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I've got a recently bought PC with Gigabyte Z490M (1.0) motherboard. I've got single memory module (Adata 32GB AD4U3200732G22-SGN) so far and when my computer came from the seller the memory was mounted in DDR4_A2 socket in the motherboard.

The motherboard manual says how to locate memory to enable Dual Channel mode, but doesn't say how to locate it when only one memory module is available.

Then I decided to check if all memory sockets work. When I mounted it to DDR4_A1, then the computer didn't even start (not even launched POST). Is it desired behaviour? Are other sockets than A2 available only if more memory modules are mounted? Or single memory module should work in every memory socket? Should I file a complaint to my seller?

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  • Link to manual download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_z490m_e.pdf
    – Przemysław Różycki
    Commented Feb 3, 2021 at 12:00
  • You cannot use Dual Channel mode if you have a single module, but you don’t need it, since it doesn’t provide a performance difference that can be measured outside of performance benchmarks
    – Ramhound
    Commented Feb 3, 2021 at 14:42
  • The question is not about Dual Channel mode. I'm aware of this. I plan to buy additional memory module in a future and then play with DC mode. For now, I have single instance and this was a question about.
    – Przemysław Różycki
    Commented Feb 3, 2021 at 15:50

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This is normal, but your manual should clearly show a "single DIMM" configuration as well. I have seen manuals that do clearly state the memory order of population for all modules.

Gigabyte should be better, but apparently don't expect single-channel systems. Intel themselves have a page for Single and Dual Channel Configuration and clearly show that for a single DIMM you should put in the "second" slot:

Single-channel with one DIMM

enter image description here

Though this is potentially for their reference boards, their dual-channel example shows the same configuration as Gigabyte, with A2, B2 filled.

Dual-channel with two DIMMs

enter image description here

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