R.a.m

[Sp1ice]

As long as your motherboard supports a single stick ( non Dual Channel) you can have a 1 GB stick and a 512 stick in the same machine if they are both 3200. Now you may need to have them in different banks.. so the 1GB stick would be in Bank 1 (Dimm 1,2) and the 512 in Bank 2 (Dimm 3,4) but that would be explained in your owners manual for the motherboard.

[lots]

I think what Sp1ice is trying to say is that you can use your differing sized RAM in any slot. This will cause the motherboard to default to single channel mode (this is slower). Ideally you would want dual channel, but this is only possible when the RAM is the same total size on both channels. Your motherboard manual will have a clear explanation on how to set this up on your particular motherboard.

If you've got two different sized modules (like in your case), and only two. You cannot use dual channel memory capabilities on your motherboard. However, the different size of the modules will not affect the ability of the ram to run at PC3200 speeds (DDR400). It just wont be quite as fast as if it were dual channel.

[Malakii]

so it would run at just the 1gig or would it run faster than the 1 gig but not as fast as 1 gig,512 meg?

when it comes to hardware i know sod all lol

EDIT: i seem to have erm......misplaced my manuals in the bin lol


ive got the demo version os sisoft sandra,i dont know what im looking for,heres most of my system summary if that helps

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+
Speed : 2.01GHz
Model Number : 3200 (estimated)
Performance Rating : PR3015 (estimated)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 1MB ECC Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 CPU(s)
MP APIC : No
System BIOS : American Megatrends Inc. 3.04
System : Compaq Presario 061 PJ525AA-ABU SR1139UK GB430
Mainboard : ASUSTeK Computer INC. Dom
Total Memory : 512MB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1
Model : Hewlett-Packard Company nforce3 CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 804MHz (1608MHz data rate)

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 804MHz (1608MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 512MB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 201MHz (402MHz data rate)

SiSoftware Sandra

System
Manufacturer : Compaq Presario 061
Model : PJ525AA-ABU SR1139UK GB430
Version : 0nK0411RE101DOM 00
Serial Number : CZB4320YCM
ID : 43766B00-11D8EBE2-E18A5DB0-98862727

System Chassis
Manufacturer : Chassis Manufacture
Type : Desktop
Can be locked : No
Version : Chassis Version
Serial Number : Chassis Serial Number
Asset Tag : Asset-1234567890
Boot-up State : Safe
Power State : Safe
Thermal State : Safe
Security State : External Interface Locked-out

Mainboard
Manufacturer : ASUSTeK Computer INC.
MP Support : 1 CPU(s)
MPS Version : 1.10
Model : Dom
Version : 1.xx
Serial Number : X312345678
System BIOS : 63-0304-000001-00101111-070204-Hammer

On-board Devices
Video Adapter : Video Adapter (Enabled)

System Memory Controller
Location : Mainboard
Error Correction Capability : None
Number of Memory Slots : 2
Maximum Installable Memory : 4GB
BANK0 - DIMM0 : Manufacturer0 PartNum0 SerNum0 AssetTagNum0 DIMM Synchronous SDRAM 512MB/64
BANK1 - DIMM1 : Empty

Chipset 1
Model : Hewlett-Packard Company nforce3 CPU to PCI Bridge
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Version : 1.03
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 804MHz (1608MHz data rate)
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Power Save Mode : No
Fixed Hole Present : No

Chipset 2
Model : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon 64 / Opteron HyperTransport Technology Configuration
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Version : 1.02
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 804MHz (1608MHz data rate)
Maximum FSB Speed / Max Memory Speed : 2x 1000MHz / 2x 200MHz
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
IO Queue Depth : 8 request(s)

Chipset 2 Hub Interface
Type : HyperTransport
Version : 1.02
In/Out Width : 16-bit / 16-bit
Speed : 2x 804MHz (1608MHz data rate)

Logical/Chipset 2 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 256MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-3 2CMD
Bank 1 : 256MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-3 2CMD
Channels : 1
Bank Interleave : 2-way
Speed : 2x 201MHz (402MHz data rate)
Multiplier : 1/10x
Width : 64-bit
Refresh Rate : 5.00µs
Power Save Mode : No
Fixed Hole Present : No

Memory Module 1
Manufacturer : Siemens
Model : 64D64320GU5C
Serial Number : 02001310
Type : 512MB DDR-SDRAM
Technology : 16x(32Mx8)
Speed : PC3200U 3.0-3-3-8
Date of Manufacture : 23 September 2004
Set Timing @ 200MHz : 3.0-3-3-8
Set Timing @ 167MHz : 2.5-3-3-7
Set Timing @ 133MHz : 2.0-2-2-5

Again, thanx for ANY help you can give me :)

[lots]

so it would run at just the 1gig or would it run faster than the 1 gig but not as fast as 1 gig,512 meg?

when it comes to hardware i know sod all lol


I dont think you understand. A 1GB chip is the SIZE not the SPEED. Thus, if you have one 1GB stick and one 512MB stick, you will have 1.5GB of RAM. That is a decent size. However, you will not be using dual channel in this configuration (most likely). Which means you will encounter a slowdown overall. Of cource, if your problem was related to running out of space in the RAM (with just 512MB), then it is possible that you will see an increase in speed, even though the overall performance of the ram has dropped. This is because less paging to the hard drive will occur with a larger ram size.

The best solution would be to either A) get two chips that are the same size and ditch the old one or B) Buy another 512 insted of 1GB or C) get a 512 MB and a 1GB chip. It should be possible (If the board supports it!) to use dual channel in this configuration, however to find out if this is correct you will need your motherbaord manual :P Look for it online, I'm sure it exsits.

[Malakii]

cheers all

ive already bought the 1GB stick of RAM, its on its way from the U.S, i was just wondering if it would be ok to stick them 2gether, the general consensus is "yes"

thanks to everyone who tried to help me in my journey of n00bie hardware questions :)

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