If you have two RAM slots, it doesn’t matter which slot you use for your RAM, but if you have four or more, it does matter.ĭual channel is a technique that makes accessing the RAM modules by the CPU faster. For Dual Channel technology to work, the RAM sticks must be plugged into the correct slots. If you have another stick, then 1st and then 3rd.īut the motherboard’s manual is your best friend here to determine the exact slots enabling the dual channel. But, TL: DR, a general rule is that if you have a motherboard with four RAM slots, use 2nd slot, then 4th slot. I’ve included for you below in detail which slots to use. However, with two or more sticks, the slots start to count due to Dual Channel technology. If you have a single RAM stick, it doesn’t matter which one you use first. It all depends on your motherboard and how many RAM sticks you have. One such big caveat is when installing RAM sticks on your motherboard. When building a new PC, there is a ton of do’s and don’ts that you need to be aware of. Your best bet is to buy two 8Gb RAM modules and run only those in the same sockets you are using now for the 4Gb RAM modules.Yes, it does matter what RAM slot you use. So your system will, if you populate all of the sockets, have 2 sets of dual channel RAM. The 'dual channel' feature makes them appear to the memory controller to be twice as wide so the data transfers happen 128 bits at a time. As long as you buy the RAM modules in a matched set they will work together but if you mix them with other RAM the outcome is unpredictable.Įach module is 64 bit wide, meaning data transfers to and from memory happen 64 bits at a time. They might run in single channel mode or they may not run at all. If you do this they may work together and they may not. It would be a bad idea, however, to attempt to add memory modules to your existing memory because they are not always compatible when adding to an existing system.

It supports all 4 slots but in 2 sets of dual channel memory. Click to expand.'This mobo supports only 2 RAM slots, I believe, '.

Black and blue ram slots