4 vs 2 ram slot q

[sheky]

does it make a difference if i buy 1gbx2 (leaving 2 slots empty) or 512mbx4?

considering everything else involving the ram is the same

 

[Nitestick]

i'm not sure how dual channel applies to 2gb of ram but for instance if you only wanted 1gb it would be more efficient to have 2x512mb than 1x1gb. what do you want 2gb for because it may be expensive overkill?

 

[m3trj]

1GB sticks have higher latencies and do not perform as well as 512MB sticks. You can still run 4 512MB sticks in dual channel however.

 

[Nitestick]

there you go. thanksb for clarifying that m3trj

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

1GB sticks have higher latencies and do not perform as well as 512MB sticks. You can still run 4 512MB sticks in dual channel however.

1GB sticks can have the same latencies, and latencies barely affects peformance.

However with 2 sticks of ram, you run the 1T command, with 4 you run the 2T command and this is a reasonable affect on peformance.

For future upgradeability, it's best to have 2x sticks so you can add more.

And, some AMD CPU's run 4 sticks at 333 speeds as earlier memory controllers could not handle 4 sticks at full speed

 

[diesel2005]

oh right at the mo i have pc2100 running in dual channel so ur syaing i cant get 2 more stiks to get 2 gig of ram cos my pc wouodnt be able to handle it

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Well #1 if you have PC 2100 ram, you have oldskool crappy ram, and any AMD CPU can run as much ram as you can fit in at 2100 speeds

 

[Him]

The less sticks the better. It will take the CPU less time to access if it only has to visit 2 sticks instead of 4. You want the lowest number of sticks possible, starting at two anyway so you can run dual channel.