Memory Question for the PC impared (myself). :)

[Bleach]

Ok so reading tidbits here and there I've heard mention that having 2 memory sticks is better then one because they can run in dual channel mode?

Basically the PC I'm planning on building is going to be primarily used for gaming. And I've decided on the ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe motherboard which has 4 DIMM slots. I'm on a semi money crunch and was planning on buying 2 sticks of 512MB RAM. But later on down the road getting more and upgrading to say 4 sticks of 512MB RAM for a total of 2024MB.

My question is there a difference of having 2 sticks totaling 2MB of memory vs. 4 sticks totaling 4MB of memory? This is of course assuming the memory is the same for both just the size (i.e. latency etc is the same).

Thanks again for helping me out.

 

[imported_Kensai]

The 4 sticks will be slower unless you get one of the new cores which supposedly has a fixed memory controller which allows for 1T timings with 4 sticks of ram.
For the current generation of chips, two sticks is the best way to go unless you need the extra memory for your applications.
Two sticks is better than one for motherboards that support dual-channel mode as it transfers over 128bits instead of the 64 bits that single channel does.

 

[ohnnyj]

Although you probably will not notice a difference in performance either way, 2x1GB low latency sticks will be faster than 4x512MB ultra low latency sticks. OCZ even makes some 1GB modules with 2-3-3-5 timings which is very good for that large of a module. Depending on how long you expect to stay with 1GB, you may end up wanting to upgrad when AMD comes out with support for DDR2 or even more likely DDR3. Then you would have to purchase entirely new memory.

 

[gobucks]

if you plan on ever running 4 sticks, get a Venice core, which allows you to run 4 DIMMS at DDR400 (1T if they are single sided). Winchester forces DDR333/2T mode with 4 sticks, which makes it substantially slower, and so in many apps 512MBx4 will actually be slower than 512MBx2 using these chips. Anyways, assuming you get a Venice, there shouldn't be much of a difference between 2x1GB versus 4x512, except for the fact that 1GB chips usually have higher latencies, and I imagine they overclock poorly due to that, but I have never tested this theory.

Considering the current games out there, I'd just grab 2x512 for now with a venice, then grab another 2x512 or 2x1GB later down the road when games actaully show a difference with more than 1GB of RAM. Right now, the average game doesn't change much from 512MB to 1GB, so I imagine it'll be even less so with 1GB versus 2GB. This will change of course, but there's no point in buying hardware now that you don't need till later, since it'll be better and cheaper by the time you need it.