Dual channel ram?

[Taxmancometh]

I have a computer with 8 GB of ram, 4 sticks at 2 gigs a piece, one of which is bad. This ram is dual channel. I'm wondering if I could use the three sticks of ram still? Would the first two sticks be dual channel and the third be single channel? Can it run like that?

Thanks.

[stroyal]

If you are not running pairs, it will revert to single channel.

The loss will be very little, Dual channel has never been a very big increase, over single.

Test Results: Single Vs. Dual Channel RAM : Parallel Processing, Part 2: RAM and HDD

[Taxmancometh]

I was thinking the first two pairs would be dual channel and the third single channel. But if it doesn't matter then I have nothing to worry about, huh?

Good info.

[stroyal]

Yep, when it first came out, I thought wow, double the bandwidth.
Then when I saw the tests, it was a disappointment.

If I had to choose(for example)between 1gig in dual channel and 1.5 gig in single channel, I would go with the single channel, because the extra memory would be more beneficial than the dual channel.