Whats the deal with single/dual DDR?

[eno]

What is better to run on a Abit IS7.

4x - 256mb PC4000 single channel DDR = 1gig

2x - 512mb PC4000 dual channel DDR = 1gig


I want to hit 1100FSB or higher.

I really do not understand the benefits of one over the other.

 

[crimedonkey]

I wondered the exact same thing the other day myself. I had someone explain it to me, but it made no sense...

 

[jiffylube1024]

Definately go for 2 X 512MB sticks. Not only will you actually have room to upgrade should you ever decide to, but 4 sticks won't give you a tangible bandwidth upgrade from 2. Yes, having 4 sticks all at the same dual channel setting will give you a very "slight" increase, but it's nothing major. It's still running in *dual* channel, after all, not quad channel (which does not exist yet on mainstream systems).

Also, two 512MB sticks is usually better for overclocking for a couple of intuitive reasons. Number one, you have a lower probability that one of the sticks will hold you back in overclocking (remember that in overclocking, as in a chain, the weakest link is the deciding factor). So if only one of your 4 sticks can't cut it at a certain overclock, then all four will have to run at a lower speed.

Number two, many Nforce2 boards don't even support 4 sticks of memory. Intel's 865/875 do, but perhaps the next thing you upgrade to won't support that many sticks. It's best to play it safe and get the two sticks.

Number three, we are constantly moving towards more and more system memory. In a couple of years time, 256MB sticks will be like 128MB sticks. Nobody will want them anymore. Stick with the larger densities when you can get them for a similar price per megabyte.

Hopefully this clears some stuff up for you (and doesn't confuse you further ).

 

[tallman45]

Originally posted by: eno
What is better to run on a Abit IS7.

4x - 256mb PC4000 single channel DDR = 1gig

2x - 512mb PC4000 dual channel DDR = 1gig


I want to hit 1100FSB or higher.

I really do not understand the benefits of one over the other.

Maybe I do not understand : You want to put 4 sticks of PC4000 mem in an IS7 and Force it to run single channel ? If that is correct then you will purposely loosing 50% of your existing mem bandwidth. (if there is even an option to force single channel)

In either case you always want the option to expand memory, so buying 2-512mb sticks will offer you the luxury of a future upgrade.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: tallman45

Originally posted by: eno
What is better to run on a Abit IS7.

4x - 256mb PC4000 single channel DDR = 1gig

2x - 512mb PC4000 dual channel DDR = 1gig


I want to hit 1100FSB or higher.

I really do not understand the benefits of one over the other.

Maybe I do not understand : You want to put 4 sticks of PC4000 mem in an IS7 and Force it to run single channel ? If that is correct then you will purposely loosing 50% of your existing mem bandwidth. (if there is even an option to force single channel)

In either case you always want the option to expand memory, so buying 2-512mb sticks will offer you the luxury of a future upgrade.

I think he's just really confused and thinks that "dual channel kits" use dual channel sticks, whereas when you buy individual sticks of RAM they are single channel chips.

This is not so - all dual channel kits are is a set of two memory sticks that are of the same chips/steppings. If you buy two sticks of the same brand/revision of memory, it is the EXACT SAME THING as a dual channel kit.

It's all in the marketing to confuse people .

 

[MDE]

Just go for two sticks of quality 512MB RAM. Corsair, Buffalo, and Mushkin are good, and some people recommend OCZ and GeiL (some horror stories have come out of them too).

 

[eno]

Uh I don't think any of you understood what I was trying to say. But thanks for trying. I was told by a friend that the Hyper X memory is single sided memory compared to other more common DDR sticks that are double sided. So usually one would run 2x double sided sticks of ram, compared to sticks that are single sided. Wish I could draw you a picture. I know less sticks the better but this single sided RAM issue I was not aware of and thought that running 2 sticks of single sided memory would give less bandwidth then 2 sticks of double sided memory. So in contrast asking would running 4 sticks of single sided memory be the same as 2 double sided sticks. Sorry I am crosseyed now and have a headache. I am gonna go lie down for bit.

Thanks for the attempt. Some good info though.

 

[MDE]

If it works, it works. My mystical methodology.