[NTLUG:Discuss] SunFire X2200 M2 memory strangeness

[Ralph Green]

On 8/28/13, Burton Strauss III <bstrauss at gmail.com> wrote:
> If you dividing them "equally", i.e. 2 at 1GB and 3 at 2GB for each CPU, it means
> the banks aren't properly filled (pairs).
>
> See:
> http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19121-01/sf.x2200m2/819-6597-12/819-6597-12.pdf
> on pg 4-31 where it talks per-CPU and says must be installed in matched
> pairs (one bank at a time) starting with DIMM0 farthest from the CPU.  The
> note on page 4-36 repeats this and says "The manufacturer and capacity of
> both modules in the same memory bank (Banks 1-4) must be identical.
>
> So you SHOULD have been able to put 4 of the 2GB in CPU0 and 2 of the 2GB +
> 4 of the 4GB in CPU1... giving both CPUs 8GB.
>
Howdy,
  I have 8 of the 2GB sticks(all identical Nanya brand) and 4 of the 1
GB sticks(all identical micron brand).  My original plan was to give
each bank 4 2GB sticks and 2 1GB sticks.  When I found that bank 0
only took the 1 GB sticks, I tried all 8 2 GB sticks in bank 1.  one
pair gave me memory errors and so I removed it.  Hence 6 2 GB sticks
now in bank 1.  I found a note saying that if you had more than 2 pair
of dimms in one bank, the motherboard ran them at a slower speed
anyway.  So, the chipset handles at least 2 speeds.
  I don't really know the Nanya brand, although I have seen it in
desktops.  Is it a good brand, or is it like Patriot?  They were free,
so it was worth trying, in any case.
Thanks,
Ralph