Triple Channel RAM Questions

[jcmaz]

Hi HWC,

Is it possible to use triple channel ram on dual channel motherboards?


OCZ XTC Gold OCZ3G1333LV3GK 3GB 3X1GB DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9-20 Triple Channel Memory Kit
On

Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P ATX AM3 DDR3 AMD770 PCI-E16 4PCI-E1 2PCI SATA GBLAN Motherboard

THX

[sswilson]

I'm using triple channel ram (OCZ 1600 7-7-7) on my 790FX board without any apparent problems.

[bojangles]

Absolutely it's ok. The sticks have just been tested from the same batch and have been verified. It's not like they have special code to only allow Triple Channel. That's why when you're trouble shooting you can take out one or two sticks to find dead ones. :P

Basically what you're doing is you're getting an extra stick.

[Silvgearx]

so...........

one can use a 6 gb kit on an I5 board too, you get the 6gb, just not in triple channel.

right?

and how much does timing and mhz effects performances?

just in games?

[bojangles]

If you buy a triple channel kit for a chipset that only supports dual channel, then only 2 of the 3 stick will be in dual channel mode. now if it's a crappy motherboard, if you have a kit set in dual channel, but an extra stick in, it may disable dual channel.

Are you buying a triple channel kit just for the sake of price since dual and triple channel kits are about the same price?

MHz has more of an effect on performance than timings do, but the lower the timings the better. There is a very minimal effect in games.

[jcmaz]

Yup, since i'm going to spend around $60, i might as well get the ocz ram than this Corsair ram: Corsair XMS3 TWIN3X2048-1333C9DHX G 2GB DDR3 2X1GB DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-27 Dual Channel Memory Kit

[Silvgearx]

its just that i got a set of mushkin ascent triple channel sitting here