2x 1GB or 1x 2GB?

[Akoto]

I just bought a new computer (thinkpad R61) with 512 megs of ram, planning to upgrade it later with much cheaper ram on newegg.com.

Now, I was originally just going to buy a single 2 gig stick of ram for it and stick that in along with my 512 chip for more ram then I can count, but I'm not sure if thats such a good idea anymore.

Would it be better if I [A] sold the 512 for whatever I can get at the local store, and stick in 2 identical 1gb chips, just buy a 1 gig chip and stick it in for a total of 1.5gb, or is my origoinal thought the best way to go?

I'm going to be using my lappy for gaming as much as anything, and so memory bandwidth is important to me.

Also, when looking around for 1gb chips I found a lot of chips that had various CAS latencies and I'm not 100% sure what that really means, but I gather that it's important that they be the same for all the memory I have, no?

Also also, do timings have anything to do with the speed at which the ram operates, or is it just best to get whatever is cheapest and from a known brand (top contenders are simpletech and trancent, or gskill but thats a bit more $$)?

 

[Brinson]

I'd buy 2 x 1gb because its prolly cheaper. However, if you do 1 x 2gb you could update to 4 gb if the next version of windows ups its system requirements as much as the last one did.

 

[jseber1982]

the lower the cas, the faster. Think of the memory speed as your horsepower... and the cas is your throttle response,, dont you if you are a car person or not. If your system has dual channel.. having 2x1gb is better than 1x2gb.. If you get 2x1gb and run dual channel, think of your memory acting like it is raid 0

 

[saltynay]

if your using vista then you need the 64bit version and 4gb of ram is the sweet spot. as I doubt you have the 64bit version on your laptop 2x1gb is the best

 

[Akoto]

I'd buy 2 x 1gb because its prolly cheaper. However, if you do 1 x 2gb you could update to 4 gb if the next version of windows ups its system requirements as much as the last one did.

Thats the thing, its not actually cheaper by any significant amount and if I buy 2x 1gb then its going to limit me in the future if I ever upgrade to a 64 bit OS.

However, I think I might just do it regardless (unless anybody has anything else to add??) because the smaller capacity chips seem to have lower cas latencies and I would imagine that my computer does indeed support dual channel memory as it is brand spanking new.

Just one more small question: what should I sell my 512mb ddr2 5300 sodimm chip for at the local store? Them guys like to rip people off.

 

[saltynay]

which country do you live in???? prices are regional for components so if you lived in the UK you might be able to get £30 whilst in the US you would get $40 which doesn't actually fit with currency excange rates

 

[Brinson]

I doubt very seriously you can get $40 for a used stick of 512mb ram...

 

[Akoto]

Oh sry good point...I'm in Canada. I would agree that $40 sounds a bit steep, even for buying a new chip, considering that both the chips I'm looking to buy off newegg are going to cost just $30 a piece after rebate.

 

[TheOtis]

the lower the cas, the faster. Think of the memory speed as your horsepower... and the cas is your throttle response,, dont you if you are a car person or not. If your system has dual channel.. having 2x1gb is better than 1x2gb.. If you get 2x1gb and run dual channel, think of your memory acting like it is raid 0

Good analogy about throttle response. Very nice.

 

[darksideleader]

if you say it like that, wouldn't it be best to have 2 sets of 512x2.