Performance hit of Dual Channel??

[RedBeard]

Right now I have a HP DV8000t with a 1.73 GHZ dual core Pentium M.

I am using 2x sticks of DDR 2 memory but I am using vista. My system would certainly benefit from additional memory.

If I get a single 1gb dimm and install it with a 512mb one, will I see a signifigant drop in performance? I use the laptop for games mostly. (it has a 7600 Go 256mb)

Or should I wait until I can afford 2 1gb sticks

Thanks!

 

[myocardia]

Dual channel makes a difference with Intel, but not as much as having the extra RAM will make. Of course, with gaming, you'd want to upgrade your video card, which you can't do. Adding RAM will only make it stop "pausing", so it can load data from the hard drive, which Windows uses as virtual memory, when you don't have enough RAM.

 

[RedBeard]

Yeah I know.

The Nvidia 7600 Go isn't too bad. Windows vista is pretty resource intensive of the ram. I just wasn't sure of the performance drop.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: RedBeard
Yeah I know.

The Nvidia 7600 Go isn't too bad. Windows vista is pretty resource intensive of the ram. I just wasn't sure of the performance drop.

If adding the new memory keeps you from having to swap out to disk, having the extra RAM will help you FAR more than not having dual-channel will hurt you. If you're almost always using <1GB of RAM, it may be better to stay as-is until you can go to 2x1GB.

 

[RedBeard]

Damn world of warcraft!

Thanks for the replies

 

[oynaz]

If you use the laptop for games mainly, then why use Vista?

 

[RedBeard]

Because I really like Vista. I am also using it to get the hang of the new OS. None of our clients are using it yet, but it is nice to be in the know.

Maybe I will set up a dual boot, the laptop has two hard drives anyway.