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4x512mb or 2x1gb

R

RossCorp

Member
I don't really know if it's worth it to get a 2gb kit (2*1gb)......

I was wondering if there is that much of a performance difference in running 4*512 as opposed to 2 dimms. Can I run 2 sticks of 512 and 2 one giggers?? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I have an asus p4p800-e duluxe, p4 3.2-e, bfg 6800gs, wd 200g hd, 2x512 Kingston Value
 
what if i buy 2 more Kingston Value that are the same timings?

Edit: Will there still be compatibility issues, or is it actually kind of picky without matched sets?

Because of your answer i'm assuming that mixing two 1g sticks with my current 512's to make a total of 3g's is just asking for trouble, no?
 
check out part 1 and 2 of the 2gb DDR RAM kit round ups that were written on anandtech awhile ago. anandtech.com, memory tab at the top, then search.
 
i just checked it out, but it was all on an amd system, and ram performs quite differently on an intel rig, so I've been told. Is it true that timings don't matter as much as the frequency on a pentium system?
 
Yeah...having 4 DIMMs can also cause stability issues (I just had to pull 2x256 out of my system because of this) - go with 2x1GB, no doubt.
 
Originally posted by: RossCorp
I don't really know if it's worth it to get a 2gb kit (2*1gb)......

I was wondering if there is that much of a performance difference in running 4*512 as opposed to 2 dimms. Can I run 2 sticks of 512 and 2 one giggers?? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I have an asus p4p800-e duluxe, p4 3.2-e, bfg 6800gs, wd 200g hd, 2x512 Kingston Value
Click to expand...

You're never going to get a good answer for this question unless you say exactly what it is you do with your computer.

You're asking if it's "worth it." Well, that depends. Unless you're using some real RAM hogs or doing serious multitasking, it might not be worth it to upgrade the RAM at all.

4 DIMMs will almost always be slower than 2. I'm no pro on P4 systems, but you might go from 1T to 2T command rate, you might be forced to run DDR333 when you have 4 sticks installed, and you might slow down your timings.

So, the real question is, "do I want more memory or do I want faster memory?" Upgrading to 2*1 GB is what most people would suggest, but it's really a compromise that might not be best. The 2*1 GB won't be faster memory than what you've got unless you get really expensive memory, so that's not a benefit ... and if you think you really need the extra RAM, it might help more to keep the old stuff in and have 3GB (if your motherboard is stable).

I guess CL2 1GB sticks are getting just about as cheap as everything else, so if you're not overclocking you could have the best of both worlds by getting 2x1GB of DDR400 CL2-3-2-5 for $200.
 
4x512mb sticks will work perfectly fine in a P4 system. With a P4 the only real advantage to using 2 sticks over 4, is that you'll have two slots open to add more ram later.
 
Originally posted by: stevty2889
4x512mb sticks will work perfectly fine in a P4 system. With a P4 the only real advantage to using 2 sticks over 4, is that you'll have two slots open to add more ram later.
Click to expand...

Exactly. :thumbsup: for the Intel experienced. :thumbsdown: to the AMD guys who think their problems carry over to Pentium-based systems.

I'm running 4X512MB just fine.
 
I'm running 4x512 fine on an Athlon 64. There is hardly any slow down even if you have an Athlon 64. For Pentium 4s there is no slowdown at all and you don't have to use DDR333/2T.
 
2x1gb; more room for upgrade later and i think it will oc better than 4x512, but there is nothing wrong with 4x512, either. especially if your not going ot overclock
 
i tried a search, couldn't find anything relevent. Thanks for those who informed me of pentium performance. If i don't have to run 2T or ddr333 then i will just get another two sticks of 512mb. I don't plan on oc'ing very much at all, just a mild boost, maybe fsb of 210. Didn't really want to shell out 260+ for OCZ 2x1gb platinum edition. Although I would like to have the timings this ram has, I would much rather just spend about $100 for the 2x512. Thanks again, i'm going to pick up tomorrow!
 
4x512 doesn't leave you room to upgrade. Most mobos have 4 DIMM slots, so you really want toget 2x 1gb dual channel kit, because then in the future, if you need to you can upgrade to 4gb.
 
Originally posted by: AliasX
4x512 doesn't leave you room to upgrade. Most mobos have 4 DIMM slots, so you really want toget 2x 1gb dual channel kit, because then in the future, if you need to you can upgrade to 4gb.
Click to expand...

Most will desire a new mobo WAY before they will desire 4GB of ram. 😀
 
Originally posted by: bamacre

Most will desire a new mobo WAY before they will desire 4GB of ram. 😀
Click to expand...

yeah, I agree with you. I know for a fact that after I get 2gigs i will be fine until I need to buy some ddr2 for my new AMD rig! That's a ways off though 🙁

 
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