QUICK QUESTION ABOUT DUAL CHANNEL

[BrianBaker]

Hello everyone,i've been reading through a lot of these pages to see if i could figure out why i could not get my DDR2 memory on my set up to run in dual channel(still a lot more to read) My system will not boot when i have memory installed in Banks 1 and 3 like my motherboard manual tells me to do to get it to run in dual channel.
It does how ever boot up when i have the memory installed in banks 1 and 2,but i noticed something odd,heres the question.Why does it say in CPUZ that my memory(installed in banks 1 and 2) is running in dual channel?I can't determine if this is an error or not,because my manual specifically says to install the memory in banks 1 and 3 for dual channel opperation..Any info on this subject is good info to me,the more i can learn the better..No need to dumb any of your answers down,I understand quite a bit when it comes to most of these things,its just ive never encountered this situation before. System Specs are posted below

Motherboard:MSI P6N SLI-FI
Processor:E6600 C2D @3.2Ghz
Memory: OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400/800 MHz/System Elite Edition/Dual Channel(OCZ2SE8002GK)1GBx2
PSU: OZC Modstream 540watt 45A
GPU:MSI 8800GTS640

 

[Hatman]

Must be a typo or something, nearly all motherboards use 1and2 and 3and4 to run dual channel modes, unless on your mobo in actual visual order it goes

1 3 2 4.

Meh, either way, run it in w/e mode it sais it runs dual channel in lol.

 

[BrianBaker]

Ok just did a test,from reading other posts..I have removed 1 stick of my RAM..I now only have a 1GB OCZ memory module in Bank 1 the other 3 banks are empty and CPUZ is still reporting that my memory is running in dual channel...Im totally confused now,you might even say im lost lol...I thought you needed 2 sticks of memory to run in dual channel..Please someone explain whats going on with my system and if this is completely normal...

Let me add that i am also running Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit...

 

[Hatman]

You.. do.. need 2 sticks to run dual channel.. as far as I knew anyway lol

Have you downloaded the latest version of CPU-Z? Might be worth downloading another copy just incase.

 

[Gravemind123]

If the P6N-SLI is like other MSI boards, you want the first orange slot and the first green slot to get dual channel actually running. I think CPU-Z shows the maximum number of channels possible, because it has said dual channel when I've had 3 sticks of ram in a system.

 

[BrianBaker]

Thank you for the responce..Thats what i thought with the MSI Boards..the 1st 2 slots are green and the second 2 slots are orange..My system will not boot when i have i stick in bank 1(green) and bank 3(orange)..The system will not even POST.It just completely freezes before it even posts....Something is up due to the fact that CPUZ said im running in dual channel even when i have only 1 memory moduel installed in the system...And i do have the latest version on CPUZ..I thought maybe Vista was reporting it to CPUZ wrong so i loaded off of my other HARD DRIVE with XP on it,and i get the same thing,it says dual channel when i have the memory installed in banks 1 and 2 and it also reports that i am running in dual channel mode with 1 memory slot installed and the other 3 empty...Any other ideas?? I mean im not noticing any problems with my system,its running flawlessly.This is more of a Why in the Heck is it telling me its running this way,when i know in fact its not..lol..Thanks for the replys guys,any more info would be great..

Brian

 

[BrianBaker]

Ok,on that note.....lol,i thought i had the latest version of CPUZ i must have downloaded from an old site.Mkay now it says its running in single channel....Now the bigger issue,why cant i get it to work in dual channel? Why does my system not want to boot when i install the memory the correct way for dual channel...I know there is a ton of stuff for me to read on these forums about that subject,but if anyone can chime in sooner,that would be great.Untill then,off to reading.....ALOT...

Brian

 

[tdank]

Try disabling Dual Channel in the bios until you have both sticks of RAM running. Once they are both in their correct slots and running ok go back into the bios and reinable Dual Channel.

