4 x 512mb ????

[Corporate Thug]

i got a 2 x 512 kit

i want to get a 2 x 512. is there any real advantage to getting 2 x 1 gb instead?

i know i can run 1t with 2 dimms but can someone show 1t making a signicant difference in games?

 

[Cooler]

for AMD chips it is faster to get 2 x 1GB then 4 x 512 mb.

 

[Zensal]

You'll get about a 3-5% gain by using 1T. If that 3-5% gain is important enough to spend the money on, go for it. If not, just get the 2x512.

 

[JohnAn2112]

Originally posted by: Zensal
You'll get about a 3-5% gain by using 1T. If that 3-5% gain is important enough to spend the money on, go for it. If not, just get the 2x512.

QFT.

Actually to be honest, you'll most likely gain more from having 2 GB of memory than suffer from dropping to 2T. If you want to save the extra few bucks, then just get the 2x 512.

 

[SynthDude2001]

I'm wishing I'd bought another set of 2x512 back when they were cheap...I'm in the same situation right now (2x512 looking to upgrade to 2GB, and not willing to spend $175+ on 2x1GB sticks)

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I'm wishing I'd bought another set of 2x512 back when they were cheap...I'm in the same situation right now (2x512 looking to upgrade to 2GB, and not willing to spend $175+ on 2x1GB sticks)

outpost has corsair value 2x512 for $50 AR

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I'm wishing I'd bought another set of 2x512 back when they were cheap...I'm in the same situation right now (2x512 looking to upgrade to 2GB, and not willing to spend $175+ on 2x1GB sticks)

outpost has corsair value 2x512 for $50 AR

I don't like rebates in general, but that might be worth considering...how is Outpost with rebates? I'd also have to pay tax, but that shouldn't be too bad...

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I'm wishing I'd bought another set of 2x512 back when they were cheap...I'm in the same situation right now (2x512 looking to upgrade to 2GB, and not willing to spend $175+ on 2x1GB sticks)

outpost has corsair value 2x512 for $50 AR

I don't like rebates in general, but that might be worth considering...how is Outpost with rebates? I'd also have to pay tax, but that shouldn't be too bad...

havent lost one. is came out to $90 - 25 rebate for me (tax and shipping)

2 days shipping is only 50 cents more than regular

 

[Stangs55]

2x1Gb (1T) > 4x512mb (2T) > 1x1Gb (1T) = 2x512mb (1T)

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Stangs55
2x1Gb (1T) > 4x512mb (2T) > 1x1Gb (1T) = 2x512mb (1T)

Actually, that should be:

2x1GB > 4x512MB > 2x512MB > 1x1GB (> 4x256MB).

You lose a couple percent performance going from dual- to single-channel, so 2x512MB is better than 1x1GB.

If you already have 2x512MB, adding another 2x512MB should be fine as long as it doesn't force you to both 2T and DDR333 on your motherboard. If it does, you're probably better off selling your 2x512MB and buying 2x1GB modules.

 

[allanon1965]

I have built 2 athlon64 3000+ systems with the ECS Extreme motherboard, and I run 4X512 in both, the difference between 1T and 2T is practically nil when the system is as fast as it already is, that being said, I have no issues, and they run at 400, not 333 with all slots populated with PC3200 KingMax DDR.

 

[duragezic]

As said, the command rate difference only accounts for a few percentage points. I havent personally seen any benchmarks to show whether this is a synthetic difference or actual FPS difference. If its synthetic, then FPS difference will be almost nothing though things like loading times may be SLIGHTLY affected. Conclusion is I'd get 4x512mb.

Also, Matthias99, why would you be forced to DDR333? Do some mobos have issues providing for all 4 DIMM slots filled?

As for me, I'm running 3x512mb, 1x256mb. So I'm single channel (64 bit), 2T, with AUTO timings. How's that for slow memory!! It'd be stupid to sell my old sticks for jack and pay $$ for some CAS 2.5 or less 2x1GB (with the extra 256mb difference aside). The money spent just isn't worth the difference, and the money would likely be better spent on other components to the system (tho I'm pretty set all-around). If anything I'll just give away the 256mb stick and buy a single 512mb, so I'll have 2GB in dual channel, but still 2T and auto/slow timings. Ah well!

