Should You Fill All Ram Slots

Should You Fill All Ram Slots Rating: 3,6/5 8491 votes

Most mobos work like this: 2 ram sticks go in slot 2 - 4 if you have 4 sticks put em all in. My msi manual told me to put it in slot 2 - 4 too akd iv got 8gbs in 2 sticks. Plus its a commen way of indtalling ram since it uses dual channel. No except you follow below providing all are similar sort PC3200 DDR the 512Mb stick ought to pass into the fist slot (0 or a million) (in certain situations diverse coloration) the biggest ram. No, they do not all have to be the same although many here have found that the should be the same in side-by-side slots. I am currently running the configuration below. Many on this forum, as do I, also recommend that you use only Crucialor OWCRAM chips as bargain brand RAM often will not work. If you are using DDR memory in dual-channel configuration, however, then you must fill the first slot of each of the two RAM banks with an identical stick of RAM; and you must do the same with the second slots of each bank, if you are using them. The RAM sticks in each bank must be identical to each other. In addition, although it is not.

First, I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere; I searched the forums and didn't find this particular question.
This is my first build, so I have the following background info for my question (at the bottom):
I have 3x4GB sticks of RAM (CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9) from my previous triple-channel mobo. The Maximus Vii hero user guide
indicates that the RAM I have is compatible with the board. The guide says that the 'DIMM Socket Support (Optional)' supports '2',
but not '4'. Which refers to the following:
'(2) Supports two (2) modules inserted into either the red slots or the black slots as one pair of Dual-Channel memory
configuration.'
Question: This might be a newb question, but can I use all three sticks? Configure two of the DIMMs for Dual-Channel, and then
simply add the last stick in the appropriate open slot? Doing so won't cause the Maximus not to POST or somehow damage the
board?
Thanks folks.
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Should You Fill All Ram Slots Online

The motherboard I am getting (ASUS P5WD2) has four slots for memory, total of 8 Gig. I'm going to put 2 Gig in (need it for large video editing files) Am I better off to get 4 512s and fill all slots so if one goes bad I can replace at cheaper price or am I better off to go with two 1 Gig sticks? Will that board run on only 1 stick or does it need to be in pairs? If the memory needs to be installed in pairs, then I think it would be better to have 4 sticks so you can troubleshoot memory.
What do you think?
And what about memory brands? Is Altas Good? If not what is do you recommend?