If I buy three dual channel memory do they become tripple?

Say I have a x58 mother board and I buy three sets (6 dimms) of dual channel ddr3 memory do they become tripple channel or say if I bought 2 sets (4 dimms) of dual channel and put only three dimms in, will they become tripple channel?

Say I have a x58 mother board and I buy three sets (6 dimms) of dual channel ddr3 memory do they become tripple channel or say if I bought 2 sets (4 dimms) of dual channel and put only three dimms in, will they become tripple channel?

perdition24

[QUOTE="perdition24"]

Say I have a x58 mother board and I buy three sets (6 dimms) of dual channel ddr3 memory do they become tripple channel or say if I bought 2 sets (4 dimms) of dual channel and put only three dimms in, will they become tripple channel?

Iantheone

[QUOTE="Iantheone"][QUOTE="perdition24"]

Say I have a x58 mother board and I buy three sets (6 dimms) of dual channel ddr3 memory do they become tripple channel or say if I bought 2 sets (4 dimms) of dual channel and put only three dimms in, will they become tripple channel?

Captain__Tripps

From what I understand you can use DDR2 dual channel RAM on a DDR3 triple channel board but you will lose any benefit that specific DDR3 triple channel memory would give you.

they will just act as sticks of single channel memory.

So it's far better to get the proper DDR3 RAM

PS, It looks like I'm wrong with this and you have to use specific Triple channel RAM.

http://www.valueram.com/europe/triplechannel/

"Can I use any memory module for triple channel configurations?

Triple channel memory configurations are only possible with DDR3 memory modules. The modules do not have to be 'special' memory modules, 'normal' JEDEC standard DDR3 modules are fine as long as they are purchased as a kit of three."

http://home.pacbell.net/dbk4297/memory_what_kind.html

"DDR3 triple channel DIMM's are the newest and fastest memory on the market. Triple channel can only be used with the latest Intel chipset technology, based on the Core i7 processors and have produced the biggest memory bandwidth improvement since RDRAM met Netburst. DDR3 triple channel chips must be installed as kits of three, and have speeds of PC3-8500 and up to PC3-12800."

So from my understanding, if I were to buy a DDR3 dual channel kit now and then later buy a single DDR3 witht he same speeds and timing they will act as tripple channel. Thats good to know b/c there have been tests that showed that there isn't any significant gain in having 6GB of ram from 4 (at the moment). So I can now save $50+.

Thanks guys.

Triple and Duel and all that are determined by the motherboard, not the brand of memory. I don't think AMD has a triple channel support motherboard. Think only Intel has that, but I imagine you're talking about Intel and not AMD, anyway, right? Regardless, I doubt Motherboards support duel channel mode and Triple channel mode. I'm sure it's either one or the other, and not both. The activation of the channels is determined by the stick placement on the Dimm slots. The Dimm slots are grouped by banks.... The seperation between Duel and Triple is that Duel only deal with two banks and Triple is dealing with Three banks. And both support Single Channel Mode, and use that if requirements aren't met.

Anyway, this is basicly all I know about dual channel mode, and I'm only guessing about triple channel... I only keep tabs on AMD, really.

All duel mode means is that it has two groups/banks of memory working in tandom. So basically, you need only two sticks of ram to activate duel channel mode, in most cases. There were older mother boards that only had 3 slots of Dimms, And the banks were seperated with 1 Dimm equalling 1 bank and the 2 remaining Dimms slots equalling the other bank. So, you would have to have equal amount of ram on the both banks. So you'd have a single 1024 stick on the single slot, and could have two 512 sticks on the other 2 slots, and have your duel channel support. Although on those 3 Dimm boards it was not required to have all the Dimms filled, you could just have a 1024 stick on one dimm and have a single 1024 stick on the other and leave the 3rd one blank and still get your Duel Channel mode activated. (What usually happened is that you'd start off with a split between 512 sticks, and then buy a 1024 stick later and shuffle the sticks around to reactivate Duel Channel mode) Regardless, 4 Dimm slot Motherboards are a lot easier to deal with, as you can imagine....

