Re: ABIT IC7-G and Memory Config Question

[dgrilli]

I have an Abit IC7-G Motherboard and currently have 1 Gig of OCZ:
1GB Dual Channel Kit PN - OCZ4001024ELDCPE-K

I want to add a 2 GIG Kit to this:
2GB Dual Channel Kit PN - OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K

Will this work or do I have to stay with another 1 GIG set? Any help would be appreciated.

I have never been able to add the changes to the memory in the Bios and still be able to boot changing to 2-3-2-5. I have to leave it at stock or my machine will not boot.

Thanks my First Post.

[simple_inhibition]

first off welcome to the forums!

second, that will work but do realize that windows may or may not detect an actual 3gb amount of ram. keep in mind that your motherboard will set the timings to the slowest kit. so say the 1gb kit you have now is 2-3-2-5 and the other kit is 3-3-3-8, then the motherboard will default it to 3-3-3-8 (thats if the motherboard detects the SPD correctly)

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by simple_inhibition

first off welcome to the forums!

second, that will work but do realize that windows may or may not detect an actual 3gb amount of ram. keep in mind that your motherboard will set the timings to the slowest kit. so say the 1gb kit you have now is 2-3-2-5 and the other kit is 3-3-3-8, then the motherboard will default it to 3-3-3-8 (thats if the motherboard detects the SPD correctly)

To elaborate on what Simple said, the Ram may or may not run in dual channel. I've had one motherboard where it did and one where it wouldn't. All depends on the memory controller. I've not tried it with the 875 chipset your board uses, so it's hit or miss.

The motherboard takes every single bit of ram installed on the motherboard and adds it all up. So if you have a 512Mb video card, a 32Mb sound card and 3Gb of installed System Ram, you actually have a total of 3,544mb of installed ram as far as Windows is concerned. If you're running Windows XP 32-bit OS and older, Windows cannot physically address more than 3Gb of ram. This can cause everything from system instabilities to nothing at all. Just remember if you start having issues with booting after installing all 3Gb of ram, this could be why.

Personally, I would get the 2Gb kit, Ebay or locally sell the 1Gb kit and then put that money towards another HDD or something. :)

Oh, almost forgot, WELCOME to Hardware Logic! This is the best Truckstop on the information superhighway as far as I'm concerned.

[sbohdan]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

Personally, I would get the 2Gb kit, Ebay or locally sell the 1Gb kit and then put that money towards another HDD or something. :)

I second that. I actually had the same MB and it can OC very well and is extra stable
if you put in the 2GB kit it will run in dual channel, so this is the route...

[dgrilli]

Thank you for the replys.

Sbohdan,

You said you had the same motherboard.

The 1 Gig kit's timings are the exact same timings of the 2 Gig kit 2-3-2-5.

So will the Mother board actually see now 3 Gig running in Dual Channel instead of the 1 GIG I have now?

I am running Windows Vista Ultimate.



Still looking for Drivers for my HP 7410 All in One and C5150n Okie so I can run them through my network again.

I'm Actually running to 36 Gig Rapters in Raid 0.

I'm Using a BFG 6800 Ultra in the AGP Slot.

I just put a new LCD the Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. You should see the Crazy Claims made by Samsung on this.

[fps justin]

Originally Posted by dgrilli

Thank you for the replys.

Sbohdan,

You said you had the same motherboard.

The 1 Gig kit's timings are the exact same timings of the 2 Gig kit 2-3-2-5.

So will the Mother board actually see now 3 Gig running in Dual Channel instead of the 1 GIG I have now?

I am running Windows Vista Ultimate.



Still looking for Drivers for my HP 7410 All in One and C5150n Okie so I can run them through my network again.

I'm Actually running to 36 Gig Rapters in Raid 0.

I'm Using a BFG 6800 Ultra in the AGP Slot.

I just put a new LCD the Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. You should see the Crazy Claims made by Samsung on this.

The operarting system doesn't matter when detecting ram. What holds you back, is if the OS is 32bit, or 64bit. 32bit only lets you have 3.2gigs of ram. Where as 64bit lets you have 6.4 gigs of ram.

If your vista ultimate is 64bit, then yes it "should" recognize all the ram.

[dgrilli]

32 bit Operating system still should recognize 3Gig of Ram? Will Dual Channel be affected?

My Main Question is when I have 1 gig already DDR Dual Channel and put the Same Brand, Same Memory Timings, only a 2 Gig set in the Operating system should Recognize this?

I know you can't throw in differnt timings and diffrent name brands and expect it to run?

Can you have 1 gig in the two slots then add a 2 gig and be compatible. I already know that: The maximum amount of memory that can be supported on Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 is also 4 GB.

What I'm asking is that Dual Channel is finnicky with the combinations of ram being put in like in only in pairs in 2 slots. The second set of slots as long as its the same brand same timings. Since I only will have 3 Gig Total is the combo of 1 Gig + 2 Gigs compatible? It is an Abit IC7-G.

Sorry about the confusion.

[sbohdan]

I never tried 3GB but I would think you have to have the same size also to have it run in dual ch.
also don't forget, to get dual channel you need to use eighter slots 1&3 or 2&4...
also as quakindude and justin said it: if your Vista is 32bit then the video card and sound card memory ads up to your RAM and if it's more than 3.2GB alltogether, then windows will not be able to handle it...

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by sbohdan

I never tried 3GB but I would think you have to have the same size also to have it run in dual ch.
also don't forget, to get dual channel you need to use eighter slots 1&3 or 2&4...
also as quakindude said it: if your Vista is 32bit then the video card and sound card memory ads up to your RAM and if it's more than 3.2GB alltogether, then windows will not be able to handle it...

As he pointed out though XP pro and windows server 2003 32bit will recognize 4gb's of ram. I would imagine that Vista Ultimate would do the same at least!

[Quakindude]

I know that Windows XP is supposed to support 4Gb of physical memory and 4 Gb of Virtual memory. Windows 2003 server can support anywhere from 1Gb on up to 1 Tb of physical memory depending on what flavor you run and 16Tb of virtual memory(The 1 Tb physcial and 16Tb virtual is for Enterprise Server x64 edition OS).

Since you are getting 2 sticks of 1Gb same speed to add to your 2x512 sticks of the same speed, as long as you put them in the same bank, ie...2x512 in Bank 0 and 2x1024 in Bank 1, it *should* run in dual channel. I have an AMD system sitting right here next to me that has two different makes and speeds of ram running dual channel. This is with each bank having two different colored ram slots. Always check your MOM (Motherboard Owners Manual) for proper installation.

However, like I said before, after you install all of this memory, if you start having issues, Windows XP is the blame, more than likely, and not your Ram. I've seen it ever since Windows NT came out, which WinXP's kernel is based on, people saying 3Gb of memory has GOT to be better than 2!

Maybe for a server environment, but if your games choke, your Windows load times are extremely long and you just hate it that OS updates take so long while crashing your background app's, then you'll know why I don't recommend people put 3Gb of ram in their PC.

Then again, everything may work fantastic for you. Flip that coin. Just giving you a heads up.