Using 2 sticks of ram will enable Dual Channel, Dual channel is a feature
of the motherboard not the ram.
I guess your mainboard will be similar in that the ram slots have 2 together
and one on its own, 1 stick of ram in the single slot and 1 stick in the one
of the other 2 will enable dual channel.

doughnut


"CiRcUiT" wrote in message
...

"Nystagmus" wrote in message
...

"CiRcUiT" wrote in message
...
I took the plunge and bought the following;

Aopen AK79D-400VN NForce2 Ultra 400 MB
AMD Barton 2500+
2x256MB DDR400 PC3200

Everything works excellent. Right now, as I'm typing this, it just got
done
it's burn in (Sandra) at 11x200 (2.2 GHz or 3200+ speeds) at a maximum
temp
of 47ºC. Average was 44.5ºC. This is with the original AMD HSF! Can't
wait
for water cooling! =D

My only question is that I bought 2 sticks on RAM for dual channel
support
but when I populate DIMM1 and DIMM3 it won't even POST. It just sits
there
beeping one long beep which I assume means there is a memory problem.
Is
it
that dual channel needs all the slots populated? If so I will go out
and
get
a 512 stick to populate DIMM3. The only way I can get it to POST is
with
the
256 sticks in D1 & D2. I am not new to computers, just the NForce2
chipset.

Thanks for your help.

Just in case my systems is:
AMD Barton 2500+ at 3200+ (11x200)
2x256MB PC3200 DDR400 in Dimm1 and Dimm2
Aopen AK79D-400VN
MSI GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB (300 core/530 memory)
Creative Soundblaster Live! 5.1 (Need the line in and mic connectors
w/5.1
speakers and onboard sound can't do it)
WD 80GB
Seagate 15GB
LG 40x12x40 CD-RW
8xDVD-ROM


I have the AOpen AK79G Max which is close to your mainboard and
according
to
Aopen's website share the same BIOS. I have two sticks of Apacer 256MB
of
PC3200. First stick in DIMM 1 and the second stick in DIMM 3. When you
first boot up your computer in the BIOS screen just above the memory
check
you should see a line that says, "Dual Boot Enabled" or something like
that.
That is how you know it is enabled. If you don't see it then....

You didn't list the make of your RAM sticks. Are you using AOpen's
recommended PC3200? When PC3200 first came out there was no standard
for
it
so all makers of PC3200 used differing specs. The following link will
take
you AOpen's web page listing the tested RAM that works for your
mainboard.



http://swe.aopen.com.tw/testreport/m...ction=519&Mode
l=720

I use Apacer RAM and it is working well in my system. You can find
Apacer
RAM at

www.newegg.com

Good luck
Nystagmus

I cheaped out and didn't buy the 2x256 in a matched kit thinking it should
work. My ram is made by "elixer" and is not listed in that report. I'm
going
to go back and get a matched pair if it's worth the hassle and the price
difference for dual channel. I'm going there next weekend anyway for a
better PSU and a neon to replace the one I broke when putting this thing
back together. (Do NOT lean on the neon tube... Do NOT lean on the neon
tube... Do NOT lean on the broken glass tube... ARG!)

I'm still not entirely sold on the benefits I would see in "real-world"
applications and games with dual-channel.