[SOLVED] I don't know if I have dual channel ram.

[brianseabury2]

I got a nice laptop as a gift for my birthday but I don't know if it has dual channel ram. I thought it did but there was occasional slow down during ram intensive tasks.

Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 0-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung


Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 1-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung

Is it dual channel because the controller's operate independently of each other. Id expect dual channel to be something like.
Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 0-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung


Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 0-ChannelB-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung

It seems like it might be dual controller ram.
who knew that was a thing but not dual channel or maybe its not dual channel at all. not sure. dual controller though would still mean the data is being read both at the same time so that would be cool. I don't understand why a top of the line laptop wouldn't have dual channel though. I think it does but they should really advertise it.

 

[lvt]

Can you run CPU-Z and make some screenshots with it?

 

[brianseabury2]

Cpu-z does say its dual channel but I think Cpu-z may be wrong.

here's the info.

Northbridge Intel Tiger Lake-H rev. 05
Southbridge Intel HM570 rev. 11
Bus Specification PCI-Express 4.0 (16.0 GT/s)
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
Memory Type DDR4
Memory Size 16 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 1596.1 MHz (3:48)
Memory Max Frequency 3200.0 MHz
CAS# latency (CL) 22.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 22
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 22
Cycle Time (tRAS) 52
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 560
Command Rate (CR) 1T
Uncore Frequency 897.8 MHz
Host Bridge 0x9A36

technically the info I provided previously just shows there on separate controllers not separate channels but maybe that does the same thing.

 

[Bob.B]

Cpu-z does say its dual channel but I think Cpu-z may be wrong.

here's the info.

Northbridge Intel Tiger Lake-H rev. 05
Southbridge Intel HM570 rev. 11
Bus Specification PCI-Express 4.0 (16.0 GT/s)
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
Memory Type DDR4
Memory Size 16 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 1596.1 MHz (3:48)
Memory Max Frequency 3200.0 MHz
CAS# latency (CL) 22.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 22
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 22
Cycle Time (tRAS) 52
Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 560
Command Rate (CR) 1T
Uncore Frequency 897.8 MHz
Host Bridge 0x9A36

technically the info I provided previously just shows there on separate controllers not separate channels but maybe that does the same thing.

Run a pass of speccy on the main page it should show dual channel.

 

[brianseabury2]

under ram it doesn't show anything. under summary it doesn't show anything. I think the controller may be something that allows the ram to act independently and the channels are something that allow rams on different controllers to act in tandem. it could also be each ram stick gets its own controller so it's either.


ignore this. my config is still this
Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 0-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung


Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 1-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung

hypothetical example of what a ram controller is

example 1

controller 0 channel a dimm 0
controller 1 channel b dimm 1

controller 2 channel a dimm 3
controller 3 channel a dimm 4

example 2

controller 0 channel a dimm0

controller 1 channel a dimm1

controller 2 channel b dimm2

 

[brianseabury2]

are ram sticks in dual channel supposed to be in the same channel or different channels. when I had dual channel on the 7700t. I had two ram sticks in one channel and two ram sticks in another channel. I kind of assumed that dual channel had to be in different channels. but dual channel seems to mean divisible by 2. 2 ram sticks in one channel. 2 ram sticks in another channel.

Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 0-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung


Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 1-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung

can someone explain to me what this means because it doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Bob.B]

are ram sticks in dual channel supposed to be in the same channel or different channels. when I had dual channel on the 7700t. I had two ram sticks in one channel and two ram sticks in another channel. I kind of assumed that dual channel had to be in different channels. but dual channel seems to mean divisible by 2. 2 ram sticks in one channel. 2 ram sticks in another channel.

Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 0-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung


Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 1-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung

can someone explain to me what this means because it doesn't make sense to me.

What is this pc?.....make and model.
How many ram slots?

 

[brianseabury2]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J98M8GW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 but the intel xtu information gives all the information about whether its dual channel

 

[Bob.B]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J98M8GW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 but the intel xtu information gives all the information about whether its dual channel

Put one stick of ram in the pc.
Boot the pc and check what speed the ram is set at.
Run a ram speed benchmark and get some numbers.

Now put the 2nd stick of ram in the pc and verify the ram speed is still set the same.
Run the benchmark.
If dual channel is being used I would expect to see higher numbers.

 

[lvt]

Cpu-z does say its dual channel but I think Cpu-z may be wrong.

CPU-Z doesn't decide whether your RAM is in dual or not, it just takes what the system provides as info.

 

[brianseabury2]

reading this makes me think it might work.

How to Check If RAM Is Dual Channel on Windows 10 & iMac - TechWiser

Recently I upgraded my laptop's RAM and if you are on the same page wondering whether it is running in the dual-channel mode, here's how to check it.

techwiser.com

bank 0 dimm0

bank 1 dimm0

whereas my memory is

Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 0-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung


Bank Label Bank 0
Device Locator Controller 1-ChannelA-Dimm-0
Default Speed 3200MT
Capacity 8gb
Manufacturer Samsung

I think the controllers are the places where you put the ram sticks when theyre not connected to another ram stick. so a controller is.

so a controller stores two ram sticks.
x
x

x
x

but if they werent seperated it wouldnt be considered a controller

x
x
not two controllers.

as far as Im able to figure it out.

