Software to check memory channels

J

jamesd1981

Active Member
i am looking for advice on the best software to use to reliably check how many channels my memory has.

I currently use speccy for my system info, but it is showing seemingly my new dual channel memory as single channel, and my windows index score has dropped which may confirm the single channel info, i am looking for good software to confirm this.

I currently have 2 x 2 gb kingston hyper blu 1333mhz dual channel.

I bought the new higher frequency memory below, but is showing as single channel and scores lower than the kingston memory.

http://www.cclonline.com/product/54...Memory-Module-4GB-1x4GB-DDR3-1600MHz/RAM0264/
 
Dual channel has nothing to do with what memory you have. You need to put the sticks in the same color slots on the motherboard. If you have one stick on a blue slot and the other stick in a white slot, then its only in single channel.
 
Thanks for the reply john, i only have one 4gb stick for the new memory.

I got to the bottom of the problem anyway, i used speccy and cpu-z both confirmed the new memory was single channel.

So i went on to the corsair site and checked for that kind of memory and found there is a single channel version and a dual channel version.

The single channel version has a different part number, than the dual channel.

It appears to be corsairs factory fault, they have put a single channel chip, into a dual channel heatspreader and packaging.
 
I am sorry to burst your bubble, but it does not work like that. All DDR ram is dual channel as a matter of practice. The only thing that you need to run dual channel is a DC motherboard, and 2 RAM sticks the same size and speed (it might underclock a faster one in DC mode, not real sure).

All the Dual Channel product is is a certification that the two memory modules will run together without fighting.

You will have to have them in the right memory banks, and I think there may be a BIOS option to turn on dual channel mode. Not real sure on that, as I have not worked on many dual channel boards recently.
 
Well why would corsair list them with two different part numbers.

I have one 4gb stick of the above linked memory, it is in the first dimm slot, but only shows as single channel.

It cant be right that a higher frequency memory gets a lower score, if they were both dual channel.
 
On the corsair site the part number for the single channel is
cmz4gx3m1a1600c9

The part number for the dual channel is

cmz4gx3m1a1600c9b

Surely if i am showing the single channel part number, it means i have the wrong memory ?
 
If you are only running one stick or 3 sticks, then you aren't running in dual channel. You need to have an even number of sticks to run in dual channel mode. So if you only have one stick installed at the moment then that is considered only single channel. You can buy 2 single channel sticks and still run dual channel.
 
So even though the new memory is a higher grade, it will score lower unless i buy a 2nd stick to run in dual channel ?
 
If by scores lower you mean the WEI, then do not judge your computer by that. Dual Channel will have higher throughput, which means that you will have better memory performance from a dual stick setup.
 
Ok thanks, john and wolfeking , looks like i will have to buy another stick, oh well never mind that will give me 8gb.

So just for future reference would you guys say 4gb running 2 x 2 dual channel is better than say 8gb in single channel.
 
theoretically, yes. However, it depends on your RAM needs. What I would do is just grab another 4GB stick and run 8GB in dual channel. That would be the most advantageous solution.
 
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