2 x 1GB vs 4 x 512

[Orbs]

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering, if I have a mobo that has 4 slots for DDR ram and I want 2GB (say on an Athlon 64 system), is it better to go with two 1GB sticks with slower latency or four 512MB sticks at 2-2-2?

Will dual channel memory operate differently in a four-way configuration?

Also, will 2GB give me any benefit over 1GB (in other words is a 2-pack of low latency 512 sticks the best option)?

This is more hypothetical than anything else, so price is not really a concern.

Thanks!
Jared

 

[Viper96720]

I would use 2x1GB since then still got upgrade room.

 

[dakels]

just a quick overview of what I see:
Sometimes 4 sticks run faster then 2. I dont have actual numbers handy but I know I have dealt with this before. 2 dual channel pairs got a tiny bit more performance then 1 pair. Maybe due to 4 chips ending data at once instead of 2? I really dont know but the difference was pretty minimal in my Sandra tests.

As for larger 1gig chips, I dont like them. generally slower latency with a much higher cost, not always. You generally pay for the larger size per dimm bank with cost and performance.

My Gigabyte 8knxp has 6 (3 pairs) DDR banks. I use 4x kingston hyper X 512 modules. My Mac G5 has 8 banks up to 8 gigs of RAM. ^_^ I dont have it filled but a friend of mine does with all 1gig chips... its pretty absurb and rarely allocated.

 

[dakels]

btw 2x1gb chips may be nice but what possible reason could you need more then 2 gigs of system ram? Unless you are doing HEAVY audio and video with applications that can allocate over 2 gigs of ram, its totally unecessary. I dont even think Windows 2k or XP will even allocate more then 999mb RAM to each app will it?

 

[ScottMac]

Another issue is that even though a Mobo gives you four slots (or more) for RAM, it may only accept four "sides" of RAM.

What that means is that 2 X 512 may completely fill the "sides" available, if the memory is considered "two sided." If that's the case, then the easiest fix is to go with 2 X one Gig.

Maybe it's not an issues with some of the new chipsets, but pay attention to the fine print on the Mobo specs, just in case.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[ed21x]

either way should satisfy the dual chan. requirement, though i personally would go with the quad 512 just because it's cheaper, and I wouldn't be upgrading past 2 gigs anytime soon...

 

[tkdkid]

Originally posted by: dakels
btw 2x1gb chips may be nice but what possible reason could you need more then 2 gigs of system ram? Unless you are doing HEAVY audio and video with applications that can allocate over 2 gigs of ram, its totally unecessary. I dont even think Windows 2k or XP will even allocate more then 999mb RAM to each app will it?

2K and XP can allocate up to 2GB for a single process.