Just what the title says...

I have PC3200 DDR RAM slots, it had 4 512 RAM cards, I just bought 2 1 gig RAM cards, so now it is running 2 1 gigs and 2 512 gigs, so is there an optimal way to set this up? should I go big small big small, keep the bigs together on top with the smaller on the bottom or vice versa?

Thanks.

Are there different color memory slots on the motherboard?

If there aren't chances are it doesn't matter. If there are you might want to also take a gander at the manual for the motherboard.

no, there arent different colored slots.

So I have it set up 1 gig 512 mb 1 gig 512 mb, shouldn't make a difference right?

Nope just make sure they are the same speed and all the RAM you put in the computer shows up in Windows.

You can verify that the RAM is installed and working correctly by typing dxdiag in the run or search box in the start menu and hitting enter. As long as dxdiag shows 3GB system memory present, you're golden.

hmm interesting it says 2814 mb of ram...

That's correct, and actually a common number for people with "3GB" installed to see. Windows reserves a small amount of RAM for dedicated purposes. Also, 32 bit versions of Windows can only utilize 4GB TOTAL system memory, so other memory sources like video memory can cut into that 4GB max ceiling. If you put 4GB in and have a 1GB video card, you'll actually only get access to 3 of the 4GB of system ram.

I do actually have a 1 GB video card I installed along with the RAM, Geforce GT240.

I thought the video card worked with its own RAM?

timay wrote:I do actually have a 1 GB video card I installed along with the RAM, Geforce GT240.

I thought the video card worked with its own RAM?

It does (assuming it is not one of those cards that counts the driver "shared" memory in its size calculations - irritates me to see that!).

But, the address space of a 32-bit OS is limited to 4GB maximum. So, if you have a 1GB graphics card, along with 4GB of main memory (for example), you still will see less than 3GB of "memory" available to the OS for applications in a 32 bit OS situation.

To take advantage of more memory (even to see the full 4GB), you have to use a 64 bit processor (recent Intel and AMD processors are 64 bit - but not all) along with a 64 bit OS. And, of course, the graphics cards has to be one of the newer ones that can use a 64 bit address space.

BTW, using a 64 bit OS has its own issues, of course, since not all hardware vendors have issued 64 bit drivers for their products - particularly older stuff - for use with a 64 bit OS, etc. Moving from a 32 bit 64 bit should not be done trivially, in other words.

On the original question, in terms of the order of the memory based on size, it is generally not important as long as you keep the same size DIMM in the same paired slots. In other words, whether your first pair is the 512MB pair, or the 1GB pair, of DIMMs is not likely to be important - but mixing them into the wrong pair of slots would not work out well.

Z

P.S. I am NOT saying anything different from the previous response posts here ... merely endorsing the same idea. MoD has it right.

Ah...didn't know that video ram cut into the 4gb ceiling.the more you know...

To answer the question it is a 64 bit OS and processor (Athlon 4200+ dual core 2.2 ghz).

timay wrote:To answer the question it is a 64 bit OS and processor (Athlon 4200+ dual core 2.2 ghz).

Good! In that case, you are seeing the maximum possible RAM from that 3GB - just a little taken up by the OS that is not usable by applications.

Z

Just for trivia's sake, Vista/Win7 Home 64 have a 16GB memory ceiling. Business versions have 128GB ceiling. So even if you end up running multiple videocards (double or triple SLI even with 2GB cards) you should never run into video RAM getting in the way of your system total.

MinisterofDOOM wrote:Just for trivia's sake, Vista/Win7 Home 64 have a 16GB memory ceiling. Business versions have 128GB ceiling.

Ah! I did not know that the Home 64 versions have 16GB maximums. Seems quite arbitrary and silly on the part of Microsoft to do this ...

Thanks for the info.

Z

Yeah, it's pretty dumb. I'm pretty sure I'll end up with 16GB before I decide to replace my current machine. It's already at 9, which is more than half the limit...5 more and I'm done.

MinisterofDOOM wrote:Just for trivia's sake, Vista/Win7 Home 64 have a 16GB memory ceiling. Business versions have 128GB ceiling.

For vista, 16gb makes perfect sense

Win7 ought to scream with anything over 3gb - you can practically load the OS to the RAM at that point.