Mixing RAM

C

cas146

New Member
I recently purchased 2Gb of RAM brand Gskills:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231047

So I took my old RAM out which was 1Gb brand Kingmax (cheap brand). One day I decided to put the cheep RAM back in so that I would have a total of 3Gb.

So far my computer seems alright but I've notice that it's running a bit slower than usual. I'm not sure if this is because I added the old RAM or not. Should I have NOT put back in the old cheap RAM? Will I run into problems later on down the line?

Thanks for the info
:)
 
Running a 939 board and 3gbs you knocked it out of Dual channel. If your not using more than 2gbs of memory that you already have and add 1 more gb causing it to drop out of dual channel it probably would seem a tad slower.
 
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I would not tend to mix different types of RAM, they have different latencies and such, I wouldn't advise it. If you have another 1GB or 2GB of the Gskill RAM, it'd work fine.
 
Simply adding 1gb more won't necessarily knock the board into single cnannel mode. Kornowski is quite correct about the CAS Latency factor since the GSkill memory sees lower timings then many brands of performance memory. 2.5.3.3.6 is quite a bit faster then the 3-3-3-8 seen on a matched of Corsair xms series DDR400 memory on an older build here. Timings and type as well as speed will play a role when mixing memory.
 
You cant run Dual Channel on a 939 board with 3 1gb sticks or 2 1gb sticks and 2 512mbs, theres a few Intel chips that can its called Flex Mode but no 939 or AM2 can. They all have to be the same size in Mbs. in pairs

Rules to Enable Dual Channel Mode
To achieve Dual Channel mode, the following conditions must be met:
  • Matched DIMM configuration in each channel
  • Same Density (128MB, 256MB, 512MB, etc.)
  • Matched in both Channel A and Channel B memory channels
  • Populate symmetrical memory slots (Slot 0 or Slot 1)
Note: Configurations that do not match the above conditions will revert to Single Channel mode.

The following conditions do not need to be met:
  • Same brand
  • Same timing specifications
  • Same DDR speed
Note: Memory channel speed is determined by the slowest DIMM module populated in the system.
 
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Gee the board here will run in dual channel mode with a 256 in one, a 512 in another, a 1gb in the 3rd, and a 2gb in the last seeing all dimm slots populated on the AM2 model here. The actual recommended for dual channel however is identical in size and type. But the problem cas146 is having even with only one GSkill dimm is the serious mismatch of timings for the most part.
 
Whether in single or dual channel mode a mismatch of memory will see more of an impact on the actual overall performance and stability of any system. Kornowski's original assessment was right on the mark.
 
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