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Dual Channel DDR400: Worth the Extra Cost?

n7

n7

Elite Member
I am going to be picking up 1024 MB of PC3200 DDR to put in my new rig, & am wondering if spending the extra for the dual channel sticks is worth it.
How much does it really improve performance?
I don't plan on overclocking much (well, till i learn how), but i do want to be able to easily work with video & play a few games once in a while.
Also, i am on a rather limited budget, so if i was to go with a dual channel kit, i'd probably have to go with only 512 MB for now.
Is getting 512 dual channel vs. 1024 regular worth it?
And with my mobo, does that mean i can only put two sticks in that will work as dual channel?

System specs...
Asus A7N8X deluxe
Barton 2500+
Seagate Barracuda 120 GB SATA
ATI 9600 AIW Pro

Thanx in advance for any advice 🙂
 
You don't need dual channel RAM. You'll never see any real world increase. Its probably worth an extra 0-5% depending on the application. You probably don't need a gig of RAM either. If you did, you wouldn't even need to ask 🙂 I'd go with 512MB now so that you're all set for another 512MB down the road.
 
Oh, okay...i hadn't done research on it, but for only up to 5%, that's certainly not, for me anyway.
Thanx.
 
What extra cost? Dual now or more memory dual later? go dual. Dual is just that, it grab both sticks of memory at the same time, instead of filling a bank0 and going to the next until it runs out and has to use your HDs virtual mem.
Memory will get cheaper and unless your using adode or makin a ram drive for gaming extasy you'll never know.
 
IMO If you don't think you're going to overclock, just get a generic 512mb PC3200 stick. You can run it at great timings @333 mhz. Something like 2-3-3-7
 
Well Ireally don't like some of the post That i just read here Dual channel DDR offers way more than 5% boost in performance I mean thats a Joke write AnandTech has some great MB reviews And in thoughs reviews You well find that the performance boost is conciderable in online gaming I went From getting Creamed to just getting beat to me thats hugh also go with Dual matched DDR PC4000 you won't regret it say corsair Pro PC 4000 running at PC 3200 should allow u to set timing at 2-5-2-2 thats great and if you want to O/C you have the head room
 
Originally posted by: Zinn2b
Well Ireally don't like some of the post That i just read here Dual channel DDR offers way more than 5% boost in performance I mean thats a Joke write AnandTech has some great MB reviews And in thoughs reviews You well find that the performance boost is conciderable in online gaming I went From getting Creamed to just getting beat to me thats hugh also go with Dual matched DDR PC4000 you won't regret it say corsair Pro PC 4000 running at PC 3200 should allow u to set timing at 2-5-2-2 thats great and if you want to O/C you have the head room
Click to expand...

What? Could we get this translated into something the majority could understand. Use some punctuations.
 
Originally posted by: Viper96720
Originally posted by: Zinn2b
Well Ireally don't like some of the post That i just read here Dual channel DDR offers way more than 5% boost in performance I mean thats a Joke write AnandTech has some great MB reviews And in thoughs reviews You well find that the performance boost is conciderable in online gaming I went From getting Creamed to just getting beat to me thats hugh also go with Dual matched DDR PC4000 you won't regret it say corsair Pro PC 4000 running at PC 3200 should allow u to set timing at 2-5-2-2 thats great and if you want to O/C you have the head room
Click to expand...

What? Could we get this translated into something the majority could understand. Use some punctuations.
Click to expand...
Translation (and in Cliffnotes for convenience):
  • Claim that some of the AT reviews on motherboards shows Dual Channel considerably faster than Single Channel (though no mention of whether those reviews are with NF2 systems or P4 systems which makes all the difference)
  • Used to get butt kicked in online gaming with single channel now it's just a little bruised
Zinn2b, are you using a P4 system with Dual Channel or an Athlon based system with Dual Channel? It sounds like the former because DC does make a humongalific difference with P4 systems but it does just about nothing for the Athlon. Is that the misunderstanding?
 
Guys if your FSB is only 333 or 400MHz as on the AMD's, then dual channel would be a waste of time. The benchmarks on anandtech were results were improved was for memory bandwidth, not fps in games. The ram only connects to the north side chipset, from there all bandwidth is limited to your FSB x 32bit? So wouldnt all extra bandwidth from the dual ddr be wasted.

Sure if you have a p4 @ 800MHz FSB, then dual PC3200 is a must, otherwise isnt it a waste of time, please imform me if im wrong here.
 
There were benchmarks somewhere ("PC"something, 😛) that showed that there is little difference between 2-2-2-7 and 3-3-3-8 (only about 1.5FPs). However between 3-3-3-8 and 3-4-4-8 there was a larger 3Fps difference. Then if you got Dual-Channel compatible memory and motherboard you could easily make up the difference. Based off of this I am saving the cash on 2-2-2-7 memory and spending it on 3-3-3-8 DualChannel kit instead.

-Por
 
I think dual channel kits are just a way for the memory companies to make a few extra dollars. Since if you buy a pair of memory sticks from the same place. Just make sure they both have the same brand of memory chips on them. They'll both have the same spd and should run fine together.
 
Originally posted by: Viper96720
I think dual channel kits are just a way for the memory companies to make a few extra dollars. Since if you buy a pair of memory sticks from the same place. Just make sure they both have the same brand of memory chips on them. They'll both have the same spd and should run fine together.
Click to expand...
Yeah ^^ That's what I did, works just fine.
 
KillaKilla's advice:

What games are you playing? Do you really need 1024MB of RAM? If your not sure, and the shipping time is tolerable, then get a single 512 stick, then if it isn't enough for your taste, get another from the same location, same brand, same model.

WARNING: For dual channel to work the DIMMs must be identical sticks, not just identical size!
 
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