2x512 mb faster than 1gb stick?

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peace2acorn

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I heard somewhere that putting 2 512mb sticks is faster than a 1gb stick. is this true?
if so would it still be true for 4 512mb sticks vs 2 1gb sticks?
 
2x512 will give you dual channel...that's why it's faster than a single 1gb stick....4x512mb would be pointless as 2x1gb would give you dual channel as well.

2 matching sticks assuming your motherboard and CPU support it will give you dual channel
 
I guess it would depend on the stick but, I would think that 2 sticks would be faster because you have 2 things working at a time.
 
so youre saying that 4x512mb would be the same as 2x1gb? if it would operate the same then i will get 4x512mb sticks cuz that is cheaper by like $50.
 
No, IMO, 4 sticks would be FASTER than just 2. im talking about speed, not size.

But like I said, that is just my opinion.
 
I guess it would depend on the stick but, I would think that 2 sticks would be faster because you have 2 things working at a time.
kind of but no...the only reason they would go faster is because of dual channel...but if your motherboard doesn't support dual channel then 2x512mb would be no faster than 1gb.....so yeah they DO both get accessed when it's 2x512mb running in dual channel, but if it's running in single channel it's only one stick at a time being accessed.

so youre saying that 4x512mb would be the same as 2x1gb? if it would operate the same then i will get 4x512mb sticks cuz that is cheaper by like $50.
assuming the motherboard has 4 slots and supports dual channel it would be, however some boards don't like all 4 slots being filled up and might default your RAM to a slower speed...I believe the MSI board does that...if you use up all 4 slots then it'll only run at DDR333...so you'd have to check the motherboard specs before you did that

No, IMO, 4 sticks would be FASTER than just 2. im talking about speed, not size
no...4x512mb would go the same speed as 2x1gb because they'd both be running in dual channel (once again assuming your motherboard supports dual channel and you are using 4x matching sticks, or 2x matching sticks in the case of 2x1gb)
 
Nubius said:
the only reason they would go faster is because of dual channel..

Yeah, sorry. dual channel is a must. I didn't ask about that when I posted. But thats what I meant.
 
Nubius said:
assuming the motherboard has 4 slots and supports dual channel it would be, however some boards don't like all 4 slots being filled up and might default your RAM to a slower speed...I believe the MSI board does that...if you use up all 4 slots then it'll only run at DDR333...so you'd have to check the motherboard specs before you did that

Don't know whether the MSI boards affect them, but if I remember correctly, the CPU has something to do with that for sure. I think the Venice (AMD) is capable of maintaining it at DDR400 (when you use 4 sticks) where as like the Winnie would force it to drop down to DDR333.
 
Don't know whether the MSI boards affect them, but if I remember correctly, the CPU has something to do with that for sure. I think the Venice (AMD) is capable of maintaining it at DDR400 (4 sticks) where as like the Winnie would force it to drop down to DDR333.
Honestly I never much paid attention because it was of no concern to me lol...so hell you could be right...I know with the nf3 board, well most DFI boads in generally the reps test 4 sticks out in the board...I guess all 4 slots filled up sometimes causes more issues than with just two sticks, but yeah like I said, I never much looked into it
 
If you get 4x512mb, the memory will have lower latencys than 2x1gb, and it will still be dual channel. In theory, it should be faster.
 
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