Dual Channel Memory Question

[wjsulliv]

Its been a while since I had need/desire to upgrade my system via the complete overhall route, but now is the time...

I'm a little confused regarding dual channel motherboards:
1) Is this the same pain as old edo memory boards where memory had to be installed in pairs?

Or
2) Can these boards support single stick configurations as well as dual stick configurations and the dual stick configuration is just performance feature?

Tell me or send me somewhere I can see and understand what the differences and such are.

 

[Peter]

Yes. Maybe. Perhaps.

It all depends on what chipset you use. Some are very flexible (SiS', mostly), some at least support single-channel configurations (as did some ALi and SiS chipsets back in the EDO days, remember that?), and some don't even do that (E7505 for example).