1GB vs. 2GB

[TheGeek]

Will having 4 sticks of OCX PC4000 VX be any slower than 2 sticks? Will I still be able to overclock to the same speeds?

 

[JohnAn2112]

Are you on Athlon 64? Depeding on your CPU core, you will either be dropped to 333MHz on the memory and 2T, or stay at 400 MHz at 2T. Either way, you're not going to be able to run at PC4000 speeds with 4 sticks of memory.

 

[Diasper]

We need a sticky about this - for some advice here

 

[Concillian]

If you are needing 2GB, chances are very good that you will realize a larger performance gain from the extra memory than you will a performance loss from increased latency / lower bandwidth.

You may need to run 'slower' but if the applications you're using require more than 1GB memory, you should overall have a nice upside to performance.

If you are not using applications that are using more than 1GB RAM, you will see some slower numbers in benchmarks, but I'd be quite surprised if you notice much change, as the hit in performance in real world apps is fairly small.

 

[TheGeek]

It'll be in an Athlon 64 X2 rig. I'll mainly be gaming

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Concillian
If you are needing 2GB, chances are very good that you will realize a larger performance gain from the extra memory than you will a performance loss from increased latency / lower bandwidth.

You may need to run 'slower' but if the applications you're using require more than 1GB memory, you should overall have a nice upside to performance.

Absolutely. If you're working on 28x22 RGB/16 300DPI images with multiple layers and masks in Photoshop, then you absolutely will notice a tremendous positive difference if you have 2GB vs. if you have 1GB, despite the greatly exaggerated timing issues with running either two 1GB modules or four 512MB modules.

If you are not using applications that are using more than 1GB RAM, you will see some slower numbers in benchmarks, but I'd be quite surprised if you notice much change, as the hit in performance in real world apps is fairly small.

True. If you want to obsess over benchmarks and a few fps' difference, then go with 2x 512MB and be happy.

 

[furballi]

More RAM won't help with speed unless you're running an application that requires more than 1GB of RAM. Remember that it costs more CPU clock time to manage more RAM.

Boot time will be a little slower with more RAM.