A while back, I bought 2GB Dual Channel DDR400 RAM. Just recently, I've read that you have to enable dual channel mode, sometimes in the BIOS, sometimes by doing something on the mobo.

I just checked my mobo manual (PDF) and it says almost nothing about dual channel mode... just a short footnote that says the memory has to be the same density and whatnot.

I checked my BIOS and saw no settings in any way related to single/dual channel memory. Is it safe to assume that dual channel mode is automatically enabled when identical memory sticks are put into the motherboard?

This is really bugging me. I feel like I might not be getting all the performance I could be, but I can't find any special instructions.



Now for my 2nd question. I recently upgraded to a 500GB SATA II hard drive from a crappy old 80GB ATA drive. My motherboard only supports SATA 1.5gb/s so I know I'm forced to run the HD in that mode, and that it does so by default. Anyway, ever since I put in the new hard drive, FORMATTED, partitioned and reinstalled, I'm getting a strange issue when booting. If I shut the power off, and turn the computer back on, it hangs when TRYING to auto-detect my drives. It just sits there like it can't find anything. But if I hit the reset button while it's doing that, it boots just peachy. This ONLY happens when I turn it on (as in, not when I reboot). I have a feeling it has to do something with the SATA thing, maybe I configured it wrong or something. It's my first SATA drive so I wouldn't be surprised. I do, however, know for a fact my drives are displaying properly in the bios as SATA drives.

Anyway, that's been bugging me for a while as well.


Any ideas? Thanks! Question 1 - If your motherboard does not support dual channel mode it doesn't matter what your RAM is. As you didn't post the motherboard model we are stuck there.

Question 2 - What is the make and model of the drive, and again, the motherboard? My motherboard, according to the website, does support dual channel memory. Sorry about the LACK of details, here's more info:

Motherboard: ECS K8T890-A (website)

Hard Drive: Samsung SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

RAM: G.SKILL Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit


Thanksthis is a great example on HARDWARE "upgrades"
Always "in my opinion" get the best mobo you can afford 1st*
then go cpu and etc......

Then always listen to what the G-man has to say !!!! Sorry for the bump, but my topic was already halfway down the third page and I had a feeling it wasn't going to get seen again.

Any ideas about my questions anyone?Its not supposed to have the single channel or dual channel options - just install the RAM in the channel type you want. It should be fine.