Limited to Single Channel, any difference?

Soldato
Joined
3 Dec 2012
Posts
2,699
Location
Northern Ireland
Have recently purchased (albeit second hand) Asus P8Z77 mobo and upon piecing my system back together again today I have noticed that the A2 and B2 DIMM slots are not working - when either of them are populated I get the Red DRAM Led.

This in itself is not a MAJOR issue but as I was using a 4x4gb kit with my old board it does mean that if I want to keep using 16gb I will need to buy a 2x8gb config instead although the downside is I am stuck in Single Channel mode.

Will I notice any difference in my real world usage being in Single Channel? Really just gaming and general desktop stuff no video editing or the likes.

Secondly, is there anyone that might know what the problem is? I'll start you off by saying that upon installing the board I noticed 2 bent pins in the CPU socket but as the board is second hand and had been lying around for a week before I noticed it I think I have little recourse with the seller, could have been my own doing I'm not sure.

I have suffered bent pins before and usually has resulted in a complete system failure so I am surprised that everything is working 100% apart from the DIMM slot situation.

Any info/experience greatly appreciated cheers.
 
Associate
Joined
21 May 2013
Posts
1,970
I've had luck in the past straightening out bent pins with a needle, but you need a steady hand and it's risky. Depending on how bad the bend is the pin could snap easily if you try to move it too far. Go very slowly, moving it a little at a time. Don't try to push it back into shape in a single motion.
 
Associate
Joined
27 Jun 2008
Posts
628
Location
Rugby
I have been debating going down to 1x8gb over my 2x4gb on my mini itx motherboard as the cooler doesn't fit very well with both DIMMs in. I found a review on the internet that said the performance difference between single and dual channel wasn't there for games. I would be interested to see other opinions.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Mar 2014
Posts
3,956
I've had luck in the past straightening out bent pins with a needle, but you need a steady hand and it's risky. Depending on how bad the bend is the pin could snap easily if you try to move it too far. Go very slowly, moving it a little at a time. Don't try to push it back into shape in a single motion.

I've heard the best is a mechanical pencil as the lead breaks before you snap off the pin.
 
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