[DeTomaso] NPC - Computer Geek Help needed- BIOS, FSB, and Other Esoteric Geeky Details

[Trevor Fougere]

Your motherboard supports DDR2 memory up to 8 GB.  The speed of the memory
it supports is DDR2-800 or up to DDR2-1200 if EPP (Enhanced Performance
Profile) memories are used.

On your motherboard, the DDR2 sockets 1 and 3 are gray and 2 and 4 are
black. In order to enable dual channel feature, which doubles the maximum
theoretical transfer rate from the memory system, you need to install two
memory modules on sockets with the same color (or four modules, which will
use all available sockets).

So 8Gb would be best done by installing four 2Gb DDR memory sticks in all
four sockets.

The rub though, is your operating system.  All 32 bit Windows operating
systems support a maximum of 4 Gb.  In fact, the situation is somewhat worse
than that because Windows will not support an application using more than
2Gb of memory, unless the system is booted using the /3GB switch in the
boot.ini file.

For example:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="????" /3GB

 

So the reality is that anything more than 4Gb isn't going to get used, and
even with 4Gb you are really only going to see the system use anywhere from
2.5 - 3.5Gb.

 

This limit goes away in 64 bit operating systems.  But you will be somewhat
out on the bleeding edge, probably still running 32 bit applications that
ignore the new limits, and bear in mind that 64 bit systems need different
drivers and are not fully backwards compatible with 32-bit stuff.

So.if your Operating System is 32 bit, you really only need four 1Gb
DDR2-800 modules or two 2Gb modules (being sure to install them in the same
colored sockets).  Anything beyond that is a waste.

 

Trevor