Gigabyte GA-946-DS3 Manual - Page 16

English 1-4 Installing the Memory Read the following guidelines before you begin to install the memory: • Make sure that the motherboard supports the memory. It is recommended that memory of the same capacity, brand, speed, and chips be used. (Go to GIGABYTE's website for the latest memory support list.) • Always turn off the computer and unplug the power cord from the power outlet before installing the memory to prevent hardware damage. • Memory modules have a foolproof design. A memory module can be installed in only one direction. If you are unable to insert the memory, switch the direction. 1-4-1 Dual Channel Memory Configuration This motherboard provides four DDR2 memory sockets and supports Dual Channel Technology. After the memory is installed, the BIOS will automatically detect the specifications and capacity of the memory. Enabling Dual Channel memory mode will double the original memory bandwidth. The four DDR2 memory sockets are divided into two channels and each channel has two memory sockets as following: Channel 0: DDRII1, DDRII2 Channel 1: DDRII3, DDRII4 Dual Channel Memory Configurations Table DDRII1 DDRII2 DDRII3 Two Modules DS/SS - - DS/SS DDRII4 - - DS/SS - - - - DS/SS - - DS/SS DS/SS - - - - Four Modules SS DS/SS - - SS SS DS/SS SS (SS=Single-Sided, DS=Double-Sided, "- -"=No Memory) Memory configurations below will cause DDR2 667 memory to operate at 533 MHz (with 1066/800 MHz FSB CPU) and DDR2 533 at 400 MHz (with 800 MHz FSB CPU). DDRII1 DDRII2 DDRII3 DDRII4 DDRII1 DDRII2 DDRII3 DDRII4 Two Modules SS SS - - - - - - - - SS SS Three Modules SS SS DS/SS - - SS SS - - DS/SS DS/SS - - SS SS - - DS/SS SS SS Four Modules SS SS SS SS (SS=Single-Sided, DS=Double-Sided, "- -"=No Memory) Due to chipset limitation, read the following guidelines before installing the memory in Dual Channel mode. 1. Dual Channel mode cannot be enabled if only one DDR2 memory module is installed. 2. When enabling Dual Channel mode with two or four memory modules, it is recommended that memory of the same capacity, brand, speed, and chips be used and installed according to the configurations in the first table for optimum performance. 3. Because of chipset limitations, do not populate both DIMM sockets of the same channel (e.g. DDRII1 and DDRII2) with double-sided memory modules to prevent system's failure to start or incorrect detection of memory modules. GA-946-DS3/S3 Motherboard - 16 -