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Difficulty: HardRAM Types and Characteristics

A technician is setting up a high-performance desktop computer with a motherboard featuring four DDR4 DIMM slots divided into two memory channels: Channel A (Slots A1 and A2) and Channel B (Slots B1 and B2). Slots A2 and B2 are color-coded black, while slots A1 and B1 are color-coded gray. The technician installs two identical 16 GB16\text{ GB} DDR4 non-ECC UDIMM modules into slots A1 and A2. When powered on, the system completes POST, but UEFI/BIOS diagnostics report that the memory is running in single-channel mode. Which of the following actions should the technician perform to resolve this issue and enable dual-channel memory performance?

  1. Move one memory module from slot A2 to slot B1 so that both modules reside in matching gray slots across separate memory channels.Answer
  2. B
    Populate slots B1 and B2 with two additional 16 GB16\text{ GB} modules, as dual-channel operation requires all physical DIMM slots to be occupied.
  3. C
    Replace the installed desktop DIMM modules with dual-rank SO-DIMM modules designed to split single-channel slots into multi-channel buses.
  4. D
    Enable Error-Correcting Code (ECC) mode within the UEFI/BIOS setup to allow single-channel RAM configurations to simulate dual-channel bandwidth.

Answer

Move one memory module from slot A2 to slot B1 so that both modules reside in matching gray slots across separate memory channels.
Dual-channel memory technology doubles communication bandwidth by accessing two memory modules simultaneously across separate 64-bit64\text{-bit} data channels (Channel A and Channel B). Installing modules into adjacent slots belonging to the same channel (A1 and A2) restricts the system to single-channel mode. Relocating one module to a matching color slot on Channel B (such as moving from A2 to B1) balances the load across both channels and enables dual-channel operation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the memory slot population layout.
The technician installed both modules into Slots A1 and A2, which belong entirely to Channel A.
Populating two slots on the same memory channel limits memory operations to a single 64-bit64\text{-bit} bus (single-channel mode).
2
Identify motherboard color-coding standards for dual-channel population.
Matching slot colors (Slots A1 and B1 in gray; Slots A2 and B2 in black) indicate paired channels for multi-channel operation.
Installing identical modules into matching color-coded slots ensures that Channel A and Channel B are populated symmetrically.
3
Re-seat one module to create a dual-channel configuration.
Moving the stick from A2 to B1 (or A1 to B2) populates one slot on Channel A and one slot on Channel B.
This establishes a 128-bit128\text{-bit} combined memory bus across two independent 64-bit64\text{-bit} channels, enabling full dual-channel performance.

Key Concept

Dual-Channel RAM Slot Population Rules
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Topics

RAM Types and Characteristics

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