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If I put in 3 sticks of memory instead of 4 into a 939 board what will happen? Will I lose any speed? Would it be better to have just 2 and make 1GB or the 3 and have 1.5GB.

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Dani AI

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Brief, practical follow-up to s question and the advice from and : Socket 939 systems use DDR DIMMs and an integrated memory controller that is designed to work in channel pairs. The important details below show how to populate slots, how to check what the board is actually doing, and how to avoid stability problems when mixing modules.

Consult the motherboard manual (or use the color-coded slots) to identify channel pairs before installing DIMMs. For two modules use the two slots the manual designates for dual‑channel; for four fill all slots. If a third stick is added the board / BIOS may disable interleaving and fall back to a lower-performance mode (verify in the BIOS or with a utility such as CPU‑Z where it reports “Single” or “Dual” channel). When modules differ, the system will use the slowest SPD/timings and often the higher required voltage — expect conservative timings and possibly more heat or instability.

If things go wrong: test each stick individually, run memtest86+ for several passes, reset CMOS if needed, and avoid mixing registered/ECC modules with standard unbuffered DIMMs. For long-term reliability and best dual‑channel performance, matched DIMM kits (same size, speed, timings, and voltage) are the cleanest solution. If capacity is the priority for temporary use, three sticks will give more RAM but with a possible bandwidth/latency tradeoff; validate with BIOS/benchmarking and memtest before relying on that configuration.

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Member Avatar for Tropp

I would just use the 2 sticks to ensure it ran correctly in dual channel

Member Avatar for sourcez

Yup, better to run it paired - the extra 512 probably won't be too important under XP; unless you're running Vista in which case the extra memory might actually be a good idea.

I'd try to get another stick (it'd be pretty cheap) and then you'd have 2 pairs :)

Member Avatar for Member #23858

Thats what I am going to do. Run 2 pair.

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