With Triple Channel you have the banks separated by 3. So you need at least 3 sticks to activate the triple channel mode.. Each representing their own bank. With 6 Dimm slots, I imagine it's 2 sticks per bank. So, simplest seperation would be 3 sticks or 6 sticks to activate Triple Channel mode. And I doubt such motherboards have Duel Channel Mode, support... But I've never looked into that, so I could be wrong....

So, I may be wrong... but I think it's one or the other, and not both. I don't think you can buy 2 sets and later switch to 3 sets.... Think the motherboard either supports Duel Channels or Three Channels..... not both. In that on a Triple channel board, it's probably either in Single Mode support or Triple mode support. If I'm wrong, then your orginal speculation is somewhat correct.... Although not completely correct.

Your thinking is a bit wrong toward the sticks of memory. The channels are based from the motherboard, not the sticks of ram. Only requirement of the ram is that they are of the same in timing and speed (although, the bios will set all the sticks to the slowest stick if they are mismatched. So, you can get away with mismatch sticks.). And that the seperation of banks are equal in size, of memory capacity. Just be aware that in a Triple Channel board... it's going to be running in Single mode with only 2 sticks. (unless, in fact, the board supports both Duel Channels and Triple Channels, which I doubt it will....)

So from my understanding, if I were to buy a DDR3 dual channel kit now and then later buy a single DDR3 witht he same speeds and timing they will act as tripple channel. Thats good to know b/c there have been tests that showed that there isn't any significant gain in having 6GB of ram from 4 (at the moment). So I can now save $50+.

Thanks guys.

perdition24

Generally you purchase memory in pairs/triple to ensure that you get the same memory speed capacity timing. If you buy 2 now and when you buy one module in the future you wouldn't be guaranteed for it to work, even if you got the same brand of memory same size the production facility(s) could have switched hardware chips on the modules. Same could be true if you buy 3 packages of paired DDR3 modules all 3 packages even if from the same MFG could have different hardware chips on the actual module depending on production date. I would say if you want to be safe and want triple channel should just get a triple kit.

Something that you should think about is that Triple Channel and Dual Channel usually have different timings at different speeds because it's easier to get lower timings of dual channel.

SO, if you purchased 3 sets of dual channel RAM your NOT going to be able to run them at their rated speeds most likely.

Triple and Duel and all that are determined by the motherboard, not the brand of memory. I don't think AMD has a triple channel support motherboard. Think only Intel has that, but I imagine you're talking about Intel and not AMD, anyway, right? Regardless, I doubt Motherboards support duel channel mode and Triple channel mode. I'm sure it's either one or the other, and not both. The activation of the channels is determined by the stick placement on the Dimm slots. The Dimm slots are grouped by banks.... The seperation between Duel and Triple is that Duel only deal with two banks and Triple is dealing with Three banks. And both support Single Channel Mode, and use that if requirements aren't met.

Anyway, this is basicly all I know about dual channel mode, and I'm only guessing about triple channel... I only keep tabs on AMD, really.

All duel mode means is that it has two groups/banks of memory working in tandom. So basically, you need only two sticks of ram to activate duel channel mode, in most cases. There were older mother boards that only had 3 slots of Dimms, And the banks were seperated with 1 Dimm equalling 1 bank and the 2 remaining Dimms slots equalling the other bank. So, you would have to have equal amount of ram on the both banks. So you'd have a single 1024 stick on the single slot, and could have two 512 sticks on the other 2 slots, and have your duel channel support. Although on those 3 Dimm boards it was not required to have all the Dimms filled, you could just have a 1024 stick on one dimm and have a single 1024 stick on the other and leave the 3rd one blank and still get your Duel Channel mode activated. (What usually happened is that you'd start off with a split between 512 sticks, and then buy a 1024 stick later and shuffle the sticks around to reactivate Duel Channel mode) Regardless, 4 Dimm slot Motherboards are a lot easier to deal with, as you can imagine....

