Ganged or Unganged

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Peter Morrison
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2010/09/11 10:46:10 (permalink)

Ganged or Unganged

I have 8gig of memory in my Quad core 64bit PC, running Sonar PE 8 5.3. Anybody got any ideas whether to configure the memory ganged or unganged?

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    daveny5
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    Re:Ganged or Unganged 2010/09/11 11:05:40 (permalink)
    There's a lot of info on this on the web. This is specific to AMD CPUs. I only use Intel CPUs and they generally recommend using dual channel mode. The bottom line: try it both ways and see which works best for you.

    Web Info:
    Ganging is AMD's version of Nvidia's Locked vs unlocked architecture basically allowing you to use your ram in dual channel vs single channel.

    Ganged = dual channel mode for ram. All cores get access to 100% of the ram.
    Unganged = single channel. Each core gets access to a stick of ram.

    The Phenom processors work a little differently than most other processors when it comes to the traditional thinking about dual channel memory operation. Phenoms have dual, or 2 memory controllers.  Each controller can wor independently from the other and run a bank of memory in unganged mode, bandwidth. In the ganged mode you lock both banks of memory together, 128 bit bandwidth, but only 1 controller can be used at a time, 1 must wait on the other to finish what it is doing. There is more bandwidth this way, but most people don't need it, and running your memory in unganged mode, allowing the controllers to work separately will result in better performance. Gaming is one area that shows a significant benefit by leaving your memory in unganged mode. Unganged mode is the default mode for Phenom processors.
    post edited by daveny5 - 2010/09/11 11:08:34

    Dave
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    Resonant Order
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    Re:Ganged or Unganged 2010/09/11 13:59:31 (permalink)
    I'm running an AMD quad-core cpu, and I found the performance was much better in unganged mode when doing just about everything. I originally started looking at that setting because I wanted to overclock my 3.0ghz cores and my 1333 ram. With the memory in ganged mode, any change to the bios resulted in a bsod. I unganged the memory, and now I'm running all cores at 3.45ghz, and the ram at 1533, so it made a significant difference in that aspect. I then reverted to all original settings and played with the ganged/unganged modes, and in unganged, my comp started quicker, programs started faster, and there was much less lag between actions. I only have two sticks of ram, so that may be why it works better for me unganged. When I end up with four sticks, I'll test it again. Right now I'm back to overclocked status without even one glitch or crash.
    post edited by Resonant Order - 2010/09/11 14:00:38

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