Legit Reviews

I just installed a new motherboard, it has 2 channel DDR2 capabilty. Currently I have it set up with 2- 4G sticks in channel one (8GRam total)

Can I add 2-2G ram sticks to the other channel or do they all have to be 4G sticks?

Is it faster in Dual channel mode? whats the best way to run it?

Thanks Pete

You can add it, and it will still run in dual channel mode. Problem is with the RAM not playing nice. Are the RAM sticks the same speed (i.e. DDR2 667, 800, 1066)? Do they have have roughly the same timing modes (i.e. 5-5-5-18)? If they are different you can still use them but you might have to play with RAM timings, voltages and speeds until you get it dialed in.

My $.02: Add as much RAM as you can. I would rather have 6GB of RAM running at DDR2 667 than 4GB of RAM running at 1066. Sure the faster RAM looks better in generic benchmarks but more RAM in day-to-day computing is better. Example. I had 4GB (2x2GB) OCZ Reaper 1066 in my system. I traded my brother in law 4GB (2x2GB Patriot Extreme DDR2 800) for his 4GB kit (2x2GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 1066). Now my two kits shared the same voltage table and timings. In theory I should've been able to just put in the new set and get to rocking. Problem was since I added more RAM I put more of a strain on the memory controller. So instead of running at their rated 1066 (5-5-5-15) @ 2.0V I have to run them at 950 (5-6-5-18) @ 2.1V. Maybe you'll get lucky and this will be a moot point, but be prepared if it isn't.

One other suggestion, find out which kit runs slower by default and put that in the channel 1. Boot the system. Turn it off and then put the other kit in channel 2. Should help with having to fight with it like I did.

Thanks