One stick on dual channel board?

[zhanate]

I have a dual channel motherboard (Chaintech VNF4 Ultra ZENITH VE (Nforce4)). It is possible to run it with just one stick of RAM -- Corsair VS1GB400C3 1GB DDR400 PC3200 CAS3 Value Select?

 

I bought a pair of the motherboards and a pair of the RAM sticks to upgrade two computers because I didn't know the motherboard should have matched pairs. Eventually I can get another two sticks of RAM, but not right now. I understand that some boards can run in single channel mode. If this can, could I use just one stick of RAM?

[Wired]

All dual channel capable motherboards can also run memory in single channel, as this is a property of the memory controller (located in the CPU) in how it handles memory. This is why you can place memory in different slot configurations on a motherboard and it will register as single or dual channel.

[zhanate]

Thank you. I thought I'd seen in one place that being able to run in single channel mode was optional.

 

I apologize for being a little dense, but is using one stick of RAM usually one of the valid configurations for single channel?

[Wired]

Yes and no. One stick by itself will obviously run in single channel, seeing as you need 2 sticks for dual. However, if you have 2 sticks and use the appropriate slots, you can still run in single channel if you wish.

[zhanate]

Great, that's what I wanted to know. I appreciate your help, thanks.

[Wired]

No problemo!