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Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 18th 20, 11:47 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Micky
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Posts: 1,528
Default Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.

Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.

Like my Dell core2 duo optiplex 775 (or 755??,. I forget, but this is a
generatl quetion. )
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  #2  
Old September 19th 20, 12:06 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Micky
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Posts: 1,528
Default Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 18 Sep 2020 18:47:27 -0400, micky
wrote:

Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.


Shucks, I'm sorry. I left out the main difficulty. I want to use 3 of
the 2 gig sticks, so the last one won't be paired.


(I finally got a hit in google that reminded me what the problem is. It
recommended 2 one-gig sticks to get to 6, but I don't want to spend
money when (someday soon, maybe, someday) I'm going to buy another
computer. So I just want to use what I have.

I'm assuming I'll find one stick that is bad.


Like my Dell core2 duo optiplex 775 (or 755??,. I forget, but this is a
generatl quetion. )


So far, I replaced the thermal paste and reassembled and the CPU temp is
only 139^. Plus the paste people say the temp will go down 4 or 5
degrees as it burns in for the first 200 hours. I'm not doing much
with the computer so I supppose it will get hotter when I run a lot of
things, but all in all, it seems okay.

So then I used one stick of 2Gigs and it crashed, while I was looking at
speccy and speccy said it was 134^, so it can hardly have crashed
because of the heat or the thermal paste, right.

I changed sticks and it's okay for now, but it's gone 24 hours before it
crashes, so who knows.

I was able to add another user (one who doesn't need a pin) and trying
to do that made it crash 2 or 3 times berfore, so that's a good sign.

Two more sticks to go and I hope to have 2 or 3 good sticks, totallying
4 or 5 gigs. That's enough for a secondary computer that only does a
few things. Unless it's not the RAM eiither. ;-(
  #3  
Old September 19th 20, 02:10 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Paul[_32_]
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Posts: 11,873
Default Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.

micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 18 Sep 2020 18:47:27 -0400, micky
wrote:

Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.


Shucks, I'm sorry. I left out the main difficulty. I want to use 3 of
the 2 gig sticks, so the last one won't be paired.


(I finally got a hit in google that reminded me what the problem is. It
recommended 2 one-gig sticks to get to 6, but I don't want to spend
money when (someday soon, maybe, someday) I'm going to buy another
computer. So I just want to use what I have.

I'm assuming I'll find one stick that is bad.


Like my Dell core2 duo optiplex 775 (or 755??,. I forget, but this is a
generatl quetion. )


So far, I replaced the thermal paste and reassembled and the CPU temp is
only 139^. Plus the paste people say the temp will go down 4 or 5
degrees as it burns in for the first 200 hours. I'm not doing much
with the computer so I supppose it will get hotter when I run a lot of
things, but all in all, it seems okay.

So then I used one stick of 2Gigs and it crashed, while I was looking at
speccy and speccy said it was 134^, so it can hardly have crashed
because of the heat or the thermal paste, right.

I changed sticks and it's okay for now, but it's gone 24 hours before it
crashes, so who knows.

I was able to add another user (one who doesn't need a pin) and trying
to do that made it crash 2 or 3 times berfore, so that's a good sign.

Two more sticks to go and I hope to have 2 or 3 good sticks, totallying
4 or 5 gigs. That's enough for a secondary computer that only does a
few things. Unless it's not the RAM eiither. ;-(


The chipset in a Core2 machine should support Flex Memory.

The memories on each channel are matched for size, and the
leftovers runs in single channel mode.

Years ago, I measured this, and the dual channel I was testing
would do 1400MB/sec, the single channel mode 800MB/sec. That's just
go give you some idea, how much difference there is between
a "fast" and a "slow" section of the memory map.

Let's take the trivial case. Nothing to understand particularly.
Same speed through the entire memory space.

Channel0 Channel1
| |
1GB 1GB 1400MB/sec
| |
2GB 2GB 1400MB/sec

You can see that the mates are matched.

However, with Flex Memory, this config is equivalent. And initially
it isn't apparent why. (No, it doesn't do a juggling act.)

Channel0 Channel1
| |
1GB 2GB 1400MB/sec
| |
2GB 1GB 1400MB/sec

You can see that the addresses can alternate all the way up,
on each side. No leftovers. Because there is 3GB on each side,
it can just alternate, from one end to the other.

Now, if we do it like this, some of the memory has a mate
and some doesn't. The upper half of the 4GB stick doesn't
have a mate, so the upper half runs in single channel mode.

Channel0 Channel1
| |
X X
| |
2GB 4GB 1400MB/sec for the bottom 2x2GB worth,
and 800MB/sec for the top 2GB.

The caches on Intel processors are pretty good about hiding
the performance discrepancy.

If you're not using a chipset GPU (the VGA connector on the
back of the Optiplex), then the very last config there is
quite OK. I find on my Optiplex, you can kinda "feel" the
difference if using the onboard VGA, between the proper
memory configs and the "any olde config will do" config.
If I were to use my HD6450 PCI Express video card (13Watts),
then the memory config is undetectable because the HD6450
doesn't use system RAM. It has its own onboard memory chips.
The speed discrepancy of using 2+4 like that, isn't all
that noticeable, if a separate video card with its own
video memory is used.

Paul
  #4  
Old September 19th 20, 09:56 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
wasbit[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 229
Default Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.

"micky" wrote in message
...
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Fri, 18 Sep 2020 18:47:27 -0400, micky
wrote:

Can I use just 6 gigs of RAM in PC's that take 4 sticks.


Shucks, I'm sorry. I left out the main difficulty. I want to use 3 of
the 2 gig sticks, so the last one won't be paired.


(I finally got a hit in google that reminded me what the problem is. It
recommended 2 one-gig sticks to get to 6, but I don't want to spend
money when (someday soon, maybe, someday) I'm going to buy another
computer. So I just want to use what I have.

I'm assuming I'll find one stick that is bad.


Like my Dell core2 duo optiplex 775 (or 755??,. I forget, but this is a
generatl quetion. )


So far, I replaced the thermal paste and reassembled and the CPU temp is
only 139^. Plus the paste people say the temp will go down 4 or 5
degrees as it burns in for the first 200 hours. I'm not doing much
with the computer so I supppose it will get hotter when I run a lot of
things, but all in all, it seems okay.

So then I used one stick of 2Gigs and it crashed, while I was looking at
speccy and speccy said it was 134^, so it can hardly have crashed
because of the heat or the thermal paste, right.

I changed sticks and it's okay for now, but it's gone 24 hours before it
crashes, so who knows.

I was able to add another user (one who doesn't need a pin) and trying
to do that made it crash 2 or 3 times berfore, so that's a good sign.

Two more sticks to go and I hope to have 2 or 3 good sticks, totallying
4 or 5 gigs. That's enough for a secondary computer that only does a
few things. Unless it's not the RAM eiither. ;-(


In everyday use you are not likely to notice the difference if you use
mismatched sticks of RAM.

If you are using the standard Intel heatsink & fan, double check each of the
four mounting pins have engaged. On second use they can be difficult to
latch properly.

--
Regards
wasbit

 




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