Adding a 2 x VS1G400C3 to 2 x VS512MB400

[Radical Dreamer]

Hi,

 

I currently have 2 x VS512MB400 CL2.5 on my Asus A8N-E motherboard - adding up to 1GB.

 

I just bought 2 x VS1GB400C3 CL 3 in order to expand my 1GB RAM to 3GB RAM.

I assumed that all 4 chips should be working together but then I read that people ran into problems using this combination.

 

Am I going to run into problem ?

Should I add the chips in a certain order in the DIMMs ?

[Synthohol]

it may not work at all...

mixing ram even with the same part# is a risk. also if you have a 32bit OS you wont see 4 gig anyway.

you will be better off just using the 2 gig kit and forget about the others.

Corsair does not suggest or recommend mixing kits on the same board. you can read the link in my sig for a more in depth explanation.

[Radical Dreamer]

Synthohol - it sums up to 3GB, not 4GB.

 

I bought the VS1GB400C3 chips separately. When you say 2 gig kit you mean both of these ? (I assume there's no real 2 gig kit consisting of 2 chips?)

 

Should I keep the 2 VS1GB400C3 chips and sell the VS512MB400 ?

How much slower are the CAS 3 ? Will I feel the difference ?

[Synthohol]

there are many 2 gig kits that contain 2 factory matched 1 gig modules. any capacity ram you would like to use must be sold that way in the same package to be fully supported at listed speed. so just to understand you have 4 modules from 4 separate packages? if so this is not ideal and you may wind up having to run them at 333 or even 266 to play nice on the same board.

VS2GBKIT400C3 or CMC2GX1M2A400C3 are compatible 2 gig kits for your board. if you are lucky, you may be able to get 2 CMC2GX1M2A400C3 kits with the same version# to run together by bumping a couple different voltages but 4 separate kits? i wish you luck! ya never know but keep in mind that they are not supported that way.

[Radical Dreamer]

How can I know my current chips were from the same kit ?

What if I purchase 2 x VS512MB400 chips and add them to the existing 2 x VS512MB400 chips (summing up to 2GB). Will that work ?

 

Somehow it seems like that by your explanation that there's no real upgrade of memory but rather I'd call it replacement of memory.

Is it that hard for memory vendors to make chips that can actually handle such memory upgrades by adding more memory chips ?

[Synthohol]

How can I know my current chips were from the same kit ?

you would only open 1 package with the capacity you want

What if I purchase 2 x VS512MB400 chips and add them to the existing 2 x VS512MB400 chips (summing up to 2GB). Will that work ?

its a roll of the dice, its not supported because its unlikely they will work together either at listed speed or if at all

Somehow it seems like that by your explanation that there's no real upgrade of memory but rather I'd call it replacement of memory.

please see the link in my sig about 2 sets for an official explanation.

Is it that hard for memory vendors to make chips that can actually handle such memory upgrades by adding more memory chips ?

ever since the memory controllers left the motherboards and were implemented in the CPUs architecture this has been a restraint for any ram manufacturer.

when a "4-up (or more)" kit is sold by Corsair, every stick in that package was hand picked and tested with all the others in that single package to ensure they will all work together on the same motherboard. if a stick does not pass the "4+ up kit that stick is paired with another stick that does pass the 2 stick test at full listed speed and is sold as a pair with the pretested stick it passed with.

 

i hope my explanation is a bit more detailed this time :)

[Radical Dreamer]

you would only open 1 package with the capacity you want

 

Too late for that.... I already have 2 packs of 1GB each on route.

Moreover, it seems pretty weird to me that I have to throw away perfectly good existing chips just because I want to upgrade.

 

I guess the only beneficent are companies like Corsair since their customers have to get rid of their old chips and buy new ones.

Pretty financially convenient.

 

 

its a roll of the dice, its not supported because its unlikely they will work together either at listed speed or if at all

 

 

Are you sure it's unlikely ?

Because I'm about to roll my dice......

What are the odds of 2 separately bought VS1G400C3 chips working together ?

 

 

 

please see the link in my sig about 2 sets for an official explanation.

ever since the memory controllers left the motherboards and were implemented in the CPUs architecture this has been a restraint for any ram manufacturer.

 

What difference does it make if the memory controller are implemented in the CPU architecture instead of being part of the Motherboard ?

It's still an external "entity" for the chips. I don't get it.

Moreover, is it that hard to embed some kind of "mini controllers" on the chips themselves ?

 

 

when a "4-up (or more)" kit is sold by Corsair, every stick in that package was hand picked and tested with all the others in that single package to ensure they will all work together on the same motherboard. if a stick does not pass the "4+ up kit that stick is paired with another stick that does pass the 2 stick test at full listed speed and is sold as a pair with the pretested stick it passed with.

 

 

I getting to a point that I don't care if it's runs at full speed.

I just hope I'll be having error free RAM & a PC that actually boots up.