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: duragezic
Also, Matthias99, why would you be forced to DDR333? Do some mobos have issues providing for all 4 DIMM slots filled?

Yes, at least with the early (pre-Venice core) A64 chips. Some motherboards can also usually run DDR400, but default you to DDR333 with four DIMMs installed and may not be 100% stable at DDR400.

Ultimately, the real-world performance difference from 1T to 2T timings is pretty damn small. It makes a moderate difference in some memory benchmarks, but for games, it's usually somewhere in the 1-3% range. Even single-channel to dual-channel (HALVING the bandwidth) is something like 5-10% most of the time in games (although it tanks all the synthetic memory benchmarks).

 

[SynthDude2001]

Hmm...it looks like Fry's has that 2x512MB for $50 AR deal in-store too...now do I want to be impatient and make a trip down to Houston tomorrow, or save a little money and get it shipped (and probably wait until at least next Wednesday-Thursday)...

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
Hmm...it looks like Fry's has that 2x512MB for $50 AR deal in-store too...now do I want to be impatient and make a trip down to Houston tomorrow, or save a little money and get it shipped (and probably wait until at least next Wednesday-Thursday)...

yeah, i wanted to get it at the store too but i didnt want to go thru the hassel of the BART ride. definately a hotter deal if u can get it at the store

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
Hmm...it looks like Fry's has that 2x512MB for $50 AR deal in-store too...now do I want to be impatient and make a trip down to Houston tomorrow, or save a little money and get it shipped (and probably wait until at least next Wednesday-Thursday)...

yeah, i wanted to get it at the store too but i didnt want to go thru the hassel of the BART ride. definately a hotter deal if u can get it at the store

It would be hotter if I were closer than 85 miles from Houston

 

[Wall7486]

In my opinion if you are buying 2x 1GB slow RAMs, you might as well add another 2x 512MB. The reason why people want to run 2 Dimm is for overclocking. Buying slow 2x1GB will also take a toll in the oc department. Overall 2x 1GB kits are quite expensive, even the slow ones. Unless you can shell out 250+ for 2GB kits. Might I ask why you need 2 Gigs?

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Wall7486
In my opinion if you are buying 2x 1GB slow RAMs, you might as well add another 2x 512MB. The reason why people want to run 2 Dimm is for overclocking. Buying slow 2x1GB will also take a toll in the oc department. Overall 2x 1GB kits are quite expensive, even the slow ones. Unless you can shell out 250+ for 2GB kits. Might I ask why you need 2 Gigs?

That's basically the conclusion I came to...Unless I wanted to spend a LOT on 2x1GB RAM, it would be sticks with pretty high timings, and I'd be out kind of a lot of money for something not really faster than what I've got now...adding 2x512 is (relatively) inexpensive, and should last me a few years until it's time to move to a platform with DDR2/DDR3.

(Not to mention that paying $250 for "overclocking" RAM isn't really going to provide a proportional performance increase on an A64 anyway, compared to just adding 2x512)

Oh...and I realize your question was for the OP but I'll put in my two cents here...I want to upgrade to 2GB mainly for multitasking. Even just with FarCry and Firefox open a while back, I got a ton of hard drive thrashing switching in between the two...that's not even "heavy" multitasking. I have a dual-core Opteron and multiple hard drives, and I'm starting to get into h.264 encoding (which takes forever even on my CPU)...if I want to be able to do other stuff (like game) at the same time that I'm encoding, 1GB really isn't going to cut it anymore.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: Wall7486
In my opinion if you are buying 2x 1GB slow RAMs, you might as well add another 2x 512MB. The reason why people want to run 2 Dimm is for overclocking. Buying slow 2x1GB will also take a toll in the oc department. Overall 2x 1GB kits are quite expensive, even the slow ones. Unless you can shell out 250+ for 2GB kits. Might I ask why you need 2 Gigs?

apparently for higher "minimum" frames in games

 

[allanon1965]

matthias, one of my machines is a venice core(mine) the other one is a Winchester(the wifes) and they both run 2T at 400......so I cant see why its a pre venice issue, possibly due to different or better batches maybe? I am not sure...