb sticks in the other dual channel slots - what ram will not conflict with the other 2 x 512mb 3200xl sticks?

 

As the RAM GUY said, there is no 1GB stick of memory at all whatsoever which does not conflict with your existing 512MB 3200XL modules. The 3200XL modules currently come only in the 512MB size - either as single 512MB sticks or as a 1GB kit of two modules.

[nick71]

Okay thanks.

 

If i got another 2 x 512mb 3200xl would that work?

 

What would give better perfromance -

 

the 4 x 512mb 3200xl sticks running at 2225 or the 2 x 1024mb 3200c2 running at their standard speed? Given that with 4 sticks the speed will decrease to 333mhz instead of the 400mhz?

 

For playing games and also photo / video editing?

 

Would like to overclock slightly not much though.

[RAM GUY]

One Twinx2048-3200C2 set of modules would give best performance.

[RJLeong65]

One Twinx2048-3200C2 set of modules would give best performance.

 

True, but only if the timings and voltage are manually set to the tested values.

 

However, even the stock CAS 3-3-3-8 timings and the BIOS-default 2T command rate on those modules would not hurt the A64's performance anywhere near that much - when I tested the total memory latency using Everest, the latency (with an X2 3800+) only went from about 57ns @ CAS 2-3-3-6 1T to about 67ns @ CAS 3-3-3-8 2T. That 10ns differential renders any real-world performance differences negligible at best.