Quick Question About Placement of RAM (Not The Usual Question)

[Daly]

I am running 2x256 Corsair XMS and 2x512 of Corsair Value select.

Does it make a difference which ones are in A1-B1 and A2-B2 (besides having them correctly paired obviously).

Will it make a difference if the XMS is in the 1 slots vs 2 slots in regards to performance or anything?

Thanks!

[kc10]

Do you have a dual channel motherboard? In any case I'd put the 512 sticks in the A slots, and 256 in the B slots. That is, if A1/A2 are 1 and 3, and B1/B2 are 2 and 4.

[SPOFF]

I have the same question. I have an Intel 875P MOBO (dual channel) with two "pairs" of slots. (1,2, and 3,4) There are two slots side by side nearest the CPU, in the conventional position on the MOBO, and another pair of slots off to the right (and further away)inclined over at 45 degrees from the verticle. (Dell 8300)

The original memory was a pair of 256 PC 3200 ..one in the slot closest to the CPU (#1) and the other over in the second pair of slots (#3). (white clips) Yesterday I "replaced" the two 256 sticks with Corsair XMS "TwinX 1024 3200 C2PT". (512x2) One went into slot #1 and the second one went into slot #3. It works fine.

Now I would like to re-install the pair of 256 sticks to make 1.5 gig total. It seems that doing so will pair one 512 with one 256 in adjacent slots... say #1 and #2. This puts the two sticks in VERY close proximity.

Two 512s will Not fit together in adjacent slots because of the heat spreaders...not enough room. The 256 sticks do not have heat spreaders. Is "pairing" say a 512 in slot #1 and a 256 in slot #2, And a 512 in slot #3 and 256 in slot #4 permissable? Will heat dissapation be a problem? Thanks for any advice. SPOFF

[MadMaster]

That is the way I would put them. Heat dissipation shouldn't be a problem unless you overclock.

[loki]

Usually it will say something in the manual if there are specific RAM configurations to enable dual channel. It depends on the motherboard whether the pairs are slots 1 and 3 for the first channel, and 2 and 4 for the second., or 1 and 2 for channel one and 3 and 4 for channel two.

In your case it sounds like the pairs are probably set up like the first case above. The manual should say something though.

loki

[SPOFF]

Thanks for the comments guys. I dragged out the DELL 8300 owners manual again and had another look. Apparently I was "not even" as perceptive as I would have hoped.

Where I labeled the connectors/slots 1,2..and 3,4 in my post, the picture in the book of the MOBO labels the the First pair of connectors DIMM1 and DIMM2. However, the actual connectors/slots are numbered 1 and 3.

The Second pair of connectors/slots are DIMM3 and DIMM4, and are numbered 2 and 4.

SO: When DELL sent the computer, One 256 stick was in the first slot in the First pair of connectors, #1, ..and the second 256 stick was in the first connector in the Second pair, #2. Ie. The number sequence is 1,3 and 2,4 going away from the CPU. I installed the new 512s in connectors/slots 1 and 2 where the old 256 sticks had been.. Did I do good?? So can I put the old 256 sticks in the empty connectors/slots numbered 3 and 4?? SPOFF

EDIT: The Dell book labels DIMM1, DIMM2,etc TWO different ways on different pages of the book. Apparently, sequence 1,3 and 2,4 IS the correct labelling. DIMM1 and DIMM2 "ARE" the same as slot #1 and slot #2 after all. Oh well.

PS: I have NO PLANS to "Overclock" anything until I get a lot smarter.