DDR400 Why use 2 sticks instead of 1?

[jcarson]

I just got a MB that supports PC3200 DDR400. 2 available slots.

Now, I dont understand why places sell these "kits" 2x512 or 2x256.
Why would someone not buy a single stick?

Help me out!

 

[cmdrdredd]

Dual channel boards for more bandwidth. Faster memory access means better performance.

 

[jcarson]

ok.. So to use the DDR you NEED 2 sticks that are identical?


What should I look out for when trying to get a cheap 1gig kit? Any suggestions?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: jcarson
ok.. So to use the DDR you NEED 2 sticks that are identical?


What should I look out for when trying to get a cheap 1gig kit? Any suggestions?

Not necessarily. Does your motherboard support dual channel? If not then there is no difference between 2x512MB and 1x1GB

 

[jcarson]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138247

It is a Biostar NF325-A7. This being the case (says it supports DDR400) then, I can assume I need 2 sticks to maximize performance correct?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Single channel only on that board. You can get 1 stick and it will work no problem. You cannot run dual channel on that board from what I've seen from a quick google search.

 

[hans007]

yeah that is a socket 754, all 754 is single channel.

its been proven with benchmarks too that dual channel barely makes a difference with athlon 64 based systems. maybe on the really high end. and just maybe.

 

[Heidfirst]

~7% overall

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: jcarson
I just got a MB that supports PC3200 DDR400. 2 available slots.

Now, I dont understand why places sell these "kits" 2x512 or 2x256.
Why would someone not buy a single stick?

Help me out!

When your system has dual memory channels, you obviously want to populate both for maximum performance. If it doesn't, then one stick is perfectly fine.

 

[xgsound]

Possible reasons to get 2 sticks; 1. to enable (if you can) dual channel 2. so you can troubleshoot with 1 stick if you have a memory failure.

Possible reason to get 1 stick ... to allow cheaper upgrade to double the memory later.


Jim