What is better?

[bhxtyrant]

Hey guys this is just a general question i been thinking about.Currently in my PC i have 1GB of PC3200 single channel ram,i was planning to buy a new dual channel kit 512x2 PC3200 so my question is what is better 2GB of single channel or 1GB of sual channel?Pretty straight foward but was curious to what would give the best performance.

[cash_site]

I guess it really depends on the type of applications you use!

Obviously, the more you have of faster ram the better ;)... but in your case you would need to check a) Are you apps very memory intensive - so having more is better or b) you need quicker memory access.

Others will give better statistics, but i think there's only a small gain with dual channel, but also, not many progs need more than 1gig ... lol.

If you run many video and audio apps simultaneously, then 2gb is good. if you can afford it, just run the 2x 512 kit ;)...

If u want Vista, then go get 2x1GB Dual channel kit :p

[FastGame]

I don't think there's a general answer, its to system spec related (CPU, MB, Ram, model #'s).

What system ? including brand names & model # of related hardware ?

[bhxtyrant]

Thanks for the answers so far i'll give a general rundown here to see if i can get some more details :)

The PC in question is one of my personal Xp pro SP2 machines
ASUS Nforce 2 mobo supports 4 GB of ram
Athlon XP 2600 Processor
1GB Single Channel ram currently
128MB Radeon 9200

My main uses of the PC are work related and also hobby related.I use programs such as photoshopCS2,Dreamweaver 8,I do various video editing and encoding tasks with programs like virtual dub,as well as a few games here and there and general uses like internet/e-mail/msn messenger.Also use it for burning DVD's/CD's and run a copy of apache on it as a testing server for designing websites.Think that about covers everything other then that other hardware in the PC includes a

PCI IDE expansion card
TV Tuner/video capture card (i capture video from various devices)
and 4 hard drives (250GB,120GB,80GB,40GB)

Also am thinking about putting vista ultimate on it in the future but not any time soon.I may build a new PC but still havent decided on that yet.

[cash_site]

How does the computer run at the moment? Why do you want to upgrade the memory? Have you already bought the extra kit or just planning?

With some big price cuts just announced, and newer AM2 chipsets, it might be worth saving your cash atm, then go grab some new hardware (future-proofed) for Vista Ultimate ! ;)

[bhxtyrant]

Hey cash,

The system runs very well right now except minor lag on very intensive programs like when recording or encoding video which is pretty natural.My main reason for upgrading was simply to get a dual channel kit to see if i could boost my performance a bit but then i got to thinking what would be better 1GB dual channel or 2GB single channel since i already have 1GB.So just wanted to see what responses i could get.But no i havent purchased it yet.I was planning to grab it along with two new DVd burners for the same system.

As for vista yep i am thinking about vista ultimate although i wont upgrade until alot of the incompatibility issues and bugs are all worked out.

[cash_site]

No probs Bhxtryrant, good work - its always good to ask others before making big investments in PC hardware ;)

There have been numerous tests from Tomshardware etc about the diminishing results with increasing amounts of RAM. Like 128 -> 256 is 50%, 256 -> 512 is 25%, 512 -> 768 is 13% etc... The issue is people developing applications actually need to make code that utilizes extra memory. Im not sure on the actual amounts of memory variables need, but most program would only use 50-100mb (unlike FFox which eats everything)....

LOL, this is a pretty good question! As the differences would be borderline either way. You might be better looking at the software homepages for each program u use and see what they recommended as a Extreme configuration. i.e. if you video encoder says max performance from 1gb, but all your other apps say max performance from 256mb then you'll be better off with Dual Channel 1GB kit... but if you run lots of memory intensive apps, like 2 audio converters, 1 video divx encoder plus burning etc.... then 2GB would be ok, as dual channel might only save 10seconds on a 10minute operation ;) ... but you can do 5x more multitasking ;)

Has anyone found any real data for this comparison on Tomshardware like sites? Just interesting :P

[bhxtyrant]

Yep cash thats exactly right my main reason for getting dual channel was multitasking since i frequently do things like let encoders run in the backround while i do smaller tasks like general internet browsing or chatting on AIM/MSN on top.It all runs fine now but mainly because i do not really feel the need to build a new system yet i wanted to maximize performance on this one as im sure i can get another year at least from it.I dont think theres a real need to jump to a new system until vista is fully up and running as i am eager to see how things start moving toward 64 bit over 32.

I did run a vista compatibility test to see how my system holds up and it seems all i need to worry about currently is my graphics card which doesnt support Aero,my PCI IDE expansion card and a few intergrated audio drivers which hopfully will be fixed in the future if not already (i havent looked into it yet)

[PIPER]

With that Mobo you should be able to just upgrade your processor....I just swapped out my athlon 64 3000 for an athlon 64x2 4400 for 179.00. This particular processor has the 1mb L2 cache....big difference....found it at Newegg....Asus mobos are great!!!....just a little info for future consideration.

[FastGame]

He's not going to fit a A64 in the Nforce 2 board ;)

Buy another 1gig stick and run 2gig in dual channel. Or, spend a little more and upgrade MB & CPU to AMD 64 939 socket.

Another thing...Nvidia isn't going to support Nforce 2 in Vista.....:(

[bhxtyrant]

Hey Piper,
ep i already know all the prices on various A64 and A64 X2 components.I just havent decided exactly when i want to build one yet.When i go build it im planning to go with an ASUS Nforce 4 SLI 939 board and probally the A64 X2 4400.But for now i dont think it's worth it yet.

@FG
Lol nope only socket A's here.
As for the upgrade im pretty certain i will upgrade this system then later i will just build a whole new system when i move on to the 64 bit processors.Thats what i usually do instead of using my currect PC for a base.

And damn that sucks.The Nforce2 boards are one of the best i have ever used.

[FastGame]

And damn that sucks.The Nforce2 boards are one of the best i have ever used.
Yes I still have mine, its a classic and still very powerful.

IMO no need for you to update yet.

[cash_site]

:goodpost: the maneth spoken ;)