Will Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo support DDR3 1600 MHz and DDR2 swap without OS format ?

[CyberKID]

I don't think he'll need to reinstall the OS. Please read the statement carefully.

In My Opinion, yes. You'll need not to reinstall the OS for changing the RAM's.

 

[TheSloth]

oh. sary

 

[d6bmg]

it'll downclock to 1333Mhz. But if you overclock then 1600Mhz may be possible.

No BIOS can't. Your post would have been right is there were any profile named 1600(O.C.). It is not there and therefore it can't.

BTW, all of us seem to be missing the original question, Will Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo support DDR3 1600 MHz and DDR2 swap without OS format ?

1. No it won't support. Put a 1600MHz RAM there and the BIOS won't recognize it at all. You put 1333MHz RAM there and BIOS will auto down-clock it to 1066MHz.
2. Yes, you don't need to reinstall the OS after changing RAM.

@Everyone: Guys, see my post. Motherboard can't support any frequency which is more than the specified max OC profile limit.

 

[Naxal]

No BIOS can't. Your post would have been right is there were any profile named 1600(O.C.). It is not there and therefore it can't.

Thanks for the input.

Is this limitation is due to G41 chipset or this perticular motherboard itself wont support 1600 at all ??

1. No it won't support. Put a 1600MHz RAM there and the BIOS won't recognize it at all. You put 1333MHz RAM there and BIOS will auto down-clock it to 1066MHz.

So it means I must only buy 1333 MHz DDR3 in case I plan for DDR3..

But since the RAMs are native 1333 MHz, so I can assume a safe OC from motherboards 1066 MHz to 1333 MHz would be possible ??

2. Yes, you don't need to reinstall the OS after changing RAM.

I was hesitating to activate softwares if it would have meant another re-install, so I guess I can go ahead with installation and activation and later if I shift to DDR3 platform, it would be just plug n play ??

 

[d6bmg]

Is this limitation is due to G41 chipset or this perticular motherboard itself wont support 1600 at all ??

Limitation is due to both the factors, G41 chipset don't support 1600MHz and so is the motherboard.

So it means I must only buy 1333 MHz DDR3 in case I plan for DDR3..

But since the RAMs are native 1333 MHz, so I can assume a safe OC from motherboards 1066 MHz to 1333 MHz would be possible ??

Yes, you need to buy 1333MHz DDR3 RAM.
And yes, you can easily OC to 1333MHz.

 

[digitfan]

Guys I have one question the manual says 4gb for ddr3 but the site says 8gb max ddr3.so which is correct? Btw I too have similar mobo.

 

[d6bmg]

That means it can support maximum 4GB modules per slot.

 

[Naxal]

Yes, you need to buy 1333MHz SSR3 RAM.

You mean DDR3 right ??

Guys I have one question the manual says 4gb for ddr3 but the site says 8gb max ddr3.so which is correct? Btw I too have similar mobo.

For DDR2 i think it says upper limit of 4GB where as DDR3 upper limit is set to 8GB.

 

[CyberKID]

Guys I have one question the manual says 4gb for ddr3 but the site says 8gb max ddr3.so which is correct? Btw I too have similar mobo.

You can have 8GB DDR3 RAM in dual channel configuration (i.e. 4 GB stick in each RAM slot) without any problems. But to use that, you'll need to install a 64bit OS.

 

[d6bmg]

You mean DDR3 right ??

Typo corrected.
To use >4GB of total RAM (in your case DDR2+DDR3), you will need 64 bit OS.

 

[Naxal]

Typo corrected.
To use >4GB of total RAM (in your case DDR2+DDR3), you will need 64 bit OS.

You mean both will work together

 

[CyberKID]

^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.

and the need for 64 bit OS is that, since 32 bit os (aka x86) has a limitation of 3.2 GB RAM by design, so, anything more than that won't be used by a 32 bit windows.

 

[d6bmg]

You mean both will work together

Yes. Both will work together, but when the total amount of RAM crosses 4GB, you will need 64bit OS to utilize it.

^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.

True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.
You are correct. I didn't see the note part. Sorry for confusing everyone.

 

[Naxal]

^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.

True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.

Me confused

To be simple, does it mean I dont have to through away my older DDR2 RAM and can keep on using it with DDR3 also ??

 

[dashing.sujay]

^Throw away....

DDR2 and DDR3 can't be used at a time. Only either.

 

[topgear]

Yes. Both will work together, but when the total amount of RAM crosses 4GB, you will need 64bit OS to utilize it.

True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.

here's something from the spec page :

(Note: Mixed mode, populating DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules simulta- neously is not supported

 

[CyberKID]

True, but here in this case, you are wrong again. If you had gone though the earlier posts in this thread you would have understood that the board OP bought is a combo board which have both DDR2 & DDR3 slot and both of them could be used together.

Oops! you seem to be highly confused. The combo means that it supports both DDR2 and DDR3 on the same board. It doesn't mean that you can use both simultaneously.

Dual channel memory architecture
(Note: Mixed mode, populating DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules simultaneously is not supported. Please refer "Memory Support List" for the latest supported memory speeds and memory modules.)

I suppose, this would help *www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4213#sp

 

[Naxal]

^ I think this should have been clear to you by now that DDR2 and DDR3 RAM modules won't work together. You need to use either DDR2 or DDR3 modules.

That I knew, but got confused with information suggesting that both RAMs can be ran together

Actually with this board lot of things didnt go as per what is written.

• Audio was said to be VIA, even Gigabyte website too didnt update about the new rev 2.0, so i wasted two days trying to install VIA, later found, it went onto install Realtek
• Microsoft said you need KB888111 for HD Audio but KB888111 refused to install saying I dont need the update since I have updated system. Later a trick got that installed

So thought may be this is too something I knew but not the case in actual reality !!

^Throw away....

DDR2 and DDR3 can't be used at a time. Only either.

I guess I would be buying 1333 MHz and will replace my DDR2 sticks

 

[d6bmg]

Sorry everyone for the unnecessary confusion created by me in the whole thread. I didn't see the note and I should have gone through the specification part from the gigabyte website before posting at the first place.
@OP: Do what dashing.sujay says.
If you need more than 4GB of RAM, just don't use those DDR2 modules and buy DDR3 modules.

 

[Naxal]

@OP: Do what dashing.sujay says.
If you need more than 4GB of RAM, just don't use those DDR2 modules and buy DDR3 modules.

Thank you.