 

[brianseabury2]

also hardwareinfo64 makes it clear

 

[brianseabury2]

just played witcher 3 at 2560x1440 low on 11th gen uhd graphics and crash bandicoot the n sane trilogy at 2048x1536 at low but crash bandicoot n sane trilogy always looks like double its resolution so it looks really good. still the games are still 2.5 times from being playable at native 4k which sucks. anyway I think its moving enough memory to show that it is probably using dual channel memory. in any case I couldnt really ask it to do more than its doing ram wise. I think there's a misconception that integrated graphics are bad at high resolutions because they can get single digit frame rates at high resolutions. at whatever resolution you eat up all the memory that's when you get single digit frame rates. but before 11th gen that used to be caused mainly by just running the game and not resolution. although theres always a resolution that maxes out the bus.

 

[brianseabury2]

can someone tell me if this is fast for dual channel ram that would answer it definitively then it can just mark it as answered and I give bob credit since its sort of there idea. its a laptop though so I don't want to get a screwdriver and unseat the ram. its kinda tedious.

MSI MS-1581 Performance Results - UserBenchmark
there was a previous owner of this. I guess the laptop's refurbished or they did extensive testing but I doubt. wasnt able to increase the results of this benchmark much. the only thing I was able to do was increase the memory bandwidth slightly. the latency is pretty bad though. dual channel ram hasn't been turning in as good of numbers as it used it but in my case I very well may not have it. 3200mhz and dual channel with 140ns latency. i think what it may be is 11th gen doesn't have the improvements that 12th gen has that make it latency prove on windows 11. while the ryzen patch doesn't apply to 11th gen intel.

looking at my results it looks like I don't have dual channel ram. some latency numbers are in the 70s. others are in the 90s and the memory bandwidth for all of them is higher.

never mind in windows 11 for some reason I have to keep processor performance state minimum maximum to 100 with userbenchmark. It doesn't make sense to me but I guess thats whats causing the high latency not enough cpu is being used by windows to lower latency. windows 11 is really cpu hungry. that being said ive been able to play gta 5 on both of the laptops ive had since owning windows 11 and both were really ram hungry games. being able to game on integrated graphics with gta 5 on a 6gb laptop was awesome also confusing because I had to use an external drive because they don't expect you to do that. now Im playing it in 1080p on the 11800h which is really cool. ive also played some rise of the tomb raider and user benchmark has helped me tweak my rig a fair amount.

 

[Bob.B]

can someone tell me if this is fast for dual channel ram that would answer it definitively then it can just mark it as answered and I give bob credit since its sort of there idea. its a laptop though so I don't want to get a screwdriver and unseat the ram. its kinda tedious.

MSI MS-1581 Performance Results - UserBenchmark
there was a previous owner of this. I guess the laptop's refurbished or they did extensive testing but I doubt. wasnt able to increase the results of this benchmark much. the only thing I was able to do was increase the memory bandwidth slightly. the latency is pretty bad though. dual channel ram hasn't been turning in as good of numbers as it used it but in my case I very well may not have it. 3200mhz and dual channel with 140ns latency. i think what it may be is 11th gen doesn't have the improvements that 12th gen has that make it latency prove on windows 11. while the ryzen patch doesn't apply to 11th gen intel.

looking at my results it looks like I don't have dual channel ram. some latency numbers are in the 70s. others are in the 90s and the memory bandwidth for all of them is higher.

never mind in windows 11 for some reason I have to keep processor performance state minimum maximum to 100 with userbenchmark. It doesn't make sense to me but I guess thats whats causing the high latency not enough cpu is being used by windows to lower latency. windows 11 is really cpu hungry. that being said ive been able to play gta 5 on both of the laptops ive had since owning windows 11 and both were really ram hungry games. being able to game on integrated graphics with gta 5 on a 6gb laptop was awesome also confusing because I had to use an external drive because they don't expect you to do that. now Im playing it in 1080p on the 11800h which is really cool. ive also played some rise of the tomb raider and user benchmark has helped me tweak my rig a fair amount.

Not sure how valid the numbers are going to be with that sort of cpu throttling.......99%.

 

[brianseabury2]

Not sure how valid the numbers are going to be with that sort of cpu throttling.......99%.

youre reading it backwards the most recent result has the cpu set to run at 100 percent all the time. all intel cpus can run at full blast if the workload requires it but you can set it to run at a certain clock speed all the time. I thought turning off turbo boost was a good idea so I set the processor performance state to 92 which doesn't turn off turbo boost but decreases the clock speed slightly. in any case you were right about that result. not sure when you replied. when I realized it was because of the cpu I set it to 100 percent and got 86 ns of latency.

 

[brianseabury2]

does 86ns of latency at 3200mhz make sense for dual channel. in any case its one of the top results. im going to say its dual channel. I find though if your going to use your computer without setting to a specific performance state in windows power options when it wants to turbo up you can easily damage your computer especially if you set it to constantly run at 100 percent in windows power options with processor performance state. this only happens say you want to download a game on steam and want to play a game at the same time at 100 percent performance state that can cause the computer to power limit throttle not because of some artificial limit either. its because of the computers native tdp.


with an 86ns latency is that evidence that the memory is running at dual channel with 32 gigabytes of bandwidth from the benchmark. the 11800h has a max memory bandwidth of 51.8 gigabytes and 16 gigabytes are installed. I think ive seen a celeron n4120 with double its memory bandwidth without being dual channel.

but then I see this.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/53888157


MC Read 16

MC Write 15.6

MC Mixed 11.6



41% 14.4 GB/s

triple the memory bandwidth of the ram.
and the latency is incredibly good.


Latency 67.2



60% 67.2 ns