3x 1 GB RAM - is this working?

i wonder if it would work when i plug 3x 1GB ram into my mainboard. currently i have 2x 1GB, but since another one costs 20 € i think i can afford it quite well.

everything worked fine yet as long as i had 2x 1GB (ddr2-800) ones. will it work well when i plug 3x 1GB in?
will it work well if i dont find exactly the same one, but a different, that is ddr2-800, too?
thanks in advance :)

Yeh, you can use odd numbers of RAM. Some people even use different sizes of RAM.

It'll work if your motherboard supports 3GB.

Different sizes will work together. Different speeds will work together, but the faster RAM will only operate at the same speed as the slowest.

my mainboard suppors 8 GB:


ok then, i will upgrade in a week when i'm clear on this.
anyone else got an opinion?

tbh you might make the computer a little slower as one of the ram sticks wont be running in dual mode (two sticks occupying the two slots). I would add two sticks if I were you as this would keep the dual mode going thus making your computer faster.

According to newegg, that board supports up to 8GB, so you should be fine with 3.

If your mainboard supports Dual Channeling your computer will run faster with 2x 1GB than with 3x1GB...

hm. i think i better keep my 2x1GB system than changing anything to the worse. thanks for your help :)

As long as the memory modules are a twined pair or you wont see the benefits (you could even make the system unstable)

Of course.
I don't think he has 1,5GB and 0,5GB (does a 1,5GB RAM even exist?).

The term "twined pair" means that two memory modules needed for a dual channel configuration have to be of the same size,type and speed and are sold as such. Adding a one extra module thats is the same size,type and speed to a dual channel set up will disable dual channel mode.

To mantain a dual channeling you have to install memory in "pairs" of the same type. The motherboard manual will tell you the memory configurations it will take.

I am going to get another 2GB of the nVidia badged ones.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-082-OC


I already have 2 X 1GB of these fitted.

Just makes my PC more sexy. Will take it up to a self-touching 4GB.

I have 2GB of RAM, and I've never been even near the limit. Of course, you might be using Windows.

Puki, what OS are you running. If you are running Win XP, you will not get 4GB. You will get about 3.5GB, or possibly a little less.

Later this year I will install Vista on my gaming PC - I'll hang on for Service Pack 2.

It really depends on what you're doing with your computer -- photoshop & video editing can really give my PC with 2GB a beating. Just ordered another 2x1GB myself to help with that. (Of course there's the little catch of XP 32-bit not being able to use more than 3.25 GB or so since the remainder of the addressing space is used up by the other hardware devices, but at today's RAM prices it's still worth it... At least that way it stays in dual mode)

You also wont get 4GB under Vista ( more memory and SP1 are needed).

Um... No.

You need the 64 bit version to use more than the 3.x GB. On a 32-bit version of vista, that's still the limit. The only 'fix' is that SP1 on 32 bit will report that you HAVE 4GB, but it still won't use more than the 3.25 or 3.5 GB, depending on your hardware.

the catch is that any 32-bit OS can only access 2^32 addresses. (4GB). However, it's not just your RAM that uses those addresses, but also your PCI bus, modem, network card, video adapter, and other peripherals. Any addressing space used by those hardware components are subtracted from the 4GB maximum addressing space, leaving less room for the OS to address specific bytes of memory -- a 32-bit OS will simply overflow the variables when trying to go beyond 4GB, and won't let you do it.

The ONLY way to use a full 4GB is to use a 64-bit OS, whether that's vista, XP, linux, or whatever -- the 32 bit version of vista has the same limitation as the 32-bit version of XP or windows 2000, and can't use it all.

Ah, I have a 64 bit CPU. I shall Large myself.

Boy there's a lot of conflicting sh*t on the net about Vista SP1.

And more conflicting sh*t from MS about Physical Address Extentions (PAE).

The CPU won't make a difference unless you also run the 64-bit version of windows. 32-bit Vista or XP on a 64-bit CPU still means <4GB total.

ONly when both the CPU *and* the OS are 64 bit you can use the full 4GB.