 

[BrianBaker]

Not sure what you mean by disableing Dual Channel in Bios,i dont have that option in BIOS..As i stated before,the system will only boot when i have the Memory side by side in banks 1 and 2,the two green slots..If i put anything in banks 3 and 4(green slots) the system won't even Post..

 

[Zorg]

I had an old neo2 865, the ram ran in dual channel in slots 1,3 & 2,4. I don't think your manual is in error. Also, the machine should still boot with the ram installed in the wrong slots, it just won't be in dual channel. Try each stick in slot 1 alone, if you haven't already, to rule out a bad stick. Also, try the sticks in slots 2 & 4. MSIs website has always been abysmal. They sent me to OCZ for ram compatibility and OCZ has no information. That could be the issue. Good luck

 

[BrianBaker]

Thanks for the responce...Ive tried the Ram in 1 and 3 and 2 and 4..same thing happens,no post..ive tried both separately in slot 1,they both work..It could very well be that its not compatiable with this motherboard even though MSI claims OCZ system elite RAM is in there reconmendation list..Guess i shoulda went with Crucial...lol Im going to do some more tests and post back if i figure something out so that it could possible help someone in the future,thanks guys..

 

[jeb1517]

Maybe your motherboard's just messed up?

 

[shadowmaster625]

with 2 stcks installed, run sandra's memory bandwidth bench. You should be able to tell for CERTAIN which mode it is running in. You wont score higher than 4000 in single channel mode. Most likely about 3000. 5000~6500 for dual channel.

Put one stick in. Then open up all your ram timings, and raise ram voltage, and then try installing the second stick in dual channel mode.

 

[JayGVee]

I dont know if this will work - but i recently came across a similar problem on an ASUS P5NE-SLI motherboard. In order to run Dual Channel mode with two sticks of RAM, I had to increase the DRAM voltage to 2.0. Otherwise the system would not boot at all (no beeps or visual display). Once I increased it, the bios was able to detect it.

I believe it has something to do with the way the voltage is drawn across the 3 banks. It must increase the resistance and therefore decress the voltage. I've seen similar things when trying to boot with 4 banks installed. The only way to get it to boot with two or more sticks was to increase the DRAM voltage.

DISCLAIMER: Just check your RAM specs to make sure it can take Voltages upto 2.0 - you dont want to end up frying your RAM.

Jay Vee.

 

[Zorg]

I did a quick search on Google and found this thread. It is different ram but it is OCZ. The problems are not as severe but it appears that OCZ and P6N SLI-FI don't play well together.
OCZ 2GB DDR2 PC2-8500 & MSI P6N SLI-FI Motherboard - Hardware Issues [Archive] - OCZ Forum
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-28446.html

Understand when you read that post, your ram is 1.8 and 2.0 max. Check first to be sure of max voltage, as JayGVee stated.

 

[BrianBaker]

Ok,here where i stand now..I am believing this to be a hardware conflict..This is what i did yesterday and what happend.i put the OCZ Ram i have in dimm slot 1 and DIMM slot 3(dual channel mode) same as always,System will not post..So i have 2 more sticks of RAM laying around(different make,SUPERTALENT).I add that ram to DIMM slot 2 along with the OCA ram in slot 1+3,and the system posts it says dual channel mode in the post screen and RAM test passes 100% with an OK...But then it wont boot the Operating system,it just freezes up..
Heres another question for you guys that may tell me if my bord is bad..I used 1 memory moduel for this test,I installed the ram in slot 1 and the system boots,i install in slot 2 system boots,i install in slot 3 system wont post,install in slot 4 system wont post...Is my system supose to boot if i have 1 stick in any of the 4 slots? If so,then i think this bord is the problem..

 

[ausch30]

Your system should boot no matter which slot you have the memory in. I was reading through all the posts and what I was going to suggest was to try booting with 1 stick 1 slot at a time to check all of them. It sounds to me as if you have a bad board.