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2x2GB or 4x1GB?

Z

zeroneleven

Junior Member
All else being equal, is there any advantage or disadvantage to using 4 sticks of 1GB memory over 2 sticks of 2GB?

Also, is there a tangible speed difference between, say, 4-4-4-12 and 5-5-5-15 timings?

I'm not really interested in gaming or speed benchmarks. I just need a fast, ultra-stable system. I'll only overclock if I get can get a noticeable, real-world increase in speed.
 
4x1 GB means no upgrade path.
4 dimms means more stress on the northbridge, which means more heat output.

For OCing, 4 dimms is more difficult in theory due to the extra NB stress & the chances of one dimm not clocking well being higher, as well as usually needing more NB voltage & sometimes vdimm.

The best OCing RAM is in 1 GB dimms, not 2 GB ones, so even with 4x1 GB, results at the very high end will be better.

4x1 GB is usually slightly cheaper.

Overall, you should be getting 2x2 GB IMO.

You will not tangibly notice a difference between 4-4-4 vs. 5-5-5, no, but for benching, & OCing, obviously tighter timings are better.

If you're getting a decent motherboard, RAM, & CPU, you can certainly see tangible differences between stock & OCed systems.

Games will be higher fps if you OC your Q6600 from 2.4 GHz to 3.4 GHz, e.g., & OCing video card as well will help even more in some cases.
 
Im sure all of those will work well. Personally, I have two sets of the corsair XMS2 (8 gigs total). Running my G0 Q6600 @3520 MHz. The performance is pretty amazing and I have not had any problems so far. (using an IP35 pro)
 
Originally posted by: zeroneleven
Thanks for the helpful post! :thumbsup:

These are the ones I'm considering for my build. Motherboard and CPU will probably be an Asus P5K-E and Intel E8400.

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
mushkin 4GB(2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Newegg has some pretty serious deals atm.

Any recommendations as to which memory to get?
Click to expand...

Of those the G.Skill or Mushkin would be my picks.
 
Thanks guys! I decided to go with the G.Skill.

Now I just need to pick a mobo.

I was about to get an Asus P5K-E, but then I read about BIOS-update issues. Also I don't like the sound of vdroop.

So I think I may get a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P.

😕 Too many decisions...
 
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