Ram question

[Rakewell]

Greetings all,

I am currently running an intel dual core 2.66 6700 OC'ed to 3.2, EVGA 680i SLI mobo with a 2 X 1GB DDR2 OCZ 800 kit, and an 8800 GTX.

I am dual booting XP/Vista 32bit.

My question(s) is this: will an extra stick of 1 GB help or hurt this configuration, mebbe losing the dual channel? In regards to gaming/day to day operation, will I notice much of a difference? (I know that there are RAM limitations in any non-64 bit OSes to 3 GB or so.)

If I should upgrade the RAM, is it better to get another RAM kit of 2 X 1GB DDR2, bringing the total to 4 GB instead of just 1 stick?

I know this subject has been pounded to death, but searches 'round the web haven't really answered these questions sufficiently for me.

Thanks guys,

Rakewell

 

[Rakewell]

I had no idea how cheap RAM has become; I just bought 2X2GB for $80 at newegg. Given this was kind of a dumb question, Moderators, please feel free to delete this posting, and accept my humble apologies.

Rakewell

 

[myocardia]

Actually, with all of the new Intel chipsets (all the way back to the 915 or 925), you can run dual-channel on one channel, and single channel on the other. It's called Flex memory, and would benefit anyone needing more than 2GB of system RAM. Of course, 2x2 GB is better than 3x1 GB, for obvious reasons.