Enabling DDR

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Dominus
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So I put two sticks of RAM in my system. I was under the impression that DDR was enabled automatically with 2 sticks in the memory 1 and 2 slot. When there are two sticks in those slots however, I get error codes on bootup. The sticks have to be put in 1 and 3. Both of the sticks are of the same make/model/manufacturer (OCZ). Is DDR something I have to enable?
 
I believe you mean Dual Channel. DDR is the type of RAM (Dual Data Rate). Different motherboards use different slots for dual channel, some may use 1 and 2 while another may use 1 and 3 or 2 and 3. Your best best is to consult your motherboard's manual.

Are you also certain your board supports dual channel? What board do you have?
 
Varied board to board. 1 and 3 is common. It should still work with 2 sticks in 1 & 2, just not Dual DDR speed.

When installed and working run cpuz. It will tell you if the memory is configured as dual ddr. You can run Sisoft Sandra memory bench and then comapre to similar boards using same ram speed and config to confirm it's working.
 
This is right, it can be slots 1 & 2 or 1 & 3, it depends on the manufacturer.

However, if the RAM sticks aren't identical, for example, one is double-sided and one is single sided, they will ONLY work in single channel mode, even if they are the same manufacturer and model number (sometimes, especially in online vendors, the main part of the product code is listed but not last few numbers which corresponds to whether it's single or double sided).

If the RAM sticks are completely identical (you can use CPU-Z to find out) then it should work in both single and dual channel modes.
 
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My manual says 1&2 or 3&4 slots have to be used to enable DDR. It also says there shouldn't be any BIOS configuration needed, but if that doesn't work, to first clear the CMOS. I'll do that once I open my case again hopefully within the week when I order a new sound card.
 
Kinda weird that your manual says something different than what is actually performing. I would do as Leejend suggested, boot with 1&3 and run a CPU-Z test.

fwiw, my board runs in the 1&3
 
@kynchief ... I am running at 1&3 ...and no it is still using single channel, so the manual is still doing what it says it would do.
 
In the most recent situations for enable Dual Channel mode u must install both modules in the same colored slots!
 
@kynchief ... I am running at 1&3 ...and no it is still using single channel, so the manual is still doing what it says it would do.

Ah I misunderstood, thought you got 1&3 running in Dual Channel.

In the most recent situations for enable Dual Channel mode u must install both modules in the same colored slots!

Color is only a convenience for user interaction regarding which slots are on which channel.
 
How do you know the ram is not running in Dual Channel mode?

And what MB is it?
 
Try putting the 2 sticks in DIMM 3 & 4. The manual says that should work for dual DDR also. If it does the DiMM 2 socket may be bad.

Stupid question but it's the only other thing I can think of:
You said the two sticks are identical. Have you looked at them and verified they do have the same number of chips on them right?

After that it's down to one of the DIMMs being marginal. Timing requirements are tight in dual channel. Try relaxing the timing in the bios setup. Say from 2.5-2-2-7 to 3-2-2-11. If one stick is marginal that may make it work.

EDIT:
I was looking at the manual some more. There are some quirks in that ram table. Like only dual rank (chips on both sides) works dual channel @400 setting when in DIMM 3&4, single rank dimms only work up to 333.

New test. Force the bios to DDR 333 setting instead of auto and try the DIMMs in socket 1 & 2 again. I'm thinking compatibility issue between MB and OCZ ram. If this works then increasing the DIMM voltage a little or retarding timing might get you up to the DDR setting in socket 1&2 at DDR 400 and dual channel. There may be a problem because the RAM is not buffered. Dual rank is sorta like using 4 sticks.

The manual also suggests reseting CMOS memory if a ram problem occurs.
 
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Looks like all I had to do was reset the CMOS. Good to go. Thanks everyone.
 

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