[wplug] quick hardware question -- Dual Channel in Single Channel mode

[DK]

On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 11:15 AM, Patrick Wagstrom <patrick at wagstrom.net> wrote:
> Here's something easy for folks who follow hardware more often than me.
>
> I've got an older Athlon 64x2 running on an nForce4 motherboard (MSI
> k8n-neo4).  It currently has a single 1GB stick of single channel ram.
> I've added some more standard services to the machine and am adding more
> ram.  I see that NewEgg has DDR 400 ram on sale with sweet rebate -- $20
> for 2x1GB sticks of Dual Channel (normally a stick of this antiquated ram
> is $40).
>
> Is it possible to force dual channel sticks to operate as single channel?
> Or must dual channel memory always be operated in pairs?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Patrick

The MSI spec page reads that this motherboard does not support
operation with three DIMM, regardless if the RAM modules are single or
dual channel.

To answer you last question, yes, dual channel memory must always be
used in pairs.  Typically, motherboards have DIMM channel A and
channel B which are used for dual channel RAM.

Dave