2 512's or 1 gig?

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FartComa

I'm about to buy a gig of pc3200 ram, and I'm not sure if it's better to get 2 512's or just 1 stick of 1024.... i guess I'm kinda nub, but this is what my motherboard says about ram, dunno if it actual has real meaning...

it "supports Dual Channe l Technology. When Dual Technology is activated, the bandwidth of memory bus will be double the original one....One memory module installed Dual Channel Technology will not operate and will only work as a single channel. Two DDR memory modules are installed, the Dual Technology wil operate [some words omitted for easier read]"
 
If you want to take advantage of the Dual Channel support you're better off with two 512mb sticks. That way you can have 512mb in each channel.
 
I don't think you can run Dual Channel Mode on one stick of RAM. Go for 2 512's.

But if you are adding RAM, why would you want 1GB+? I've made this misconception before too, thinking I would need alot of RAM.
 
Go for 2 sticks. XtR-X is right. Unless you are going to make some heavy demanding applications, video editing etc... don't waste money and better buy 2x256. Take in mind that you'll probably have to take out the ram you currently have unless they are very similar to the one you are going to add, cause dual channel can be a bit unstable with different modules.

Also, dual channel requieres you to have a pair number of sticks. you can't have 1 or 3 modules and have them in dual channel.
 
Originally posted by dani_17
you can't have 1 or 3 modules and have them in dual channel.
Click to expand...

Yes you can (as far as I know), at least for some boards. It requires equal size of RAM in each channel, so you could do something like 2x256 and 1x512.

Technology is becoming very demanding nowadays. I would go with 1GB but nothing over.
 
While it's true you can't run dual channel w/ only (1) stick, dual channel on AMD systems shows little to no real performance gain in games. The lower latency in one stick of 1GB will game better than 2 512 MB sticks running dual channel on an AMDXP system.

If your running an Intel chipset, go w/ 2 512 sticks and run them in Dual Channel. If your on an AMD rig, Dual Channel is nothing more than hype, and 1 stick will run faster.

Price wise, I've heard that 1GB sticks of DDR ram are pretty expensive, so factor that into your equation as well:)
 
Oh God, the whole forum encouraged me to buy AMD and now I see everything that's wrong with 'em-- after I've bought them. I should have stayed with Intel like I have been doing for a long time.
 
Originally posted by XtR-X
Oh God, the whole forum encouraged me to buy AMD and now I see everything that's wrong with 'em-- after I've bought them. I should have stayed with Intel like I have been doing for a long time.
Click to expand...

heh, it's not all bad, a little slower at 1/2 the price:)
 
Originally posted by XtR-X
Oh God, the whole forum encouraged me to buy AMD and now I see everything that's wrong with 'em-- after I've bought them. I should have stayed with Intel like I have been doing for a long time.
Click to expand...

hahahahha! awe, poor XTR. Just because it doesnt perform better in games doesnt mean its not good, you still want a fast PC right? Windows will load faster, applications will,etc,etc. Its not like AMD is just totally bad ;) Dont worry about it, whatever you bought will be good and fast!

Btw, nice name "FartComa" :cool:
 
preserved, you're a -----

and x, if you believe that bull, even though you're from BP......you're gonna be a -----, too (yeah, like the whole forum is wrong and this guy is right?) c'mon x, engage brain before inserting foot.......the nf2 boards are amd dual channel boards...........not intel......a 1 gig stick will have a higher propensity for error, as does any ram , as you scale up in size...........to not make use of the dual channel.......which, by the way, is a ......significant boost..... to performance for amd, as it doubles the bandwidth...........to top this off, he'll pay more for a single module of 1 gig size.......to do what? not take advantage of dual channel, with a higher propensity for error, at a higher cost............i take it back, this guys a genius
and, agissi....no wonder you would think fartcoma is cool.....you're from uranus:grinthumb
 
Re: preserved, you're a *****

Originally posted by JSR
and x, if you believe that bull, even though you're from BP......you're gonna be a *****, too (yeah, like the whole forum is wrong and this guy is right?) c'mon x, engage brain before inserting foot.......the nf2 boards are amd dual channel boards...........not intel......a 1 gig stick will have a higher propensity for error, as does any ram , as you scale up in size...........to not make use of the dual channel.......which, by the way, is a ......significant boost..... to performance for amd, as it doubles the bandwidth...........to top this off, he'll pay more for a single module of 1 gig size.......to do what? not take advantage of dual channel, with a higher propensity for error, at a higher cost............i take it back, this guys a genius
Click to expand...

Very well said, except I wouldnt call XTR a *****, just because he would believe that, simply because he may be a very smart guy, however simply not no much about hardware. and......

and, agissi....no wonder you would think fartcoma is cool.....you're from uranus:grinthumb
Click to expand...

lol :grinthumb :D
 
no, agissi

i said .......your "gonna be one, too" if..........you don't stop actin' stupid :D comatose one
 
Re: preserved, you're a *****

Originally posted by JSR
and x, if you believe that bull, even though you're from BP......you're gonna be a *****, too (yeah, like the whole forum is wrong and this guy is right?) c'mon x, engage brain before inserting foot.......the nf2 boards are amd dual channel boards...........not intel......a 1 gig stick will have a higher propensity for error, as does any ram , as you scale up in size...........to not make use of the dual channel.......which, by the way, is a ......significant boost..... to performance for amd, as it doubles the bandwidth...........to top this off, he'll pay more for a single module of 1 gig size.......to do what? not take advantage of dual channel, with a higher propensity for error, at a higher cost............i take it back, this guys a genius
and, agissi....no wonder you would think fartcoma is cool.....you're from uranus:grinthumb
Click to expand...

