Dual DDR Memory Question...

[bob332]

what exaclty is it? i am getting a m/b based on the nforce 2 ultra 400. i understand that this m/b will take advantage of this memory, but what is the difference between and regular ddr?

thanks in advance

 

[Corporate Thug]

it theoretical doubles the memory bandwidth but it is better utilized with the 865/875 chipset. there will be a small boost in performance with an amd system

 

[Shooters]

There's no such thing as "dual channel" memory modules, and any retailer that labels their modules as "dual channel DDR" is probably just doing it so they can mark up the price and take advantage of lesser knowledgable buyers.

Dual channel memory capability is a chipset feature. Basically instead of a single 64-bit memory controller, the chipset has two independent 64-bit memory controllers for an effective bus width of 128-bits. This doubles your maximum theoretical memory throughput, but of course don't expect real-world performance to double.

All you need to run a dual channel memory configuration is a chipset with dual channel memory architecture (such as the nForce2), and 2 sticks of RAM (if you use only 1 then you'll be running in single channel mode). You'll probably want at least PC2700 and maybe even PC3200 if you plan on overclocking.

 

[bob332]

Originally posted by: Shooters
There's no such thing as "dual channel" memory modules, and any retailer that labels their modules as "dual channel DDR" is probably just doing it so they can mark up the price and take advantage of lesser knowledgable buyers.

Dual channel memory capability is a chipset feature. Basically instead of a single 64-bit memory controller, the chipset has two independent 64-bit memory controllers for an effective bus width of 128-bits. This doubles your maximum theoretical memory throughput, but of course don't expect real-world performance to double.

All you need to run a dual channel memory configuration is a chipset with dual channel memory architecture (such as the nForce2), and 2 sticks of RAM (if you use only 1 then you'll be running in single channel mode). You'll probably want at least PC2700 and maybe even PC3200 if you plan on overclocking.

thanks for the info, i will probably get 2 sticks of 512MB PC3200 (i do some video editing/along with photoshop and illustrator)

just out of curiostiy, what happend if i ran 3 sticks?

 

[bob332]

^^^ bump ^^^

 

[MDE]

It would still be in dual channel

 

[bozo1]

just out of curiostiy, what happend if i ran 3 sticks

Then the dual-channel feature will be disabled, at least on the 865/876 chipset. Don't know about NForce.

 

[StraightPipe]

you'll have a shtt ton of mem, I would just get 2X512 and leave 3rd slot open, 2 years from now you'll probly want to get a 1gig RAM card to go in that slot.

Edit: I wish I could find the link, there was an article at anandtech on the actuall benchmarks for the nforce 2 Duall channel vs single channel, it showed that dual channel doesnt do much better than the same amount on a single card, upgradeability should be primary concern.

 

[StraightPipe]

here it is. this shows that theres only a significant difference for dual channel when you use onboard (integrated) video, if your on an agp card just get single cards (or whatever's cheaper in the long run)

 

[bob332]

thanks for the info

 

[kxy]

If I have 3 of the same type memories in the three slots, would it deactivate the Dual DDR mode? Since two of them run in a dual mode and one in single mode.

 

[MasterFlash]

Bozo1 answered that question. Using the 3rd DIMM disables DDR. But if you're using an nForce chipset, it doesn't matter much unless you have an onboard graphics processor.