5-5-5-15 & 4-4-4-12 ram on same motherboard?

Probably not a good idea, but I'm thinking of what is/will be "on sale pricing".

I have 2 gig of 5-5-5-15 pc6400 on 2 slots; if the 4-4-4-12 are on a
good low pricing sale, thinking getting it to fill the other 2 slots
'wouldn't hurt".

Have gottne linux x64 to check out the 64-bit area & seems that 4 gig would
be nice to run it.

The motherboard is a msi p6n sli platinum & the memory setting is on "auto";
question is whether the "auto" is for using the same values for all memory or
use the values for each bank differently.

Better to explicitly set the memory speed to 5-5-5-15 ??

student wrote:
> Probably not a good idea, but I'm thinking of what is/will be "on sale pricing".
>
> I have 2 gig of 5-5-5-15 pc6400 on 2 slots; if the 4-4-4-12 are on a
> good low pricing sale, thinking getting it to fill the other 2 slots
> 'wouldn't hurt".
>
> Have gottne linux x64 to check out the 64-bit area & seems that 4 gig would
> be nice to run it.
>
> The motherboard is a msi p6n sli platinum & the memory setting is on "auto";
> question is whether the "auto" is for using the same values for all memory or
> use the values for each bank differently.
>
> Better to explicitly set the memory speed to 5-5-5-15 ??
>

The motherboard BIOS will automatically select 5-5-5-15 for all the
RAM. It will set the timing to meet the requirements of the slowest
RAM installed. At least, if your memory settings are at "Auto". You
can choose to fool around with the settings manually, if you think
you know better than the BIOS. But then, you are responsible for
selecting stable settings.

Verify with CPUZ, when all RAM is installed, as to what the BIOS
did with its "Auto" setting. You should see 5-5-5 when the new RAM
is added to the old RAM.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Also, there are the odd little quirk, with some motherboards
and a full load of RAM. Check Google, to see if your motherboard
has done anything strange.

Paul

On 2007-10-12, Paul <nospam@needed.com> wrote:
> student wrote:
>> Probably not a good idea, but I'm thinking of what is/will be "on sale pricing".
>>
>> I have 2 gig of 5-5-5-15 pc6400 on 2 slots; if the 4-4-4-12 are on a
>> good low pricing sale, thinking getting it to fill the other 2 slots
>> 'wouldn't hurt".
>>
>> Have gottne linux x64 to check out the 64-bit area & seems that 4 gig would
>> be nice to run it.
>>
>> The motherboard is a msi p6n sli platinum & the memory setting is on "auto";
>> question is whether the "auto" is for using the same values for all memory or
>> use the values for each bank differently.
>>
>> Better to explicitly set the memory speed to 5-5-5-15 ??
>>
>
> The motherboard BIOS will automatically select 5-5-5-15 for all the
> RAM. It will set the timing to meet the requirements of the slowest
> RAM installed. At least, if your memory settings are at "Auto". You
> can choose to fool around with the settings manually, if you think
> you know better than the BIOS. But then, you are responsible for
> selecting stable settings.
>
> Verify with CPUZ, when all RAM is installed, as to what the BIOS
> did with its "Auto" setting. You should see 5-5-5 when the new RAM
> is added to the old RAM.
>
> http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
>
> Also, there are the odd little quirk, with some motherboards
> and a full load of RAM. Check Google, to see if your motherboard
> has done anything strange.
>
> Paul

Thanks! Fry's ad today has the OCZ 2 gig pc6400 for net of $49.95 after
a $25 rebate; didn't say what type timings...

Will also check the cupid website & google.