paired ddr memory

[decker]

Howdy.

I'm looking at getting a Tyan K8S (s2880) motherboard. In going to Kingston's website and playing with their memory configuration tool, it looks like several different versions of their memory would be compatible. Some of these are HyperX memory modules that come in pairs and are supposed to be for dual channel motherboards. So I'm wondering if it would make a difference if I got the paired memory vs. the regular? I know that the memory controller is on board the opteron chip, but I'm not sure if it's dual channel or what.

Also would anyone know what the timings mean? The Kingston site says that the timing of 3-3-3-8-1 is AMD approved. So I guess 2.5-3-3-8-1 is not?

[theurge]

If by paired memory you mean taking advantage of your board's Dual Channel features, it means your board handles the memory bandwidth load a *lot* better than without it. In short, it means the memory is accessed faster, which means your system runs noticeably better.

I'm sure someone can give you a real technical explanation of memory timings, but as for me and when I set my RAM up with my ASUS board, manually setting the timings meant a fine line between crashes and no crashes.

I was about to use Auto and forget it, but I found the correct Corsair timings for my particular RAM sticks and have been happily oblivious to it ever since.

Good luck, and I hope someone with real information helps you out. :D

[decker]

Well in researching it a little more, it seems like to me that the only difference between the paired memory they sell and the regular memory, is that the paired memory has been tested together in a system. So I think I'm just going to go with the regular memory since it's a lot cheaper.

[mars_hall]

As long as you get the same speed and Quality ram when you add more, you will probably be alright.

[ewdi]

Remember, this board require you to have REGISTERED MEMORY which means you cant use unbuffered memory and most registered memory have ECC functions which is slow.