Adding Memory .. 3 Slots W/2x512

[pumper]

I've upgraded to Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.5 & my system is obviously underpowered by this power hungry app.

I'm sure a new computer would solve my problems .. but would rather not upgrade the system.

from my msi motherboards page:

I cannot get the bold fonts to go away .. I pasted from the msi site. ??

three unbuffered DIMM of 2.5 Volt DDR SDRAM

• Supports up to 3GB memory size without ECC

• Supports Dual channel DDR266/333/400MHz and up. (based on DIMM 1, 3)

I currently have 2x 512m = 1 gig ram in an xp box.

I would like to add memory.

can I put a 1 gig in the open 'main memory slot'?

for a total of 2 gig 2x512 + 1g = 2gig

or must all 3 memory modules be same same?

3x512m = 1.5gig?

also from the msi site:

Due to the High Performance Memory design, motherboards or system configurations may or may not operate smoothly at the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard settings (BIOS Default on the motherboard) such as DDR voltage, memory speeds and memory timing. Please confirm and adjust your memory setting in the BIOS accordingly for better system stability

bios is a word that scares me.

msi has a bios update available .. but I've always heard that 'flashing' the bios is a dangerous move.

opinions on flashing the bios?

oh, i'm using a shure headset into a sound blaster sound card w/ nat speak 9.5 .. incredible accuracy for the typing impaired.

[ignis]

or must all 3 memory modules be same same?

I am not 100% sure with DDR memory, years ago with the old SD memory one always put the bigest value one in slot 'No 1' the others then in the next slots.

Memory is cheap these days, 2 months ago bought 4x 1 gig DDR2 667 @ 1,090 baht each, with discount 3,900 baht for the 4 modules.

opinions on flashing the bios?

Never done, my moto is if all is working leave well alone, but thought it was easy with the MSi motherboard

[Florin]

If you add another stick of RAM, you'll lose the "dual-channel" slight speed boost you're getting now...could you post the model number of the motherboard?

Because the most important thing in this case is how many banks of memory it supports (1 bank = 1 side of RAM with chips on it, so sticks can have 1 or 2 banks), usually it's 4-5.

[Rice_King]

You can ascertain your computer's memory type, the current memory configuration and your memory upgrade options without opening your computer case. Please read my previous post here.

[Guest Reimar]

If you add another stick of RAM, you'll lose the "dual-channel" slight speed boost you're getting now...could you post the model number of the motherboard?

Because the most important thing in this case is how many banks of memory it supports (1 bank = 1 side of RAM with chips on it, so sticks can have 1 or 2 banks), usually it's 4-5.

That MB didn't use Dual Channel, just single channel!

To add just one more 1 GB is ok and 2 GB is the max XP really working with!

[Florin]

Reimar, how do you know what motherboard he has??

He posted the following information:

from my msi motherboards page:

I cannot get the bold fonts to go away .. I pasted from the msi site. ??

three unbuffered DIMM of 2.5 Volt DDR SDRAM

• Supports up to 3GB memory size without ECC

• Supports Dual channel DDR266/333/400MHz and up. (based on DIMM 1, 3)

So, the way I see it, he has 3 DIMMs, with dual-channel support if memory is installed in DIMM 1 & 3.

And trust me, if he has double-bank memory (2x2) and will add one more stick with 2 banks, it will more likely NOT WORK, many motherboards with 3 DIMMs do not support 6 banks.

Edited December 9, 2007 by Florin

[Guest Reimar]

Reimar, how do you know what motherboard he has??

He posted the following information:

from my msi motherboards page:

I cannot get the bold fonts to go away .. I pasted from the msi site. ??

three unbuffered DIMM of 2.5 Volt DDR SDRAM

• Supports up to 3GB memory size without ECC

• Supports Dual channel DDR266/333/400MHz and up. (based on DIMM 1, 3)

So, the way I see it, he has 3 DIMMs, with dual-channel support if memory is installed in DIMM 1 & 3.

And trust me, if he has double-bank memory (2x2) and will add one more stick with 2 banks, it will more likely NOT WORK, many motherboards with 3 DIMMs do not support 6 banks.

MSI MB's with 3 Momory slots didn't use Dual Channel! I had one of this MB's before and in the same moment you add Dual Cahnnel memory, in my case was GEIL, the memory speed was solws down from 400 MHz to 200 MHz. Checked with MSI at that time the reply was that the Duaqlchannel is just an "emulation"!

And I had the same problem leater with an Asus MB too!

Edited December 9, 2007 by Reimar

[pumper]

Thanks guys!!

I'm going to replace the 2x512 w/2x1gig .. use the same 2 slots as now.

I was quite suprised how 'cheap' memory is these days.

several years dragon nat speak was often the software used by magazines to test cpus under full load.

it's a wonderful application but quite power hungry ..

TV is better for tech support than any of the 'computer site forums!!' ..

again, thanks for the 'support'!

I'll post back to this thread when I get the 2x1g sticks installed.

[pumper]

i wanted to edit my last post but I guess I took to long.

msi 865PE Neo2 motherboard

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec....el=865PE_Neo2-V

[pumper]

i consulted with my neighbor about my percieved memory issues (double entendre intended)

he told me to start nat (gnat?) speak's acoustic model & watch the task manager's performance tab.

nat speak wants to (actually insists on) updating 2 'acoustic model' files every several pages of dictation.

it is this update of acoustic models takes over / "locks" my computer

so while naturally speaking was updating the acoustic models & dragging it's feet I viewed the performance tab & process tab of the task manager.

from the 'process tab' of task manager.

nat speak bounced from 96% to 99% for 20 minutes.

mem usage for nat speak bounced from 145k to 255k.

from the performance tab:

results:

cpu usage: at or near 100% for 20+ minutes, w/ 1 drop to 80% for a few seconds & then back to 100%

pf usage: 255 - 350 (mostly in the 260 - 275 range)

physical memory: the available & system cache #s were constantly changing within a 100k range

total: 1048048

available: 655,004 (constantly changing)

system cache: 460,440 (constantly changing)

commit charge:

261k

252k

peak 454k

so it was determined that memory was not the computer's problem. ?? I'll save my issue for another thread.

of course the software box says it will work with 512k & a 750 P3