With Triple Channel you have the banks separated by 3. So you need at least 3 sticks to activate the triple channel mode.. Each representing their own bank. With 6 Dimm slots, I imagine it's 2 sticks per bank. So, simplest seperation would be 3 sticks or 6 sticks to activate Triple Channel mode. And I doubt such motherboards have Duel Channel Mode, support... But I've never looked into that, so I could be wrong....

So, I may be wrong... but I think it's one or the other, and not both. I don't think you can buy 2 sets and later switch to 3 sets.... Think the motherboard either supports Duel Channels or Three Channels..... not both. In that on a Triple channel board, it's probably either in Single Mode support or Triple mode support. If I'm wrong, then your orginal speculation is somewhat correct.... Although not completely correct.

Your thinking is a bit wrong toward the sticks of memory. The channels are based from the motherboard, not the sticks of ram. Only requirement of the ram is that they are of the same in timing and speed (although, the bios will set all the sticks to the slowest stick if they are mismatched. So, you can get away with mismatch sticks.). And that the seperation of banks are equal in size, of memory capacity. Just be aware that in a Triple Channel board... it's going to be running in Single mode with only 2 sticks. (unless, in fact, the board supports both Duel Channels and Triple Channels, which I doubt it will....)

Threesixtyci

From the first link that NeilCardiff posted:

"The modules in bank 1 do not need to be of the same capacity as the modules installed in bank 2. However, if identical speeds or capacities are not installed within a single bank, the system will automatically revert to single channel or dual channel operation, regardless of module configuration."

So if I'm reading that first link that NeilC posted right, it's basically saying that cpus with mother boards that support tripple channels are able to send and recieve data in three seperate lanes, and with a single ram, the cpu is only able to access from a single lane and with dual kit two lanes.AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! This leads me to another question. Which will be faster? Having 3GB setup tripple channel (3X1GB) or 4GB set up in dual channel (2x2GB). They are priced the same!!

I just had a $590 service done to my suv (what an early awesome xmas pressent!) otherwhise this would've been an easy decision. I will be building a x58 system come boxing day and will decide which to purchase depending how much more the tripple channel kits are to the dual.

Thanks for the links you posted NeilC, and thanks to all that contributed to this topic.

Wish you all a safe and happy holidays.

From what I understand you can use DDR2 dual channel RAM on a DDR3 triple channel board but you will lose any benefit that specific DDR3 triple channel memory would give you.

they will just act as sticks of single channel memory.

So it's far better to get the proper DDR3 RAM

PS, It looks like I'm wrong with this and you have to use specific Triple channel RAM.

http://www.valueram.com/europe/triplechannel/

"Can I use any memory module for triple channel configurations?

Triple channel memory configurations are only possible with DDR3 memory modules. The modules do not have to be 'special' memory modules, 'normal' JEDEC standard DDR3 modules are fine as long as they are purchased as a kit of three."

http://home.pacbell.net/dbk4297/memory_what_kind.html

"DDR3 triple channel DIMM's are the newest and fastest memory on the market. Triple channel can only be used with the latest Intel chipset technology, based on the Core i7 processors and have produced the biggest memory bandwidth improvement since RDRAM met Netburst. DDR3 triple channel chips must be installed as kits of three, and have speeds of PC3-8500 and up to PC3-12800."

NeilCardiff

actually you cant use DDR2 of any kind on a DDR3 board, there different DIMM sockets, i think you meant DDR3 can be run in dual channel like DDR2 but can also run in triple channel.

triple channelis only currently supported by the i7/x58 setups. and all DDR3 ram can be run in triple with pairs of 3just like all DDR2 can be run in dual with pairs of 2.