ram for n2u400-a amd2800+ help a dummy

[MrNewt]

Its been a while since i last built a system.
not familiar with this dual channel ram

I want to buy some pc3200. Should i buy (2) 256mb or one 512mb.
Is (2) 256 faster? And do i put it in any particular slot? 1 and 2 or 1 and 3?

thanks in advance

 

[KhoiFather]

2 x 256MB isn't gonna make a huge difference from 1 stick of 512MB. If you buy 2 sticks, put it in slot 1 and 3 for dual channel. You probably wouldn't be planning on overclocking so just get 2 sticks of Corsair Value Ram and you'll be set.

 

[MrNewt]

thanks,



if there isnt much diff, then why do they make dual channel?

or

Under what circumstances will dual channel make a bigger difference?

thanks

 

[Dman877]

Dual channel is only useful if you use integrated graphics. Otherwise the benfits are marginal at best. I guess it's because todays procs aren't really memory bandwidth limited.

 

[grappa]

Actually, I put my RAM in slots 2 and 3, and CPU-Z reports they're running Dual Channel... was anyone able to make sense of that RAM table in the N2U400-A manual? The one with the check marks under each column?

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Dman877
Dual channel is only useful if you use integrated graphics. Otherwise the benfits are marginal at best. I guess it's because todays procs aren't really memory bandwidth limited.

It's because the processor's link to the memory controller is 64 bits wide... so even though the link between the memory controller and the RAM is 128-bits wide it doesn't make that big a difference. The only time it makes a difference is when a device can access RAM directly without talking to the CPU... such as DMA devices, and AGP video cards (especially integrated video which doesn't have any of it's own RAM like an add-on card does).