Well we have seen manufacturers boasting that a motherboard is dual-chanel compatible. Also while buying memory we see the magic word "dual channel" at lots of places. I really would like to know what it is?

I had the opinion that to have dual-chanel memory, I need to have
1. A motherboard that supports dual chanel memory
2. Two memory sticks of identical memory (128MB or 256MB or 512MB or 1GB) of same latency, speed, access time, and all other technical specs.
3. You put the two sticks in the correct supported slots in your motherboard.

I was thinking that if I go to the shop and buy 2 pieces of identical Kingston retail ram (or crucial or some reputed ram), they should work as dual chanel memory. Because the two sticks that I bought are of identical specification, same UPC code and I assume that the chips inside are the same.

I wanted to confirm this with Kingston technical support. So I called them and asked them, whether two pieces of this particular model will work in dual chanel or not. They say NO. The model under consideration was the widely popular "KVR400/512R". It is a PC3200 RAM with CL 3. (Linky to the PDF Specifications)

Is Kingstons technical support telling a lie? Or my understanding is wrong? What is happening?

Here's one quote from a forum which supports my theory that Retailers have a conspiracy going on.



Any input will be of helpful. I bet everyone wants to be sure of this issue.

TIA.

first thing I would look at is the ram you purchased, look at the chips themselves as they could differ which would explain why Kingston said no in the first place, if they are the same chip configuration then I really can't see why they wouldn't work.
I'm not an expert on the subject but the only thing I could think of was manufacturers using different chips to make the same type of ram stick so I would think it would be a YMMV situation, if it does work I would be buying ram at a B&M so I could actually check the ram to make sure of the chips first

In an ideal world, chips would be manufactured with very precise, identical timing. Unfortunately, that doesn't actually happen, and two sticks of ram that have the same ratings will actually differ in timing to some degree.

When two sticks are sold together in a dual-channel package, that means that the manufacturer has tested them to confirm that the timings are close enough that they will work together in a dual-channel computer.

Now, do you have to buy a dual-channel package in order to get memory that will work together? No, but you'll have to test the pair that you get to see if they'll actually work together. This is as easy as putting them in your computer and confirming that the BIOS reports that it is running in dual-channel mode.

I've personally put different brands of memory (containing different brands of chips) into a machine and have successfully gotten them to run dual-channel. I've also had identical pairs of sticks (non-dual-channel rated) that would not run in dual-channel mode. So you can get it to work, but there's some YMMV in that approach.

Chances are that you RAM will run in dual-channel. However, since they were not tested specifically by the manufacturer to run in dual-channel, you got the answer that you did. I personally have two sticks of KVR333/512 running in dual-channel (despite not being sold as such), as well as two sticks of KVR266/512. Just because it doesn't say dual-channel on the package, don't assume that it won't run fine in dual-channel mode.

Keggster22, garsh and JDMnAR.. Thanks for your comments.

Thanks to you, I understand the YMMV part very well. Manufactureres use different chips for the same product. This is similar to the 512MB PNY PC2100 RAM deal from Staples a year back (for ~$40AR). People got different chips for the same UPC. Some got PC3200 chips, some got PC2700 chips and most others got PC2100. When I bought it at store, I specifically looked at the chips to get PC2700 (although the box said 2100).

I would buy them from CC store (DDR400 PC3200 512MB for $65AR + tax). Check them. Hopefully it should work in dual chanel. Otherwise I will return one of the sticks and try again.

Thanks again.

Bump! As a lot of good DDR RAM deals are going on now.