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Choosing DDR3 double channel slots when installing memory

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soldar:
HP Compaq Elite 8300 moboard has four DIMM slots:

DIMM1 - Channel B - Black
DIMM2 - Channel B - White
DIMM3 - Channel A - Black
DIMM4 - Channel A - White

If I have two DIMMs of, say 4GB and another two of, say, 2GB, how should they go?

My guess is 4,2,4,2 as it means both channels have the same 4+2.

Is this correct?

So blk = 4GB and white = 2 GB?

ETA: Shoot! I did it again! I meant to put this in the computing section. Sorry 'bout that.

magic:
One screws up channel interleaving, the other screws up rank interleaving within channels. Both will work on most motherboards, though.
The true answer is that if you need to ask then it doesn't matter. Unless your motherboard rejects one of those configuration - then you know what to do.

Another true answer is that 4GB and even 8GB RAM is so cheap today that this question shouldn't be asked ;)

BrokenYugo:
A nice thing about this used enterprise hardware is good documentation, pretty sure last time I had this question about preferred ram arrangement the answer was in the hardware/maintenance manual, given that was a newer DDR4 machine but I bet it's in there.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/setup-user-guides/hp-compaq-elite-8300-small-form-factor-pc/5232852

IIRC it is color=channel and goes the way you think. It will probably run fine either way, worst case it fails POST until properly configured, not a big deal to just try it.

m k:
I've found a Fujitsu model series that is not completely ancient, but is still choking.
Old combs were 2G and new ones 4G DDR3-800, so not exactly very new construction either.
Final outcome was that 2x2G had to be first, maybe overall speed didn't adjust correctly.
2x4G had intermittent problems, all configurations were accepted by the manual.

Can't remember how module chip count was, but surely that should be taken care of if nothing is mentioned.
(since memory read is piped the individual memory cell must be in a correct physical memory chip)
(if not then next read to pipe goes to the incorrect physical memory chip that is not ready yet)

About the amount of expansion.
Industrial stuff has always a dilemma, what money and where.
New machine can be very cheap, maybe even a leasing return can be used.
But then there is an installation and its cost, and maybe the machine is at best a secondary anyway.
So the outcome can be that bean counters are saving from wrong expenses.
This time and age can also be very special, W10 is pacing out and change is possibly a bit more than minimal.

soldar:

--- Quote from: BrokenYugo on May 05, 2024, 01:13:41 pm ---A nice thing about this used enterprise hardware is good documentation, pretty sure last time I had this question about preferred ram arrangement the answer was in the hardware/maintenance manual, given that was a newer DDR4 machine but I bet it's in there.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/setup-user-guides/hp-compaq-elite-8300-small-form-factor-pc/5232852

IIRC it is color=channel and goes the way you think. It will probably run fine either way, worst case it fails POST until properly configured, not a big deal to just try it.
--- End quote ---
Thanks. It is not the SFF but the CMT.  I do have the PDF manual but it does not say how to best populate the slots.  It says

DIMM1 - Channel B - Black
DIMM2 - Channel B - White
DIMM3 - Channel A - Black
DIMM4 - Channel A - White

My assumption is that if I have only two 4 GB sticks they would go in the two black slots (different channels) and therefore, if I add two more 2GB sticks they would go in the white slots. This makes sense to me.

I know I can mess around and try. I have a very old double core Compaq GS266AA-ABE and I have messed with it every which way and it will not accept more than 5 GB total even though the modules are all good and in theory it should take 8 GB but the best I can get to work is

slot-0 512MiB HYMP564U64CP8-Y5
slot-1  2GiB Kingston
slot-2 512MiB HYMP564U64CP8-Y5
slot-3  2GiB  Kingston

It will not work with 4 x 2GB. It is a mystery but not worth spending time on it.

Regarding the Elite 8300 CMT i know I can just test BUT it is not my machine, I would have to guide the owner remotely and the owner subscribes to the (very erroneous) principle of "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

If I am lucky I get one shot at this.

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