Memory installation

Hey,
I got a Asus A8R MX/S MB, and as you can see there's 2 sets of blue and black memory slots. When I looked closer at my MB it says A1 (Blue), B1 (Black) in the first set and A2 (Blue), B2 (Black) on the MB.

Here's a link to the specs of my MB

I just got 2 of the same mem sticks and I was wondering if it matters which combination of slots I install it in (Both blue or A1 and A2 or Both black).

any help is appreciated!

 

k, nvm, It's for dual channel

I was wondering if I add a another slower mem stick to one of the black slots (blue slots have 2 of the same), would that make things run slower still or would the dual channel still work at their top speed?

 

Dual channel requires an even number of memory modules, either two or four. If you install three you will get a performance drop because all three will now run in single channel. Also, as you said you have to keep the even pairs together by color for dual channel to work. If you mix speeds, all the installed memory will run at the speed of the slowest, so if you have two PC3200 and add a PC2700, now all memory runs as PC2700.

However, if you actually need more memory, your computer will still perform better overall if you install a large amount of slow memory in single channel, than if you have a small amount of fast memory in dual channel. Unless of course you don't need the full larger amount of RAM, in which case you should just keep it as it is right now. Makes sense?

 

Simple question, simple answer. Your ram will always run at the speed of your slowest modules installed.