Quick ram question

**Ralck** · 03-25-2006, 12:56 AM

When you have two sticks of ram in one computer, not dual channeled, does it slow both sticks down to the timings/cas latency of the slower chip? Or does it utilize both at their actual timings?

peterdiva · 03-25-2006, 01:45 AM

It uses the timings in the BIOS, which is one setting and applied to both sticks. So they can be overclocked or underclocked. I mixed DDR400 with DDR333 and ran it at DDR400 without any problems, just had to set the CAS to 3.0.

**UncleMacro** · 03-25-2006, 05:02 AM

For all the current chipsets I know of, there's just one set of timings and voltages which are applied to all memory sticks in the motherboard. If you leave the BIOS operating at defaults, then it will operate both sticks at the speed of the slower stick. To do what peterdiva did requires manually setting the timing in the BIOS. That can often be faster than going with the "least common denominator" defaults set up by the BIOS. But you have to experiment to find the best timings that both with run at.

**Ralck** · 03-25-2006, 10:55 AM

Thank you. Another quick question, are there any programs I can run that will tell me the timings on the stick I have in there now, so I can buy a stick similar to those timings? I'd rather not overclock my ram, so I'd rather just go with a stick that is similar.

**UncleMacro** · 03-25-2006, 02:59 PM

CPU-Z will tell you the current speed of your RAM as well as the suggested values in the SPD ROM (serial presence detect - the ROM on your RAM stick which tells the motherboard how fast it can go). The Memory tab shows you the current timings of the RAM. The SPD timings table on the SPD tab gives you the suggested timings for the stick. RAM sticks often have more than one suggested timing in the table.

03-25-2006, 12:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
Ralck TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,454 OS: 98SE/XP PRO/FC4 My System	Quick ram question When you have two sticks of ram in one computer, not dual channeled, does it slow both sticks down to the timings/cas latency of the slower chip? Or does it utilize both at their actual timings?

03-25-2006, 01:45 AM	#2 (permalink)
peterdiva Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Western Australia Posts: 455 OS: WinXP	It uses the timings in the BIOS, which is one setting and applied to both sticks. So they can be overclocked or underclocked. I mixed DDR400 with DDR333 and ran it at DDR400 without any problems, just had to set the CAS to 3.0.

03-25-2006, 05:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
UncleMacro TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,133 OS: Vista SP1 My System	For all the current chipsets I know of, there's just one set of timings and voltages which are applied to all memory sticks in the motherboard. If you leave the BIOS operating at defaults, then it will operate both sticks at the speed of the slower stick. To do what peterdiva did requires manually setting the timing in the BIOS. That can often be faster than going with the "least common denominator" defaults set up by the BIOS. But you have to experiment to find the best timings that both with run at.

03-25-2006, 10:55 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ralck TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,454 OS: 98SE/XP PRO/FC4 My System	Thank you. Another quick question, are there any programs I can run that will tell me the timings on the stick I have in there now, so I can buy a stick similar to those timings? I'd rather not overclock my ram, so I'd rather just go with a stick that is similar.

03-25-2006, 02:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
UncleMacro TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,133 OS: Vista SP1 My System	CPU-Z will tell you the current speed of your RAM as well as the suggested values in the SPD ROM (serial presence detect - the ROM on your RAM stick which tells the motherboard how fast it can go). The Memory tab shows you the current timings of the RAM. The SPD timings table on the SPD tab gives you the suggested timings for the stick. RAM sticks often have more than one suggested timing in the table.