Is Dual Channel Mem on SKT 939 really THAT important?

[phaxmohdem]

My main rig needs some more RAM. Here is my situation:

I'm running Win XP 32-bit on an ASUS A8NSLI Premium board with an Athlon X2 4400+ and already have 2GB of RAM installed. It is currently running in Dual Channel mode.

I am aware of the 3ish GB limit on 32 bit Windows, and was wondering if I could save a little money and just puchase one more 1GB stick instead of a pair. Would dropping out of Dual channel mode impact my performance a lot? Alternatively would it be a good idea to just get 2 512MB sticks instead to keep Dual Channel mode?

I use this rig for gaming, Photoshop, Video editing with Premiere Pro 2, and After Effects. (main memory hog programs anyway)

 

[MichaelD]

In your case, the extra bandwidth you gain from dual-channel mode is a bigger advantage than having 33% more memory. You are already at 2GB. If you had 512MB, my answer would be the exact opposite.

2GB is pretty much optimal for WinXP. Here's my own "logic chart" for memory with WinXP:


1. 512MB is the absolute minimum (any configuration...single channel/dual channel)
2. 512MB in dual channel is better than #1
3. 1GB total memory is better than 512MB even if it's in single channel mode. XP shows a noticeable improvement in "snappiness" with more than 512MB of memory
4. 1GB in dual channel mode (2x512MB sticks) is better than #3
5. 2GB is optimal for XP. 99% of WinXP users won't shell out $400+ for a single 2GB stick when they can get 2x1GB sticks for half that price (logical), so dual channel is a given here
6. Going above 2GB total assumes loss of dual channel b/c what WinXP user will shell out $800 for 2, 2GB sticks? They will do what you're thinking of doing.
6a. If you put in 4GB, WinXP will only see 3.1GB (or a number very close to that) what a waste for a minimal gain.

Now, if you're running W2K3 (pure workstation environment) it will see your full 3/4GB, but you might still lose dual channel depending on your memory stick configuration.


SHORT ANSWER: Stick with your 2GB, dual-channel configuration. 🙂

 

[Oyeve]

When I built my first socket 939 x32 system I bought 2 1gb sticks so I could run in dual channel, everything was working great, didnt even check if I was actually running in dual channel until months later when I actually read the mobo manual, did I realise I was NOT running in dual channel mode. So I move a dimm around, change some bios settings, got it running in dual channel. And you know what? I saw no difference. I am sure there is some, but I could not see it. So short answer, no, its not that important.

 

[phaxmohdem]

Nice chart there. Very informative. I have just now started looking into Windows x64 edition too to see if that would solve things, but I'm afraid of driver issues with all of my hardware, plus I don't know if my x32 games would play as well 🙁 I am going to download tjhe 120 day trial and start playing around I guess.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

You can get 3gb and keep dual channel. 1x1gb + 1x512mb in each channel will run dual channel interleaved, but it takes up all four slots

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: phaxmohdem
Nice chart there. Very informative. I have just now started looking into Windows x64 edition too to see if that would solve things, but I'm afraid of driver issues with all of my hardware, plus I don't know if my x32 games would play as well 🙁 I am going to download tjhe 120 day trial and start playing around I guess.

Thanks. My chart is my opinion based on my own experiences at home and at work. I hope it helped a little bit. I'm confident I'm steering you in the right direction. 🙂

You've got a nice rig; we seem to have identical hobbies. I'm a big time gamer that likes fast load times, lots of eye candy and high frame rates. I also am an amateur video buff. I shoot DV of friends/family/local events and make little movies out of it. I recently purchased Sony Vegas Movie Studio; my first real video editing program! I'm excited about it...I'm also fairly lost in that gigantor program, but that another story. LOL!

Coincidentally, the specs for a good gaming rig line right up with the specs for a good video editing rig. Fast disc subsystem with lots of storage, fast CPU, lots of memory, good video card.

Honestly, for editing purposes, the only way you'll see an appreciable improvement (i.e. decrease in render times or more FPS while gaming) is to step up to a whole new platform ($$$).

WinXP64 was stillborn, as far as I'm concerned. There was minimal support/enthusiasm for it from Microsoft and from the hardware vendors...and then Vista came out and everyone has pretty much forgotten about it. WinXP64 is a dead end....don't go there.

Vista has native support for more than 4GB of memory...but it's a NEW MS OPERATING SYSTEM. :Q Run awayyyyy...and wait for SP1.

Honestly...unless you've really got the upgrade bug and don't mind dropping at least $600-$700 on a new motherboard+CPU+DDR2 memory+maybe a new power supply, I'd stay right where you are.

You could upgrade the CPU to a higher grade X2 model (and flash your MB bios accordingly) but you'd still be memory bandwidth limited...you would see an improvement, obviously though.

 

[RaiderJ]

If you're programs are RAM intensive (which I think they are), then sticking with dual channel by going with 2x512MB would probably be the best. However, either way you go, you'll probably only see practical improvements of a few seconds, nothing drastic. Depending on your bottleneck, faster hard drives and/or RAID 0 might be worth looking into as well.


EDIT: Nevermind, just saw your rig specs!

 

[conlan]

2 x 1gb + 2 x 512mb dual channel is the optimal way to go.

Try and keep/attain 1T timing w/ your A64

You'll be ready for Vista w/ 3gb as well, when you're ready 🙂

 

[phaxmohdem]

Render times I'm not worried about, the problem I run into is primarily in After Effects, when I run out of RAM and start hitting the swap file on the HDD workflow just lags more than I like.

Gaming wise, I haven't run out of memory while gaming yet. 2 gigs is plenty there.

My rig is already set up with RAID-0 which helps a bit (2 Raptor 150's in RAID-0 and 2 500gigers in RAID-0 as well), and my RAM is running stably at the 1T command rate timing, 3-3-3-8 otherwise.

I thought I read somewhere that vista still had that 3GB limit, are there 64 bit and 32 bit versions of Vista as well?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: conlan
Try and keep/attain 1T timing w/ your A64

That isn't possible with any A64, although with his chip, he'll be able to maintain a 200 Mhz RAM speed. And don't go 3x1 GB, either. It doesn't work at all on quite a few motherboards. 2x1 GB plus 2x512 MB will work on any nForce4 board, though.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: phaxmohdem
I thought I read somewhere that vista still had that 3GB limit, are there 64 bit and 32 bit versions of Vista as well?

That's true, on the 32-bit version.