single sided pc3200 ram 1gig sticks 1

[jmille34]

I need to find single sided sticks of pc3200 ram in 1gig sticks. My motherboard has 4 slots that take 1gig each of ddr400 pc3200 ram, but the trick (I read this in the manual) is that in order to use all 4 slots, the dimms have to be single-sided, otherwise ddr turns off. I'd never heard of such, so I wasn't on the lookout for it when I bought my motherboard, and now I'm stuck. I currently have 2 half-gig sticks that are double sided, so I can't add anything without my ddr getting borked. I'd rather just pull those and pop in 4 new ones to get up to 4 gigs. But it seems that no memory listings tell single-sided versus double-sided, so I have no way to shop for it. Any help is appreciated.

It's an MSI k8ngm2 something something, socket 939 amd board, nforce 4, running vista x64 in case that matters. I emailed their support, but no response yet.

 

[cdogg]

Like you thought originally, that doesn't really make sense. All socket 939 boards I've seen don't have an issue with single or double sided. So I looked up the main page on MSI's site and here's what it says:

DIMM Module Combination
Install at least one DIMM module on the slots. Each DIMM slot supports up to a maximum size of 1GB. Users can install either single- or double-sided modules to meet their own needs.

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8NGM2-NBP&class=mb

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jmille34]

Hmmmmmm... very interesting. I wonder if this is the kind of thing that may have been corrected with a BIOS update, because I swear to God it's right there in black and white in my documentation. This would certainly be a good development. Maybe I will go the extra mile and get all the numbers off the motherboard and call them to find out for sure.

 

[jmille34]

Here it is.. check out the chart

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8NGM2-FID

So back to my original question, does anybody know specifically some ram that would meet this requirement so I can run 4 sticks at ddr400 speed?

 

[cdogg]

Heh, guess I didn't pay much attention to the chart!

But the good news is that if you read the fine print, the only real stipulation is that you don't use double-sided modules in both DIMM1 and DIMM3. With that said, you could leave the ones you have in DIMM1 and DIMM2, then fill the other two slots with single-sided.

If you're running the 32-bit version of XP, there's really no point in maxing out the RAM at 4GB. Instead, shoot for 2 or 3 gigs.

I'd contact NewEgg.com or Directron.com by phone to make sure they sell you single-sided DIMMs.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jmille34]

I'm running vista x64, so I hope it will do the full 4 gigs. The top of the mb page I linked does say 4gig max. I remember reading a bit about the 3gig thing with xp, and it seems like I have a better than average shot of maxing out successfully. Though I'm kind of cheap, and my 1gig are a really fast pair that I kind of hate to take out, so I'd consider doing 3 gigs if I knew for sure it would work, but I don't see anything on the chart for 2 doubles and 2 singles.

What an obscure limitation this is. I had never that considered such a problem could even exist when I bought the pieces. I'm actually really disappointed.

 

[cdogg]

Yeah, I can't say I blame you.

I'm willing to bet that the configuration I suggested works, but isn't on the list because it's a sign of using different brands/models/timings. But who knows? Perhaps an email or phone call to MSI would tell you for sure.

Don't forget that you can get something for the DIMMs you have now on eBay and use that $ towards your replacements.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[jlockley]

try

http://www.sweetmemory.com

 

[xp2mac]

PQI has single-sided 1GB DDR400 PC3200 chips. I have one running in my Thinkpad T30.

Find it here.