# Does quad channel RAM work on a dual channel motherboard ?



## BIGi213 (Mar 7, 2012)

I bought Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 and Corsair Vengeance — 32GB (CMZ32GX3M4X1600C10) 
After I received it I got notice that it is a quad Channel memory. While the motherboard and the processor i7 2600 is supporting dual channel.

Will it work if I install it??  And what is the down effects?


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## Inceptor (Mar 7, 2012)

There is no difference.  A quad channel kit is just certified to run on a quad channel system.
The sticks will run just fine dual channel.


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## NdMk2o1o (Mar 7, 2012)

BIGi213 said:


> I bought Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 and Corsair Vengeance — 32GB (CMZ32GX3M4X1600C10)
> After I received it I got notice that it is a quad Channel memory. While the motherboard and the processor i7 2600 is supporting dual channel.
> 
> Will it work if I install it??  And what is the down effects?



It will work in your board if it supports 4x8GB though only in dual channel mode


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## BIGi213 (Mar 7, 2012)

So you advises me to start assembling my PC?


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## de.das.dude (Mar 7, 2012)

yes.

your PC will work fine.


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## BIGi213 (Mar 7, 2012)

Thank you very much. I appreciated your support


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## Aquinus (Mar 7, 2012)

Just keep in mind if you're building an Intel rig and the memory runs fast like 1866+ with all 4 slots populated or higher you may need to adjust your memory controller's voltage appropriately to maintain stability other than that, have a blast! I'm pretty happy with G.Skill's Ripjaws 16gb (4x4gb) of DDR3-2133 if you haven't ordered a kit yet.


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## micropage7 (Mar 7, 2012)

yep it will be fine
quad channel is dual channel x 2, so your ram will be ok


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## Bo$$ (Mar 7, 2012)

It will be perfectly fine


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## douglatins (Mar 7, 2012)

To my belief marketing dual channel, quad channel memory is purely marketing. Only thing that matter is having the correct same amount that the mem controller needs


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## cadaveca (Mar 7, 2012)

douglatins said:


> To my belief marketing dual channel, quad channel memory is purely marketing. Only thing that matter is having the correct same amount that the mem controller needs



Two things.

1. two dual-channel kits, bought together, and used as a quad kit, may not operate as advertized. Chances are, yes, it will work, but there is no guarantee from the ram makers about that(every company will advise buying a quad-stick kit for population of four DIMM slots) . If you want to populate more than two DIMM slots, and want support for that config, you need ot buy a kit with the number of DIMMs you wish to install. Other configurations are typically not provided with support form teh memory manufacturer.

I have run into this issue myself, with two dual-channel kits not working well together, even under lower speeds. However, i have also bought two dualchannel kits and had them work just fine..it's luck of the draw.


2. Quad channel memory is intended for X79, and as such, features and XMP v1.3 profile, that also includes VCCIO voltage settings when XMP is enabled. A non-XMP v1.3 kit(ie. XMP v1.2 or v1.2) may not work as advertized in an X79 system, due to this lack of info for the BIOS to make appropriate settings, and also becuase of differences in sub-timings and drive strengths between platforms.

I have personally run into this problem, where installation of a dual channel kit, on it's own with just two sticks installed, failed to boot and be stable until manual adjustments to VCCIO andsubtimings were made. I will be discussing this(what happens, and how to fix it) in an upcoming review(not the samsung one).


So, to close, generally, you are correct, but there are instances where buying the right ram matters. In my "professional" opinion, it's best to be be made aware of all potential issues, and how to deal with them, rather than to blindly recommend everything will work, when it may not. I will always be an advocate of full disclosure when it comes to situations like this one.


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## revin (Mar 8, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> A non-XMP v1.3 kit(ie. XMP v1.2 or v1.2) may not work as advertized in an X79 system, due to this lack of info for the BIOS to make appropriate settings, and also becuase of differences in sub-timings and drive strengths between platforms.



That is sooo true, even on other platforms as we discovered with _my _ "Intel" Extreme Z68, this should have been the "Bad Boy" from Intel, but low an behold it missed the mark with 2133 support, yes over 1600 is not "Supported" ,bbutt you'd think if they were going to nail it this would have been "Intel's" mark.

As has been made clear from here by testing, from the best support ever right here at TPU at least they made 1866  total ball's out even with all four Dimm slots populated, and if I had the money and could have maxed out 32Gb instead of current 16Gb, I have no doubt that 1866 would still be a top performer.

So my point? Luck of the draw. I have no support for the 2 critical values that _may_ have been able to get this board to support the fastest ram speed. Would it have made much difference? who knows, but since the 1866 support is already so far advanced into 2133 speeds, Intel designers would have clearly made this a superb board.


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## HTC (Mar 8, 2012)

I'm using a quad kit with my APU (see system specs): working just fine with slightly better then advertised timings @ rated voltage.

This kit is "designed for X79 systems" but is working just fine on my system.

Check out cadaveca's reply: very informative, IMO.


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