Couple of motherboard questions

[lawman5050]

Hello everybody.

This is my first post on this sight but I have been lurking here for a while reading and learning.

I am currently on my second computer build and have a few questions.

My first build was a couple of years ago and went well with no problems. The system I am currently building is a higher end system than my first one and some of the technology has changed.

The specs on my new system are:
ASUS P5B Deluxe
Core2Duo e6600 2.4 Ghz with Artic Cooler Freezer Pro
2x1 GB Corsair XMS2 dual channel RAM
Sapphire Radeon X1950 XTX 512 MB
OCZ Game Extreme 600w PSU
Seagate 7200.10 250 GB
(case, optical drives, etc.)

I have started to put everything together and have a couple of questions so far.

1.) The PSU has two 4-pin connectors for the CPU which are marked CPU1 and CPU2. The MB has a plug in one of the 4-pin connectors for the CPU power. Should I plug in just one connector or pull the plug out of the sedcond one and connect both?

2.) To run the RAM in dual channel mode, I think I put both sticks in either the channel A connectors or the channel B connectors. Is this correct or do I put one stick in a channel A connector and one stick in a channel B connector?

Thanks for any help.

[freakitchen]

1. Just connect one of those connectors and tie the other one aside

2. There's quite a lot of difference between motherboards in this regard. Take a look at the manual carefully - it should have a diagram listing which slots to use to enable dual channel. Normally, you'd put one stick in DIMM1 of Channel A, and the other in DIMM1 of Channel B.

FK

[lawman5050]

Freakitchen,

Thanks. I didn't see anything in the manual about the memory but I'll check again. Hopefully I just missed it.

[freakitchen]

The info ususally can be found early on in the first section of the manual - with the 'installing the memory' section.

FK

[lawman5050]

Oaky, thanks. I'll check tonight when I get home.

[lawman5050]

This is what the manual says about the RAM:

Channel A: DIMM A1 and DIMM A2
Channel B: DIMM B1 and DIMM B2

I understand where channel A and channel B are on the board but the next step is where I'm confused.

This is what the manual says:

DIMM Support:

A-supports one module inserted into either slot, in single channel memory configuration.

B-supports one pair of modules inserted into either channel A or Channel B as one pair of dual-channel memory configuration.

C-supports four modules inserted into the yellow and black slots as two pairs of dual-channel memory configuration.


If I understand this correctly, to run in dual-channel mode with two 1 GB sticks of dual-channel memory, I need to put both sticks in channel A or channel B, not one stick in channel A and one stick in channel B.

Is this correct?

Thanks.

[freakitchen]

From what the 'DIMM support' section says, it looks like you have to put both sticks into what the board refers to as 'channel A' to enable dual channel.

Do what the manual says, and get your PC up and running. You can then confirm that the memory is indeed running in dual channel mode by downloading a small program called 'cpu-z'.

FK

[lawman5050]

Sounds good.

I got the computer running last night and loaded windows. Right now I have the one stick of memory in channel A and the other in channel B. I'll have more time to work on it tonight so I'll put both sticks of memory in channel A and check to make sure it is running dual-channel.

Other than this confusion, this build has gone well without any problems. Thanks for your help.

[fleeingpepper]

Most motherboards that support dual channel are color-coded. Your P5B Deluxe, put one stick of RAM in each yellow slot.

[lawman5050]

Thanks fleeingpepper.

This is still confusing me because the directions indicate to put both sticks in either channel A OR channel B to run dual channel but I thought normally you would put one in each channel like you just described.

I'll play around with it tonight and hopefully I'll get it figured out.

[fleeingpepper]

The channels A and B are separated oddly, depending on how you think. I have attached a picture to explain how channels A and B are set up. (I have an ASUS and this is the way it is, it's how 99% of motherboards do dual channel)

[freakitchen]

I'm not so keen on your '99%' statement there, Fleeing pepper. Whilst most boards are set up in that orientation - the colour-coding often differs. Two DIMMS of the same colour can indicate they are of different channels (and therefore the slots you should use for 2 sticks of RAM), or that they are the same channel. Additionally, I've worked with various brands of motherboards with layout opposite that as shown in your diagram (AA BB). Intel boards spring to mind here.

It's certainly confusing, so 'read the manual' is the best advice I can give, as well as checking with 3rd party software once the system is up and running.

FK

[fleeingpepper]

Ok, I guess I'll rephrase that. Most of the ones I've worked with have that setup. I'm still learning. But I'm really sure on this one that that's how it's set up. From what I understand the P5W DH Deluxe is very similar to what he's using. And I'm running dual channel using the way I described.

One way to check if it is, on the POST screen it should say something like "dual channel? Yes"

Or something like that.