How necessary is dual channel for overclocking?

[CKDragon]

Hi Guys,

I'm building a fairly cheap base rig for a friend as a birthday present (Budget ~$3-400) and I'm looking to keep costs down where I can while leaving him the option to upgrade as much as possible. My main question relates to whether or not dual-channel memory impacts overclocking at all.

I want to know if buying a single 512MB stick of RAM right now will allow me to OC the AMD Brisbane 3600+ X2 on the Biostar TA390G mobo or if I will have to start him out with dual-channel memory right off the bat. Everything else I've built in the last five years has always had two identical sticks in it. Later on he'll have the option of adding the 2nd 512MB, if he so chooses.

Also, any recommendations on whether or not DDR-667 will be enough to OC or if DDR-800 is necessary are appreciated.

Thanks a lot for all your help,
CK

Background: He's currently running an ancient Pentium 4a 1.3ghz which for my money is one of the worst processors made in the last 6-7 years. Couple that with his current 128 RD-RAM and anything I give him in the future is going to be lightning in a bottle.

 

[myocardia]

Dual-channel hurts overclocking (slightly), it never helps attain a higher overclock. It gives twice the memory performance, though, but as long as the sticks are identical, they don't have to be bought in the same package. And with that processor, you'd definitely want at least PC6400 RAM; it has a low multiplier, and will need it.