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Originally Posted by Skybird
Once in a while I thinik about getting one 1 GB bar to help my FS installation a bit, I now have 2 x 512 Mb bars installed in slot 1 and 3 (of four). Is there a problem in mixing RAM bars of different capacity? How to arrange 2x512MB and 1x1GB on the four slots? Or is it unimportant? two years ago i was told it is not unimportant at all, and best is to use only bars of the same capacity. but I do not wish to replace the 512-bars, i only want to add another 1 GB.
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Most boards these days use what is known as crossbar technology which is more widely known as dual channel. Most boards I think can switch between dual channel and single channel fine. On the same channel, mixing RAM is fine, as long as the same RAM is on the opposite channel. This will allow for dual channel operation (4 transactions per clock cycle for DDR and 8 transactions per clock cycle for DDR2).
In my mind, dual channel won't really give you any speed improvements though, so don't fret too much about it. You still can't saturate normal DDR400 these days, let alone trying to saturate DDR 800.
The final word however is your manual. Each board is different on what RAM combinations they support and that will be listed in there. Also high density vs low density RAM can be an issue too (the number of chips on the module). That is something else to consider. Buy from a decent manufacturer like Mushkin, and you will be fine.
-S