Try not to get caught up in hype there JSR.

http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review.php?id=02boardnforce20asus0000a7n8x0000305

I guess you just like the way Dual Channel sounds...Too bad it doesn't give much/any performance boost.....(On AMD XP Systems. It does quite well on Pentium systems, however)


Check your PM's as well.



~Swine
 
don't show me something

that doesn't take into account higher fsb's and strong videocards to take advantage of 6.4 gigs of bandwidth (3200x2).............swine, hopefully you know that i am not trying to disparage you in any way........it's just that there are variables
 
The highly hyped dual bank DDR technology is nearly useless in reality. From the figures above, it offers around 0~2% performance gain over single bank configuration. The EV6 bus is having a hard time supplying the required bandwidth, on the other hand, the P4 CPUs could benefit from the dual bank DDR configuration due to the QDP architecture. Note: The dual bank DDR would become useful if onboard graphics card is utilized.
Click to expand...

This sums up what other AMD users are reporting as well. It appears as though Dual Channel advantages are simply non-existant on AMDXP systems. This review sums up what many, many AMD users who have Dual Channel will tell you. It simply doesn't make much difference (~2%)

I have an idea..Find me a benchmark where DUAL Channel RAM makes, "a ......significant boost..... to performance for amd, as it doubles the bandwidth"

As I can find nothing to back that statement up. In fact, all research I've done finds exactly the opposite to be true. Once you get past the marketing hype, I've been unable to find anyone claiming, with the benchmarks to prove it, much of a gain.

To say it offers a siginficant boost in peformance is misleading, at this point in time.
One stick will be more expensive, certainly something to consider. I wouldn't be too concerned about internal errors, IMO...The added bonus of considerable lower latency is well worth it, IMO (disregarding cost)

I'm not trying to argue w/you. I think you'll come to the same conclusions yourself, after doing your own research.
 
they hold the fsb to 133, swine

the jump in fsb cpu's are another thing............. http://www.tomshardware.com .............there are "several" reviews touting the continuing evolution of nf2 and this configuration
 
Re: they hold the fsb to 133, swine

Originally posted by JSR
the jump in fsb cpu's are another thing............. http://www.tomshardware.com .............there are "several" reviews touting the continuing evolution of nf2 and this configuration
Click to expand...

Could you provide amore accurate link please? I'm not sure which review your pointing to:)

I'm most interested to see some DUAL CHANNEL performance increases on an NF2 board, as that's what I'm currently running:grinthumb
 
judging from all I have read dual channel DDR for AMD chipsets has a ways to go to mature before it becomes effective. Intel of course had a huge head start gained from their experience with dual channel RDRAM.
 
yes, in servers

that will be rendered obslete as the new 64 bit architecture starts to take hold.........preserved, here http://www17.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20020716/index.html
http://www17.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030523/nforce2_11boards-01.html
of course i can dig some more, here's a thred showing 5-15% increases.......yet, he's using old technology.............the newer boards ramp up the fsb significantly without hangups..........
http://ton.deception.net/?p=comp
also, consider audio and video capture with this kind of bandwidth......also, the lower the rez, the bigger the spread (fps)
 
Thanks for the links, but they don't contain any actual benchmarks (unless I just didn't see them???). I'm aware of the hypothetical advantage in bandwidth, I'm just wondering why it doesn't correlate into real application performance increase. The links provided are dimply marketing hype, IMO, (of course I'm a cynic at heart:p) especially w/ no benches to back up the tremendous gain in hypothetical performance, on XP systems only.

I've seen the well documented gains on P4's. The gains are real, and easily measurable. But w/ XP's, it seems to be more hype than substance....currently.

Still looking (and hoping) to see some gains (on XP systems) using Dual Channel capabilities:)
 
Originally posted by PreservedSwine
heh, it's not all bad, a little slower at 1/2 the price:)
Click to expand...

That is 100% incorrect.

I designed two identical systems, with the same features and everything (RAID, SATA, video, sound, cooling, memory, etc.).

Intel P4 3.0GHz 800FSB HT System - ~$100 more.
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (400FSB) System - ~$100 less.

NOTE: Both systems use Corsair TwinX XMS PC3200 RAM.

I only bought AMD because I've never tried them before. Now it's always after the purchase you learn the truth.

I've lost the prices but I've done this on another post in the forum. I had the exact prices down. It wasn't an acurate price for what you could buy it for because each one had extra utilities and stuff that I wanted.
 
Amd has not been "half the price" of intel for quite some time. I run systems with both amd and Intel. my personal preference is for intel. AMD chips are great its the chipsets available for them that leave a lot to be desired. hopefully the NForce series of board will continue to mature and inmprove providing a reliable platform for AMD chips.
 
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